You searched for:

bike

Lauren Turns 4!

by Papa K on January 4, 2017

It was a bit jet-lagged, middle of the week and rainy – but that didn’t stop us from giving Lauren a “great day” for her 4th birthday, full of some of her favorites. From the waffles in the morning (a special mid-week treat courtesy of a Mommy that woke up early) to an ice cream capper at night (we’ll ignore the classic 4 year old-style melt-down before bed), Lauren made the most of her birthday!

Per tradition, we started the celebration a few days early while we were still in Hawaii with Lauren’s favorite cake – Hello Kitty ice cream cake from Safeway!

Last night Mommy showed off her “handiness” by putting together the bike that Grandma and Papa Boston sent over. To say Lauren was overjoyed with her new ride is an understatement – I have a feeling she is going to put some serious miles on that thing before its all said and done!

I took a few snaps throughout the day – here are some of the highlights…

Did Lauren hear Mommy stirring when she got up early to make waffles? Of course she did ... and was rewarded with some quality time cuddling and book reading before the day really got going.

Lauren on her new bike - its raining, but she can't wait to get out and take it for a spin! Thank you Grandma and Papa Boston!

After two weeks of seeing them every day, Lauren really misses Grandma and Papa Hawaii - so a breakfast FaceTime was a special treat to start the day...

At night, Lauren picked our dinner and we headed to Japantown for some noodles - we were very excited and quite pleased to have every one taking her lead...

Noodles. Are. The. Best.

And here it is. Lauren at 4. Our little tyrant of a goofball. Love her.

And the capper was the frozen yogurt. A fun end to a fun day!

Happy Birthday baby girl – we love you!

(Click here for the video.)

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

7

by Papa K on July 11, 2016

Maile Girl on her 7th birthday

And then, just like that, she was seven.

She has a big ol’ hole in her mouth where an absolute monster of a tooth is working its way in. I love her.

She keeps Christine and I on our toes – she hears everything, remembers more and her logic will twist you in knots (and even when she is patently, blatantly, completely wrong – she’ll wiggle and work to find a way to the light). I love her.

She’s the most cuddly little girl ever – perhaps watching TV is bad, but nothing can be this bad when you have this little munchkin curled up by your side. I love her.

Give her a few minutes in a new place and she’ll make a friend. Leave her for a few hours and there will be hugs on the way out the door. I love her.

She still gets scared by cartoons made for 3 year olds. I love her.

Yet, she gets braver every day on her bike and running, jumping, exploring this great big city. I love her.

She’ll sit down and work on a project for hours and creates things that baffle and amaze me. I love her.

This weekend I gave her a new book about coding and she carried it around with her all day long. I love her.

She can be the best, most caring, most loving, most fun big sister in the whole world. And sometimes she’s not. I love her.

She grew up so much this year – she developed these things called emotions and they ran wild on her – she worked so hard to try to figure it all out – and she is doing an amazing job. I love her.

It’s getting hard to remember the times before she was with us … and that’s just okay by me.

I love her.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

A Quick, Fun Visit from Grandma & Papa Boston

by Papa K on May 31, 2016

Grandma and Papa Boston flew in to town for the long weekend and we packed in lots of fun while they were here. They arrived Saturday afternoon and left Tuesday AM, but along the way we went to a BBQ, played some bocce with our old neighbors, ate some delicious meals, went to the new SF MOMA (more on that trip later), went to the park with some old friends, went bike riding, walked all over, read, introduced Grandma to Totoro and just had a blast. Whew, I’m tired just thinking about it. And that doesn’t even count Grandma and Papa’s visit to Lauren’s classroom on Tuesday morning, which by all accounts, was pretty epic!

Grandma and Papa Boston with Maile (almost 7) and Lauren (3.5)

It was definitely enough to tied us over until later in the summer when we all get together again!

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Maile Girl on Two Wheels

by Papa K on April 17, 2016

When people ask me about raising our girls in a big city like San Francisco, I always tell them that its been wonderful, much better and easier than I expected, with one big BUT. And the big BUT has been that I’ve felt that its been a lot harder to teach the girls (and Maile in particular) how to ride her bike. Can’t really just head right out the door as the streets are quite busy. And so I’ve felt like I’ve been failing in one of my “father duties” in making sure Maile could ride her bike.

This all changed a few weeks ago – Maile started asking directly for me to help her learn so we made a concerted effort to take the bike out, take the training wheels off, and go find a place nearby that we could practice on. Turns out there is a big church right diagonal from us that has a pretty big open space that is perfect.

Very tentative early attempts... (look at the concentration though!)

Maile was very nervous, but to her credit despite the fear and the tears, she kept working at it. I’m proud of her often, but I was particularly proud of her through this effort. It was really hard. We went out a couple weekends in a row and all of a sudden on the fourth outing, it all just clicked and she’s now a full-fledged no training wheel rider!

Pretty cool place to learn how to ride your bike...

Here’s a video of our first outing…

And here she is on Saturday…

As for Lauren, she is incredible on her little scoot bike – she whips around on that thing like crazy. Since Maile was learning something new, I taught Lauren how to ride and lift her feet up so she could glide a bit. She too nailed it pretty quick and was gliding all over in no time. I have a feeling she’ll be on the pedal bike soon enough chasing after her big sister.

Maile Girl, No Training Wheel Bike Rider

Lauren, Gliding Maniac

(Click here for the first video.)
(Click here for the second video.)

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Maile’s First Triathlon

by Papa K on November 8, 2015

A couple weeks back one of Maile’s friends reached out to see if she was interested in being the running leg of a three girl team competing in the Marin Triathlon (Family Relay division). Apparently, word had gotten out about Maile’s very strong debut at the Aloha Run a few weeks back…

So on Saturday, we headed up to San Rafael for the race. We had two teams – a team of girls and a team of boys – all friends of Maile’s from school – in fact, she’s known all of them since she was basically two years old. Maile’s friend, Tori, was going to a 50 yard swim, then Sophia would complete a 1 mile bike ride and, finally, Maile would run a half mile to the finish line.

The day was a great success – all the kids had a blast. The boys team had a little trouble (broken bike chain and a wrong turn on the run), but everyone overcame the challenges and we were all smiles at the end. I particularly liked see the girls (and boys) work as a team – cheering each other on during each one of their legs. We will definitely be keeping an eye out for future triathlons in the future – and, who knows, if we can get those pesky training wheels off the bike, we might not be too far away from Maile completing all three legs herself!

Here's the crew - Aiden, Ian, Kai, Maile, Tori and Sophia

Maile Girl strikes a pose - ready to rock!

Even with the kids they did the whole setup - Maile got her numbered marked on her - just in case her number got lost amid the action...

I asked them if they wanted to come up with a name and they just said 'Girls!' - so here they are. All business.

Maile and Aiden were the runners - here Maile is talking some last minute strategy while they await the bike leg to complete...

At the finish, Maile was quite pleased to have collected a medal...

Celebrating a great job!

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

A Saturday Ride Across the Golden Gate

by Papa K on July 19, 2015

I’m in the home stretch of my training for my annual Pan-Mass Challenge ride (I’d love your support if you’d care to donate!). On Saturday, I decided to step up my training and bring the girls along, Rocky IV-style. We rented bikes and rode up over the Golden Gate Bridge and down into Sausalito. It was a beautiful day and actually Christine’s first time biking with me over the bridge as well. We had a blast and it was definitely a good work out – needless to say, I will not be bringing that trailer on all 192 miles of the PMC!

Maile and Lauren ready to rock in their trailer!

Things work well on flat ground, the hills get a bit tougher...

Pausing for some pics in the middle of the Golden Gate...

Family shot - AAAAAAH!

Mommy and the girls at lunch...

... okay Lauren, now that's a better smile...

Mommy and Lauren had fun on the top of the Ferry, Maile and I stayed down below (she was too hot outside)

Lauren is a big fan of the ferry!

Hard work for the girls, they conked out on the ride back after the Ferry...

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Meanwhile on the homefront…

by Papa K on August 5, 2014

With Maile and Daddy out of town in Boston, Mommy and Lauren held down the fort in San Francisco. Lauren was intent on getting some exercise in after she heard about Daddy’s bike ride, so she and Mommy went to check out a gymnastics gym in the neighborhood we just heard about – San Francisco Gymnastics.

Our little monkey

Lauren is definitely more adventurous than Maile when it comes to climbing and, in general, physical activity. I guess it takes a certain amount of fearlessness to chase after your 3.5 year older sister.

By far the most impressive part of their visit was Lauren’s work on the horizontal monkey bars…

Go, Lauren, go! We will definitely be back…

(Click here for the video.)

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

PMC 2014

by Papa K on August 4, 2014

This weekend Maile and I traveled to Boston so she could visit Grandma and Papa and I could ride in my 4th Pan-Mass Challenge.

The ride this year was pretty incredible. Saturday was some of the worst weather they have ever seen on the ride. Cold, hard rain for most of it. A decent number of crashes and 30+ people treated for hypothermia! Luckily, myself and the rest of my friends I ride with made it through just fine.

On the flip side, Sunday was a tremendous day of riding. Temperature was perfect and we easily had our best second day finishing in record time. As always, lots of good memories were made and it was honor to ride along side Ryan, Rob, Teddy, Adam, Tony and Drew.

The PMC Crew - Rob, Adam, Tony, Teddy, me, Drew and Ryan

Meanwhile, on the homefront I had my biggest fan!

On Sunday, we took a ferry back from Provincetown to Boston and Grandma, Papa and Maile came into the city to meet me.

Hey, dude, do you know where I can find my daddy's bike?

Maile Girl and her sign she made for me 🙂

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of Daddy

The. Absolute. Best.

Two good dudes have become two very lucky dads...

You know that old Warrant song – “I don’t need to be the kind of the world / As long as I’m the hero to this little girl”?

Exactly.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

The Golden Gate, Sausalito and some ice cream!

by Papa K on April 29, 2013

On Saturday, Maile and I rented a bike with a trailer and went on an adventure. We rode over the Golden Gate Bridge, stopped for lunch in Sausalito, had some ice cream (of course) and then headed home on the ferry. We had a blast! (Oh, and then Daddy took a two hour nap when he got home 😉

The ice cream was, of course, a highlight:

For me, the highlight was most certainly spending some quality time with Maile Girl!