Unlike the majority of July, August’s temperatures have, so far, not been nearly as sweltering. That being the case, on Friday I decided to load the kids up into the double jogging stroller for a long walk to the park (the one that’s 1.5 miles away – hey, that’s a long walk for me. ;)).
Apparently, it wasn’t as cool out as I thought it was and I soon started to sweat, but the walk was good for me, it was nice to get out of the house, and the kids were having a good time.
We made it to the park and there was much swinging to be had.
After about 30 minutes, the clouds cleared and the sun really started beating down on us, and I decided we should head back towards home. We started our walk back and I noticed something funny about one of the rear stroller tires – namely it was making a “tooting” noise that was cracking Ava up. I figured out that it was leaning in at a wonky angle and rubbing on another part of the stroller. I periodically had to straighten it back out, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. (Now that I look back at my pictures, it seems it was bent from the start of our walk. Hmmm.)
We got about half-way home when the damn wheel wouldn’t straighten any longer and I had to ask Ava to walk so that I could hold that side of the stroller up while I pushed Julian.
No sooner did I lift it off the ground did that damn wheel fall right off and the connecting part was bent too! D’oh! No more wheel for stroller. (Doesn’t Julian look pissed here? LOL)
Not excited at the prospect of having to maneuver home a busted stroller with two kids in tow, I decided to ditch the stroller next to the stream, with plans to recover it later in the day after Jody got home with the car. I even put some branches in front of it to help camouflage it. ;) LOL
Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my Ergo with me, so I had to carry Jules on my hip for the walk back, while Ava happily (thank goodness!) walked and even carried her water bottle which helped me out a ton since my pockets and hands were loaded with everything else (keys, cell phone, tasty granola bars that we made on Thursday, camera, Julian’s toy) we had with us in the stroller.
After a fair bit of walking, Ava wanted to play and I wanted to rest, so we decided to take a breather at the park by our house. Refreshments were needed. Thankfully, we still had water and there was plenty of mama milk to be had as well.
After the refreshments, much playing and silliness ensued.
Despite the unexpected wheel mishap and a sweaty mommy, we had a very fun afternoon. :) I’m so glad I grabbed my camera at the last minute so I could document the whole thing. hee, hee.
Unfortunately, the stroller recovery mission that night didn’t go as planned. When we went back to retrieve it (about 4 1/2 hours after I left it), it had been moved and the wheel had been taken. Ugh! We looked all over to see if maybe someone tossed the wheel in the stream, but had no luck finding it. So now we need not only to fix the wheel but to buy a new one as well. Oh, bother.
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Stumble it!
Kellie says:
LOL Amy … I’m sure it was not funny at the time, but reading/seeing it on your blog completely cracked me up!!!
Hope you can find another wheel!!!
August 4th, 2007 at 6:38 am
Dawn says:
This was hilarious! I loved seeing Julian AND the wheel sitting in the stroller! And, the picture of the “hidden” stroller is so funny!
I’m also thankful you took along your camera! =)
August 4th, 2007 at 8:06 am
Jenny says:
Dangit those kids are cute! Julian does look peeved in that picture, that’s funny! I am very sorry someone took your wheel. What kind of lame-o would do that?
August 4th, 2007 at 8:12 am
Christine says:
Oh, what an adventure you had! You’re always so upbeat..you’re a great mamma! :)
August 4th, 2007 at 8:48 am
Sinead@BreastFeedingMums says:
Oh poor you… and I’m sorry but I couldn’t help but have a little giggle too :)
August 4th, 2007 at 10:28 am
Jen @ One Moms World says:
Oh my goodness hun! It seems like you made the best out of the situation though. We always attempt to walk to our park here in a our community and we are all sweating by the time we get there but its worth it huh hehe to see the kids have fun.
Also that is the great thing about nursing… its always ready at the drop of a hat :)
August 4th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Penny says:
Well bummer about that wheel! hope you can get another easily enough – I guess the manufacturers should be able to supply one.
August 4th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Heather says:
That is a great story, and the pictures added so much. Julian did look so “put out.” I’m glad you had a good day, and sorry about the wheel- probably some kids lifted it.
I know Ryan will come home one day when he is older and say, “Look at the wheel I found Mom!” :-)
August 4th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
carole harris says:
Excellent story! I put my blog in there. ONE of them, and yes, it is business oriented for now. Lovely story. Great pictures…*S*
Have a great Sunday.
Carole
August 4th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Laura McIntyre says:
What an adventure, memories made both good and bad.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:39 am
amygeekgrl says:
i’m glad you all enjoyed it. i’m so glad i had my camera along! :) the moment the wheel fell off i wasn’t exactly thinking happy thoughts, but i figured i’d make the best of the situation, and it mostly turned off ok.
christine – i’m definitely not always so upbeat, but i do try to be as positive as i can (something i have to attribute to my husband instilling in me).
heather – jody thinks some kids probably took it too. oh well. if i had an extra arm, i probably could’ve taken the wheel home with us, but c’est la vie.
i emailed the manufacturer today to see about getting a replacement.
August 5th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Grandma S says:
Ahhh, the trials and tribulations of motherhood.
Thanks for sharing the pictures-so cute of the two of them swinging and on the slide landing.
Good luck getting it fixed soon so that you can do it again (hopefully without any wheel troubles). And Ava was such a big girl and so helpful. Cute story, Amy.
August 6th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Branflakes says:
I got your comment on my blog and thought I’d check yours out. I hate to laugh at someone else’s trial, but…well, that just sounds like something that would happen to me!!! Hopefully you’ll be able to get things replaced without too much expense. I’ll definitely be back to read more!
August 6th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Liesl says:
That is a perfect example of making lemonade when life gives you lemons. I hope the stroller repair isn’t too costly. Have you checked any bike shops? They often do those types of repairs for a reasonable rate.
August 6th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Melissa says:
Wow, someone stole the wheel but not the stroller – at least there’s that but that’s a bummer about the wheel. Looks like you all had a fun day anyway. Cute pix of the 2 of them!
August 7th, 2007 at 10:55 pm