Leave it to Riley to decide to ride her bike without training wheels yesterday – in the middle of a horrible chest cold – and accomplish it completely in about 30 seconds. She is definitely free-wheeling it now, so glad for the same freedoms that her sister has. I can’t wait to enjoy family bike rides without clunky training wheels dragging us down and I’m planning on taking them as many nights as possible right after dinner. (My metabolism wouldn’t suffer a bit from the boost, that’s for sure!)
Last night when I was putting her to bed, she asked if she could tell me stories. I said, “Sure, but make it quick, it’s late and I’m so tired!” She began “Jack and the Beanstalk” which made me chuckle because, for some reason, it has always been my go-to story for the kids. I’ve got to tell you, I’m getting pretty darn good and theatrical with my delivery. And so is Riley, with all the inflections, excitement and pauses in the right places, she delivered her version of my version (I’d hate to hear the real one at this point, sometimes I fear I have merged a few stories together!) with perfect timing. Of course, she added her own embellishments. Mid-way through, Jack became Justin and traveled up the stalk with sister, Sarah.
It’s only fitting that the funny part came on the tails of our good friends’ weekend visit from their home in Iowa. Logan, Riley and Finn delighted in having their pals Piper and Sadie here all weekend, with no schedule or real outings, just swimming and a movie and Portillo’s. Top it off with loads of outdoor play, ice cream and late nights in the same room together; I’m pretty sure they thought they had reached the Promised Land!
Riley got to the part of the story where Jack (Justin) climbs the beanstalk and she was saying how high it was. “The stalk was so high… do you know how high it was? It was so high that it reached to Disney! It was so high that it could go to California! It was so high that it went to North Carolina!” I was thinking of how, at four, these are her places of reference and how much that will change over time. And then she added, “It was so high it EVEN made it to IOWA!” she exclaimed proudly!
I love Iowa as much as the next guy, but it might not be the end-all be-all in my version of Jack and the Beanstalk. Riley’s version put her little self all in perspective for me last night – she sure has got it right. There’s no need to day dream about Calgon taking me a way to a beach in the Caribbean or the far off Italian countryside, we’ve got everything we need just a couple hundred miles west in corn country. Thanks to the Koski’s for making the trip. We all had a great time!
Last night when I was putting her to bed, she asked if she could tell me stories. I said, “Sure, but make it quick, it’s late and I’m so tired!” She began “Jack and the Beanstalk” which made me chuckle because, for some reason, it has always been my go-to story for the kids. I’ve got to tell you, I’m getting pretty darn good and theatrical with my delivery. And so is Riley, with all the inflections, excitement and pauses in the right places, she delivered her version of my version (I’d hate to hear the real one at this point, sometimes I fear I have merged a few stories together!) with perfect timing. Of course, she added her own embellishments. Mid-way through, Jack became Justin and traveled up the stalk with sister, Sarah.
It’s only fitting that the funny part came on the tails of our good friends’ weekend visit from their home in Iowa. Logan, Riley and Finn delighted in having their pals Piper and Sadie here all weekend, with no schedule or real outings, just swimming and a movie and Portillo’s. Top it off with loads of outdoor play, ice cream and late nights in the same room together; I’m pretty sure they thought they had reached the Promised Land!
Riley got to the part of the story where Jack (Justin) climbs the beanstalk and she was saying how high it was. “The stalk was so high… do you know how high it was? It was so high that it reached to Disney! It was so high that it could go to California! It was so high that it went to North Carolina!” I was thinking of how, at four, these are her places of reference and how much that will change over time. And then she added, “It was so high it EVEN made it to IOWA!” she exclaimed proudly!
I love Iowa as much as the next guy, but it might not be the end-all be-all in my version of Jack and the Beanstalk. Riley’s version put her little self all in perspective for me last night – she sure has got it right. There’s no need to day dream about Calgon taking me a way to a beach in the Caribbean or the far off Italian countryside, we’ve got everything we need just a couple hundred miles west in corn country. Thanks to the Koski’s for making the trip. We all had a great time!
1 comment:
Here's to Riley's great imagination and her adios to training wheels - I'm impressed and surprised her story didn't have Jack/Justin riding a bike up the bean stalk!
...and here's to the Koski connection and your fun weekend!
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