Some Clarification

Yesterday I posted about riding a motorbike. Let me do some clarification to put some of your minds at ease. First, look at the size of the bike--it is very small. My feet could drag on the ground to slow the thing down if I loosened up my grip on the handles. Second, I should have said people were jokingly telling me they thought I was a goner as I headed towards the tree. Yes, I would have crashed, but I was not going at an extremely fast speed. Would I have gotten injured? Possibly, but I guess it's relative to us  individuals as to the degree of my injury. I don't think it would have been that bad, but some of you might think that some bumps and bruises are bad enough. Yes, it was kind of scary looking up and seeing that tree coming on fast, but my quick responses took me just to the right of it and I drove between it and the trampoline. At the worst, I could have jumped off of the bike if I needed to. As far as a helmet, none that were my size. The helmet you see Evan wearing was a child's size, not an adult. Even my soccer playing son could get a head injury during a game by falling to the ground, getting kicked in the head, or running into the net posts as he's diving or jumping for a ball when he plays his favorite position of goalkeeper, but kids don't wear helmets playing soccer. Lastly, remember that once I figured out the speed, I was going slow enough that Evan was able to keep up with me running around the house as I drove the bike. Overall, it was fun and if I ever do it again, I'll be able to do a better job of controlling the bike. And yes, if there is one available, I'll wear a helmet. Hope I could put some of your minds at ease.

Yikes!

Evan went to a sleepover a few weeks ago and there was a little motorbike he got to try out. I even tried it out. As I was twisting the handle to make the bike go, I figured out I was twisting it the wrong way. So, the second I twisted it the right way it sped off and jerked me backwards. To try to slow it down I was trying to twist the handle the other way and then remembered that the dad told me the other handle was the brake. I looked up to see just in time I was zooming towards a tree, but between the tree and the trampoline there was an opening that I made it through. Phew! I drove around the house with Evan jogging along side me trying to encourage me and giving me driving tips. As I came back around to the starting point a couple of people were telling me they thought I was a goner the way I was heading towards that tree. It was fun, but I don't think I'm cut out to operate any kind of motorcycle. But Evan did a great job and loved it!

Look What I Made: French Braid

Lauren really wanted me to put her hair up in a French braid one day. I have never done this before so I looked up how to do it on Youtube. I didn't think it was too difficult at all. However, because of all of her layers, hair began to slip out here and there. Maybe this style is better for those who have one length hair? Maybe I need to learn to do the braiding tighter? Haha, it's not the prettiest or straightest French braid, but not bad for a first try.

Soccer Camp

Another season of soccer starts this Saturday. We met the coach last week and Roger thinks he will be nice. It looks like practices will be twice a week, maybe for the entire season, maybe just for a few weeks. On July 8th Evan attended a soccer camp with the Wichita Wings, our new indoor soccer team, head coach. The coach was so good with the kids. We were hoping to get season tickets for our family this year, but don't think that's going to work out. But, Evan did get a voucher to use for a free ticket to any game this year. I think the camp was quite an eye opener for him. He had to go through some drills he'd never done before and it wasn't always easy. The arena was terribly hot and he was soaking in sweat. Overall, I think it was worth it because he learned some things from a very experienced coach. Go Evan!!!

A Record Breaking Summer

Yep, Wichita did it! We officially have the hottest recorded summer. We broke the record from 1936.

Oh my goodness our lake is so low--I've never seen it like this before. The water usually reaches to the road, but now you can walk on it towards the middle. NONE of that greenery or brown dirt you see should be there--it should all be covered by water.

In the next picture, do you see the concrete in the foreground in the lower left corner? That is part of a huge pipe that runs under the road. The kids like to stand on it. The lake should reach that pipe and there should be fish jumping out of the water and the kids should be able to lay on their tummies on the pipe and touch the water. I just can't get over how low the water is.

Plants have died; or maybe I let them die because I gave up watering them, always hoping it would rain more. I'm not sure if some of them will come back, especially the little evergreen trees. I've heard they won't. One is completely brown, the other still has some green on it. They stay green even through the winter, so I guess we'll know our answer come next spring.

Some flowers I thought were dead have actually come back. It's helped me learn what are hardy and can take the heat. I took these pics around 4:00 so they are wilting under the sun, but they are not dead and I am so excited!

 In the next pic, you can see the brown stalks from the previous flowers that bloomed, and then you can see the pretty yellow flowers that are blooming--all from the same plant. I had not seen yellow flowers for a long time, so I thought this plant was dead. Glad I didn't pull it out.

 A pretty pop of pink telling us she's still surviving.

Our grass has had its ups and down with going from a green color to brown. It's currently brown, but I'm positive that when we get rain it will green back up because that's been the pattern all summer. An unbelievably hot, hot summer.