I have this dream. It is a simple dream. Wake-up on a Saturday or Sunday morning, gather the family and walk to the Starbucks that is exactly 1.5 miles away from our front door.
I've done this lots of times before with Ian in the stroller when he was a baby and would take Bailey on weekday mornings. It takes approx. 30 minutes to get there, stop and get a drink at Starbucks and then another 30 minutes to walk back. The walk is an easy shot down a path along Burke Centre Parkway, complete with shade from trees above.
Now that Ian has his big boy bike and endless amount of energy, my dream has shifted to Ian riding his bike, Samantha in the stroller and Bailey, Jeff and I walking. We attempted this once before on Mother's day. We made it 10 minutes before Ian refused to tackle any of the small elevations in the trail he called hills. So we turned around, more to get him to stop complaining than anything else, and went to the Starbucks that is practically across the street from our house. It just didn't have the same feeling and I felt defeated.
This morning I decided to try again. Before I could say "let's take a walk and go to..." Ian finished my sentence and said "STARBUCKS!!" He was totally up for it and every bit as excited as I was. Jeff exercised his option to stay home and planned to be back-up if a rescue operation was needed. I loaded up Sam in the jogging stroller, put Bailey's leash on him and Ian ran to get his helmet. This was going to be great!!!
Right from the start, Ian started complaining about the heat. "It's too hot to be out here." I told him it will get cooler once we get on Burke Centre Parkway and the trees give us shade. BTW, it wasn't hot -- believe me, I wouldn't be outside doing this if it was. It was 7:30am and only 72 degrees at best.
So we made it to the path and all is going well. Ian doesn't even realize he is tackling all the small inclines and seems to be enjoying himself. We get 3/4's of the way to Starbucks and then the complaining and whining kick in high gear. Very, very loudly he proclaims, "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE." "I JUST WANT TO GO BACK HOME." "I'M NOT GOING TO BIKE ANYMORE." "I AM NEVER GOING TO BIKE TO STARBUCKS AGAIN." I totally give him the option of stopping and getting daddy to give him a ride the rest of the way. Or, for daddy to come pick him up and take home. Oh no, my little Jekyll and Hyde has it in his mind that he is going to finish this bike ride no matter what. So for the next 10 minutes he alternates between wanting to bike and make it to Starbucks and wanting to turn around and go home. We are now 35 minutes into our trip and I can totally see the promised land just down the road. This is killing me! Finally, I can't take it anymore and decide to call Jeff. Ian at this point has gotten back on his bike and keeps going -- of course he is still complaining the whole time. Jeff catches up to us in the car and Ian finally agrees that he'll go in the car if Jeff comes with us to Starbucks.
Sam, Bailey and I meet Jeff and Ian at Starbucks. We get a table and Ian enjoys his favorite 'cold vanilla drink' and a bagel. Sam munches on a apple bran muffin. Bailey is hanging outside tied to the trash can watching everyone come and go.
We started as four. We ended as three. Sam, Bailey and I did the walk back. It was actually very pleasant. The silence was so incredibly deafening that halfway back I hit the Pandora application on the blackberry and started playing music. Sam started singing along to Pink and Kelly Clarkson. It was pretty cool.
Ian has completely rebounded from his torturous bike ride and is ready to head to the gym with me.
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