another rainy day...

the photos here are not associated with the rides this week
too wet for the camera
well... too wet for the camera and I am in sort of a photography slump
not much inspiration to be out snapping with the camera

so...
I tossed some random shots of the boys when they were smaller on smaller bicycles

Goldie Locks and The Three Bears-

Goldie Locks and The Three Bears had plans to meet to ride their bicycles to school together
when Goldie Locks woke up she looked out the window and saw that it was raining... so grabbed her cell phone and she called the three bears and rescheduled for the following day
the next day Goldie Locks woke up and got ready to ride, but when she stepped outside she felt that it was too humid so she got on her cell phone and sent a text message... NOT 2 DAY SRRY. to the three bears asking to reschedule for the following day
the next day Goldie Locks had to bring her science fair project to school and had to have her mom drive her to school
Goldie Locks had forgotten until morning... when she left off for school she called the three bears and tried to reschedule

the three bears rode their bikes to school nearly every day no matter the weather... no matter the situation... as the three bears knew that it is foolish to wait for "the perfect day" for a bike ride... knowing that most everyday is "just right" for a bicycle ride

okay... that may not have been as funny or as cute as I had hoped
but you get the picture

this week started off with a rainy Monday....
then the next day... another rainy Monday...
here it is Thursday... guess what

ANOTHER RAINY MONDAY!

seems that Mother Nature has her WASHINGTONS confused!
THIS IS DC NOT SEATTLE!

rain rain go away.

each day this week I have brought the bikes with the boys for drop off
there has been some rain in the morning
the morning ride is short

the morning ride to school involves me loading the bicycles on the back of the car and then we park a half mile or mile from school and the boys ride while I walk
by the time I get to school Dean is already in the building and Grant is usually locking up the bikes and ready to give his dear old dad a hug before he starts his day

this effort has its merits...
the boys get a little exercise before school
people in the community get to see other kids on bikes which may get them on bikes
and
this short morning ride gives me an opportunity to coach the children on how to ride their bicycles safely

on each of the rainy days I have watched the weather as the day progresses
each day MONSOON style rain has poured down
raining such that I have not been able to go for a ride
sure I could... but I have not
that is the beauty of being a
commuter... commuters ride no matter the weather

being under-employed has limited my commuter status
which by proxy has limited my riding
yes... I am riding a whole lot less these days
go figure

well... each day thus far has had a similar sort of afternoon
there is strong powerful wind and rain on and off all day
only letting up and then stopping right around pick up from school
which has allowed for me to ride my bike to school and then ride home with the boys

yesterday when I got to school to get the boys I was greeted by my younger son Grant
Grant was standing alongside his classmate Luca
Luca was holding the Grant's cage with four hermit crabs... which Grant had brought for "share day"
it seems that these guys had a plan... there had already been discussion with Luca's mother
there was a plan for a "play date"

but we have the bikes!
what about the bikes?
but Grant has Karate and Dean has soccer...
I thought before I answered... thinking before I answer is something I try from time to
time

there are so many buts in this world
so many BIG BUTS!

I thought about things...
I thought about getting Dean to Soccer on time and how I would get Grant to Karate on time
I thought about homework
and then I thought about the post school bicycle ride and then getting the bike home from the friends house

it was simple...
at first I considered leaving Grant's bike locked up at school so that he could just have it there for tomorrow... simply getting a ride home with his friend and then getting picked up in the car later
then I revised that plan with the simple notion of having Dean and I ride with Grant to the friend's house
leave Grant with his bicycle at his friends house
make the cross town bicycle ride home with Dean
then after Dean has had a snack and has done his homework we would leave off in the car to take Dean to soccer practice... a few minutes early... only for me to loop back grabbing Grant
returning to the other side of town so that Grant could go to Karate

then
looping back to get Dean from practice and having momma Lisa get Grant from Karate on her way home from work

as boring to read as it was confusing?

well...
everything was going as planned
we made the short bicycle ride to Grant's friend's house for the post school play date
then Dean and I made a mad dash across town headed for home

Dean enjoys the pace set without the lowest common denominator
we got home a few seconds... SECONDS... faster than had we ridden with Grant

Dean ate a snack... did his homework... and suited up for soccer
we were operating like an efficient machine
just as planned we were out the door early enough that we would arrive at the turf field early enough that Dean and I could kick the ball back and forth for a few minutes before practice

well...
in case you did not know...
things do not always go as planned
in case you did not know...
in DC rain can paralyze the city

sure enough... there was cross town traffic
a flashing light two blocks from our destination had our cross town artery moving at a snails pace
it was a three mile long parking lot
IT SUCKED!

our short cross town ride took longer than expected
which had me modify our plans
although I pulled out Grant's Karate uniform... I failed to put it in the bag that I packed with water, snacks, and soccer ball
our lengthy cross town trek cut into our soccer warm up
our longer than expected cross town drive also cut into my estimated return time departure
the way I factored things... we would be late for Karate... maybe 15 minutes late... maybe longer
Grant's class is only 45 minutes long... if we missed half of it... what would be the point?

it just made more sense to allow Grant to continue his play date
and for me to hang at soccer practice with Dean
all that driving across town would prove to be more frustrating than it would be worth

so... stuck in traffic I made a few calls
I called the Luca's parents to see if it was okay to extend the "play date" for Grant
then after receiving confirmation on this I called Lisa to say that she did not need to pick up Grant
all the while my car did not move forward an inch

with the alterations made I was once again freed up to kick the ball with my son Dean

in the rain on the astro turf field we passed the ball back and forth
knowing that life is cumulative
a few minutes passing here and there is better than no short sessions of passing the ball

things all worked out
Dean and I warmed up with the soccer ball
I chatted with other parents as the kids practiced
after soccer practice Dean and I stayed late and passed the ball back and forth for a few minutes
then we left off and picked up Grant and his bicycle from his friends house

when we got home Lisa had already picked up pizza from VACE
pizza night is AWESOME!
and pizza night usually means that the next day will have pizza lunch
it is easier to put pizza in the lunch than to get the right balance of peanut butter and jelly on a PB&J

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my boys are sweet... but they are not made of sugar
they may get wet in the rain
but they will not melt