spring should be here. it keeps tricking me with a little peek of sunshine everyday. quickly challenged by moody and mean clouds and that annoying tri-town wind. oh, but when it does show itself! it's so so good to me. there is a direct correlation between the sun shining and the state of my being.
the sunshine this week has meant family bike rides. and tonight we went further than we've ever gone. it was the perfect adventure that tonights cloud-break was calling for.
when i am on my pretty blue bike - i am happy. happy enough that i notice. and that is such sweet relief from having 'tired' as my only recognizable emotion. i rode behind lukey for a mile of our ride. his turn as the family leaderand something about watching him pedal-pedal-pedal in from of me (those bright green shoes, that red levi's tab and the yellow helmet perfectly snug on his head) made me feel so immensely happy that i can't even describe it. a combination of fresh air, my body moving, and the fact that that colorful, happy boy was mine...
the night before luc's party he checked the forecasted weather every ten minutes. not joking.
it called for not just rain but a thunderstorm the following day. we crossed our fingers and my boy said quite a few little prayers - that his friends would still be able to bring their bikes.
in the morning we made the executive decision to switch the party from the church parking lot to our home - just in case.
it was gloomy and drizzly before the party.
bright and sunny for the few hours during the party.
and the storm clouds rolled in right after the party.
how's that for answered little boy prayers?!
as his friends arrived - they each found a parking cone in our living room to park their bikes - pop the kickstand and get to work. each station had a pile of supplies for decorating their bicycles and getting them ready to race!
our local trophy shop had a stash of old cycling trophies and kindly donated them to us. my husband and i spray painted the trophies to match the party. after cruising the neighborhood bike trail - the boys came back to the house and were presented with their BIG, bright neon trophies. they each took turns standing on the first place podium for a picture and congratulating each other on their speed. it was the best part. they were so proud of their trophies!
we then rounded everyone up and went back inside to fill their personalized bike bottles up at the fill station/gatorade stand and sang a little happy birthday over neon cake push-pops. All the boys went home with personalized bike bottles, some treats and a bike pin from lee + latimer.
my lucas jude is six years old! we had the best birthday week ever. but the real fun started weeks before when we sat down together to make the plans. he decided on a cycling party - with hopes that the weather would cooperate and his favorite friends could bring their bikes.
the invites were my favorite part. he made a list of his six closest friends and we got to work. we found most of our supplies at a local hardware store. neon spray paint for the bike stencil and shiny new bike bells to get his buddies excited for the party.
he was actually able to help quite a bit. i did the spray painting and he peeled the stencil off. i cut and typed the party info and he stuck them on with a neon dot sticker. carefully choosing a coordinating color. i tied the bright orange bows and he tucked the bells into the boxes. then we loaded them up and he hand delivered them to each of his pals.
it was so fun when all the boys showed up to the party on wednesday! new bells attached to their handle bars. find more of the party details here!
invitation supplies:
gift boxes found here
bike bells found here
neon stickers found here
stencil cut with my silhouette machine and vinyl
free bike font found here
the winner of this giveaway is chelsea of the blog rueschlove - congrats!
it's april! my favorite of them all. the first day of spring break AND it's birthday week for me and my little lucas. a week full of happy things are on the agenda and we're both so excited! to start things off and to keep me from spilling all the little birthday secrets i've got up my sleeve - a giveaway!
my sister jade has offered to give one of you run lucas run readers a bracelet from her new etsy shop, alexandra jade. i chose my favorite the shine from her spring collection for you. it will be sweetly packaged up and sent your way just in time to wear with your new springy outfits. i'm hoping there will be one wrapped up for me at the end of the week, too. wink! wink!
simply visit her shop and tell me which bracelet you've added to your wish list.
entries are open until friday at 8 am PST, to everyone! i'll choose a winner and announce it here on this post. good luck!
and if you just can't wait until friday - use the code runlucasrun10off at checkout to get 10% off everything in her sweet shop right now. help me support my baby sister and her brave new venture!
