Saturday, Ben, dad, and I got up to walk the dogs and then headed to the Y to swim laps for a little while.
Afterwards, we decided we wanted to go on a bike ride, but mom unfortunately doesn't have a bike yet and also needed to stay at home for the tile guy who was coming, so the three of us loaded our bikes and lots of water into the car and drove to the Meramec Trail. One end of the trail starts near the house, but if we would've started there, we would've had to tackle going up a big hill at the very end, when we were worn out and tired, so we drove to the far end of the trail.
 |
Dad pumping air into our tires- his neon
yellow shirt was visible from a mile away! :) |
 |
| The old helmet's padding was falling apart- combined with the heat, it left me with a black forehead. >:/ |
 |
| All ready to go biking :) |
It was a gorgeous ride, and most of it was in the shade. I wish I would've been able to ride and hold a camera at the same time to capture all the wildflowers, butterflies, deer, and pretty scenery. Within the first 5 minutes of the ride, Ben and I had to slam on our brakes because a deer crossed about 10 feet in front of us. :) The first part of our ride was mostly flat, and then we headed down to what Missourians call the "beach"- pretty much a bunch of mud and rocks along the Meramec River- more like a canoeing, wilderness scene, not a "fun in the sun", sandy beach with waves. I miss Florida. :) After baking in the heat standing at the shore for a few minutes, we rode our bikes back up to the trail and turned around in the direction that we came.
After getting back to the first trail marker, we headed the other direction in the fork to go up the hilly trail near the house. Although the scene was very peaceful and beautiful, and the many bridges were nice to ride over, the constant uphill ride tired us all out in the 90 degree heat. By the time we all reached the last few yards, we all hopped off our bikes and started pushing. :) I'm really glad we reversed the trail, because the ride back down was simply coasting for almost the entire trail back to the car. :)
We reached the final gate to the road leading to the parking lot, but the gate was closed, and Ben didn't notice in time. That, combined with the sharp curve and the slippery gravel, caused him to wipe out on his bike, leaving him with a few bloody scrapes and cuts. We were just glad he was okay and hadn't broken any more bones.
We rested at a picnic table for a few minutes to cool off after our ride, and then headed back home. Within 5 minutes of us unloading our stuff from the car and hosing off the muddy bikes, Ben wanted to pull out the slip n' slide to cool off. I shouldn't have, but I suggested he lay it on top of the hill in the side yard so he could slide down it. He, of course, loved the idea and got right to work hammering the stakes in. Dad pulled out the IPhone, because some pretty funny footage was sure to follow, and sure enough, it did. :) I put together a video of Ben, so I'm going to try and upload it in the next post.
After he had exhausted himself sliding down over and over again and Dad and I had our fair share of laughs at him being a goofball, we all headed inside to shower off. Afterwards, Ben and Dad decided to shoot off a few rockets, since there was barely any wind.
 |
| Rocket |
 |
| Control Panel |
 |
| Launch Pad |
 |
| Dad inspecting the rocket |
 |
| Dad putting the rocket fuse in |
 |
| Wrapping up the parachute |
 |
| Ready for launch! :) |
The launch in the video ended in the trees. :( It's really hard to see because when I uploaded it it became blurry, but the part at the end where it's a bunch of clouds is where it's falling into the trees in our backyard. I sound like an idiot in the video because Ben launched it before he got to one, and then I couldn't find it! Oh well. :)
The evening concluded with mom and dad heading to the grocery store and Target, and then Ben and I watching Legally Blonde on tv when they got back. :)
