A Dream Crushed

My dreams of the idyllic family bike ride where everyone has fun, no one whines, gets frustrated and where the babies (must stop calling Zack a baby) Zack and Ben ride blissfully in the trailer pulled by mommy are crushed. They came to an abrupt halt last night when the six of us went out for a ride. We started out great. I got a little cranky with Eric who kept stopping right in front of me. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to stop in time and hurt him. But we got to the point where we usually turn around and I realized Ben was sleeping. Beautiful! I couldn't ask for a better scenario. Kevin let me get in front and he said he'd deal with the chronic stopper and we pushed forward. That was our mistake. It was a big mistake! I realized this was an error when suddenly Ben started SCREAMING... I stopped and tried to help him but he would not be consoled short of getting the heck OUT of there. Which, obviously wasn't possible. So Kevin gives me the housekeys and told me he'd get the big boys home and I could just go fast and get home. There was only one problem with that solution. The wind was blowing. Hard. I hadn't noticed it so much in the mile ride out, but riding home, with it blowing in my face, it was horrible. I pushed ahead and talked to Ben telling him we would be home very soon. It did nothing for him. He wanted out. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who wanted out because as I was peddling and peeked back to see how angry and distraught Ben looked I saw Zack messing with the velcro to open up the trailer. I didn't worry too much since he was securely buckled in. I turned into our neighborhood. Almost there, and blissfully Ben stopped crying. I looked back to check just as Zack's foot poked out of the trailer. He somehow managed to escape from his seatbelts, and was on his way OUT of there. I stopped my bike, got off, and fought back tears. Somebody SHOOT me now... somebody RESCUE me... something. While I was getting off my bike, Houdini climbed the rest of the way OUT of the trailer and did a little dance of victory. Kevin caught up to me at this point and asked what I was doing. He was having his own fun issues with the big boys (whining, complaining, tired because their dumb parents forgot that they are LITTLE kids and bike rides should be SHORT and not at bedtime.) He offered to trade and I said no thanks and buckled Houdini back into his seat (MUCH to his dismay and not before running circles around the bike until I caught him.) He cried and whined and said "My want to ride WITH YOU!!" I told him no because the only thing I can think of that would have made this ride worse would be if I tried to hold him in my lap while trying to get home. We got home without further incident and promptly put our four dear children to bed.

It was all our fault. We went too late, and for too long. Lesson learned. I'm not giving up on the dream of the family bike ride. We will go again. However, my expectation for the perfectly fun, blissful situation where everything goes right is gone. Next time will be better!!!