The Greenway - and a motherhood challenge

One of my favorite activities to do with our kids has always been to get out of the house and walk/jog/wander on a nearby trail. In Bloomington, we spent many hours walking the B-line trail (old rail line converted to trail) while I was pregnant with Gemma, and later with Gemma in the stroller and/or walking next to me. (She had quite the stamina even as a toddler.) In Colorado, we walked on several trails in the city limits, some paved and some gravel. At first Timo was in the stroller, and then he learned the balance bicycle while Mattias was in the stroller. Our favorite was Monument Valley Park. 

And now in Sylva, I have wished for good walking trails... which are hard to come by in these small mountain towns. Fortunately we live in 'town', so we have the sidewalks of Sylva, and there is a 2-mile Greenway in Cullowhee, close to Western's campus. And we do walk around the campus often, too. Last week the city finished a new bridge that crosses the Tuckaseegee River and hooks up with the northern entrance to the trail (which saves us a precious 5 minutes of extra driving to get to the southern entrance). While we wish it was longer, we certainly enjoy the 2 miles that it has! And it is the perfect distance for Timo on his bicycle.

Wow, that was quite the history. In any case, I love to be outside and on a trail with the boys, so we frequently go down to the Greenway. On this morning it was our first time to see the bridge, so I brought the camera. And afterwards we had our usual picnic lunch.

Loving the ramps!! Good place for Timo to learn speed and control going downhill.

When we got to the entrance, we were all really excited, the river was flowing fast after the previous day's rain, and Timo took off quickly on his bike. We sped down the ramps and onto the trail, and suddenly Timo had a classic 3 year old moment. He threw down his bike, angrily crying and refusing to go any further. I immediately got frustrated and angry with him (thinking, "come on, child, we just got here and we are not turning around and going home! This is our big outing for the day!"). I have been in that exact situation with him many times, and I felt like we had hit a wall; what was it going to take to get past this moment? Increment by increment, I had to remind myself, and anger is not the fuel that is going to help him. I changed my tone to one of gentleness, and it took all my self-control to patiently help him pick up his bike, and slowly begin to inch forward. We distracted ourselves by looking for bugs and turtles and bears and rain puddles and looking for the next quarter mile-marker. I let go of any desire that this walk was going to be my good exercise for the day, and of my self-consciousness about the other people on the trail wondering why my child was yelling and crying. (That was key.) And then, fifteen minutes passed, and his mood had changed - and we were off. We had a great time, and true to Timo, he cruised and chatted most of the way down the trail and back - a total of 2 miles. Afterwards, as we were loading back up into the car, he announced, "I'm so happy because we went on the trail and I was riding my bike."

Phew. It was an important lesson for this mother, so quick to impatience and anger and my agenda. We even stopped to look at some rhododendron flowers, the rain drops from last night still on the petals.

Hoops

"Mommy, you be the coach. And I work on some lay-ups."

Something new to enjoy... OLD tractors

I never thought seeing antique tractors would be fun - but there you have it and that's what you learn to enjoy when you have two little boys who love all things truck and farm!! Special thanks to Total Tractor from the library, which causes Mattias to erupt in squeals of delight. (This was a couple of weekends ago, but I'm just now getting to the post.) Plus this event - Antique Tractor display and tractor pull - was a good introduction to life in this farming area of western North Carolina.

Fun, free tractor wagon ride for the kids

Just checking out the amenities and chatting it up with another geezer

Crazy wrestling brothers

I'm sure most parents have these scenes on a regular basis, too... 

Their favorite new 'game' - take all the pillows and blankets and stuffed animals and crib mattresses, and pile them on the floor for a big wrestling/jumping/snuggling match. Timo has been waiting a year and a half for his brother to be ready for this, and indeed Mattias is now sturdy and strong and can manage his balance (I think only 4-5 pounds seperate them), so game on!

This is Mattias doing a snuggle tackle.

cutest smile! p.s. that is a black beanbag, not a garbage bag

Break for 2nd favorite game! This is usually the scene immediately post-breakfast and always the last thing they do before bed - racing cars together along the shelf. 

Mattias has recently taken to saying "cheese"

 "Mommy, come wrestle with us!" 

More with Nonna and Granddad

One of the fun parts of this visit was remembering two years ago, June 2014, when they visited us in Colorado and we all took a trip to Boulder for four days. Mattias is now the exact age that Timo was at that time, and it is amazing to see how similar they are in ability and interest (cars/trucks, playing outside, reading) - although Mattias seems slightly more snuggly (Timo loved it too, and still does) and also more opinionated and strong-willed (wants to do things all by himself, with no help, thank you very much). His face may not show it in this photo, but he was absolutely loving these smooches and hugs from Nonna!!

Saturday morning we strolled through town, the farmer's market and the historic library building.

Timo and Granddad had a lot of fun building a highway and plotting out some farm lands in sandbox at the park

And we got to celebrate Mom's birthday! (Even though it was last week...) Thankfully we just got a new picnic table while they were here, so now we are able to use our side yard more and eat meals out there.

Sunday morning photo op!

And Sunday afternoon - big surprise from Granddad and Nonna was a new kids' basketball hoop!! Timo has been hooked on it since the start, and it is taller than the one we had in Colorado, so it perfectly suits him.

Our last evening we went over to the Woodys for supper. As always it was wonderful to wander around their yard in the cool summer air of the late afternoon, looking at plants (adults) and playing with cars (boys). Gayle even made a rhubarb pie with rhubarb from the garden. Delicious. 

Mom & Dad Gieser in town

We had a wonderful time with Mom and Dad G in town for four and a half days last week/weekend! Timo was BEYOND excited (and very hopeful that they would both notice how much he had grown since we saw them at Thanksgiving)!! It was fun to show them our new town and surroundings (how many times have I said that?! Can't keep track anymore!), including a few spots that we hadn't seen yet ourselves either until we did so together - and we even got to eat out twice, which we hadn't done yet here. The weather was warm and sunny, and the boys were thankful that the little guesthouse where G/N stayed had a kiddie pool.

Naturally, the first order of business was to wrestle with Granddad. (Nonna was invited, too, but she declined.)

They arrived in the afternoon, so before dinner we had time to wander down to the main street and let the boys play in the fountain.
 

One morning's excursion was to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in the Smokey Mountain National Park, in Cherokee (about 20 miles away). There are historic farm buildings and the river adjacent. Of course, lots more to see in the national park (the most-visited in the nation!) so I'm sure we will be back many more times in the future.