Bleargh
So Eddy started kindergarten today. A little choked-up at the thought of putting him on that bus this morning, but at the same time, it's the start of a whole new adventure. He pushed past a kid or two in the line for the bus because he was so excited.
Yesterday, I kept him home from daycare and we went and had a Daddy/Eddy Adventure Day. Like we do sometimes. And it was a day of firsts.
The first First was some singletrack. The MORC website hadn't been updated in a few days so there was no indication as to whether Lebanon Hills was going to be open or closed. Cruising by, it was still closed due to Saturday's rain. So we went to Murphy, which has far more forgiving beginner riding, anyway. We got there and burned through a couple of laps of the beginner trail, and we had a blast. The kid is a natural at picking smooth lines, and as we went along, I found myself wondering if I was relying on my own experience or just subconsciously following him. The first lap was a little slow (to be expected given that he's riding a kids' BMX with 16" wheels), but the second lap? Man, he burned it -- our average speed jumped by about 50% for the second lap, and he was cocky as hell blowing through some narrow twisty sections at speed. I was really impressed.
We drove home, he caught a cat nap in the car, and then we got cleaned up and went to the Mall of America, because one of the things he'd been promised was that he'd get to ride roller coasters again before kindergarten. So we did. And while he's ridden them before, he's never ridden one with a loop. That was the second First. It's a coaster with three inversions (loop, cutback, and barrel roll), and the initial drop is "beyond vertical" (97 degrees). He admitted to being a little scared but never expressed and interest in backing out (short line, otherwise he might have). On the way up the first hill (a straight vertical climb), I heard this tiny, "oh crap" from next to me. And then we were going. At about two thirds of the way through, he said, "Okay, I'm done." At the finish, we climbed off and he was serious-faced. "Yeah, Daddy, let's never do that again."
We rode the other two coasters, had lunch (Subway, ick), and then headed home. He watched Kung-Fu Panda 2 and I took a turn at cat napping while he did.
Today, I put him on a bus to kindergarten. Holy shit.
Cross-posted from Dreamwidth: http://fontosaurus.dreamwidth.org/954.html
Yesterday, I kept him home from daycare and we went and had a Daddy/Eddy Adventure Day. Like we do sometimes. And it was a day of firsts.
The first First was some singletrack. The MORC website hadn't been updated in a few days so there was no indication as to whether Lebanon Hills was going to be open or closed. Cruising by, it was still closed due to Saturday's rain. So we went to Murphy, which has far more forgiving beginner riding, anyway. We got there and burned through a couple of laps of the beginner trail, and we had a blast. The kid is a natural at picking smooth lines, and as we went along, I found myself wondering if I was relying on my own experience or just subconsciously following him. The first lap was a little slow (to be expected given that he's riding a kids' BMX with 16" wheels), but the second lap? Man, he burned it -- our average speed jumped by about 50% for the second lap, and he was cocky as hell blowing through some narrow twisty sections at speed. I was really impressed.
We drove home, he caught a cat nap in the car, and then we got cleaned up and went to the Mall of America, because one of the things he'd been promised was that he'd get to ride roller coasters again before kindergarten. So we did. And while he's ridden them before, he's never ridden one with a loop. That was the second First. It's a coaster with three inversions (loop, cutback, and barrel roll), and the initial drop is "beyond vertical" (97 degrees). He admitted to being a little scared but never expressed and interest in backing out (short line, otherwise he might have). On the way up the first hill (a straight vertical climb), I heard this tiny, "oh crap" from next to me. And then we were going. At about two thirds of the way through, he said, "Okay, I'm done." At the finish, we climbed off and he was serious-faced. "Yeah, Daddy, let's never do that again."
We rode the other two coasters, had lunch (Subway, ick), and then headed home. He watched Kung-Fu Panda 2 and I took a turn at cat napping while he did.
Today, I put him on a bus to kindergarten. Holy shit.
Cross-posted from Dreamwidth: http://fontosaurus.dreamwidth.org/954.html