Bullitt Buddies!

I forgot our daycare's rule about taking 24-hours before coming back and scrambled in the morning to figure out what to do with Big Brother since he had had a couple of shots the day before. I decided that since he's so awesome, I'd just attempt to sneak him into work at Practical Cycle and hope Tim didn't notice. 

Of course, we just had to stop for some coffee beforehand. 

Lo and behold, we pulled up to one of our favorite shops, Old Soul Weatherstones in Midtown, and saw this spiffy looking Bullitt parked out front! I knew that we had sold one on Father's Day (best Father's Day present ever! I should know because our Bullitt was my Mother's Day/Birthday/Anniversary/every-gift-for-the-rest-of-my-life present and I regret NOTHING!). 

Big Brother and I got to hang out with these guys for a few minutes. The kiddos instantly bonded over being cargo bike kids and having awesome helmets. Check out the great tiara! I think my kids need tiaras. For safety. Or something like that. Our Bullitt Buddy, Paul, is a road biker. You might have been able to tell by the stark contrast between our seat:handlebar height ratios. I love that the Bullitt is really customizable in that way. His bike has the standard Bullitt kid set-up while mine has the custom box made by the folks at Splendid Cycles. My box fits two kids better side-by-side but it certainly gives it a more "homemade" look while Paul's is sleek and fancy. 

I love that we're getting to the point where cargo bikes are popping up everywhere. It seems like I can't go a day without running into another family-biker! 

After coffee and bike-chatting, my new intern and I rode to work. Tim was very nice about having an extra body in the shop and Big Brother was amazing. He sat an entertained himself for about 3.5 hours until 'Nama could come and pick him up. Except for the occasional "MOM! HEY MOM! MOM! LOOK AT THIS, MOM! MOM! MOM! MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA!!!!!!" I barely needed to keep an eye on him. Tim was incredibly tolerant. Big Brother was especially enraptured with Practical Cycles newest toys--the bicycle Playmobil sets. We didn't get the horrible "bike-crash" set though. It is really hard to find bicycle toys these days. Kids are indoctrinated into car-culture early on with their tiny motorized cars, Hot Wheels, Disney Cars movies, etc. I even saw a Disney Cars bicycle at Costco! I will admit, however, BB found the bicycle cop's tiny plastic gun immediately and focused a lot of his play with finding the bad guys and chasing them down. That gun may disappear next time I'm at work. 

Big Brother and I have been having lots of fun time together, thanks to bikes! Today was a rough day. Little Brother refused to nap and both boys were bouncing off the walls but exhausted. Luckily, Jose got home right after LB finally passed out and BB and I rode the Bullitt to swim class. Now that we know the route is fun and easy, I was comfortable taking the giant RV bike. On the way home, we decided to take the long way back (an extra 2 miles going the other direction on the ARP). Big Brother wanted to lay down so I unbuckled him while we were on the trail. As we were getting off the parkway, I hit a bump while he was leaning over the edge and he bumped his nose. It was our first Bullitt casualty (if you don't count Jose's horrible mishap on his first ride). Big Brother was fine after a little water break and a kiss but I kept him buckled for the rest of the ride home. 

One bummer was that when I was trying to put the sun shade on the bike today, I ended up stripping the set screw. I was going to have to move the mounting spots anyway because the poles hit my handlebar when I turn. Now, I'll just have to make a couple new changes as well. 

Shall we remember Jose's infamous inaugural ride? Yes. 

Makes me laugh every time!