Bikes, Books, and Birds

When Tyler got his new, bigger bike a couple weeks ago, he asked if he could ride his bike to school sometime. That seemed like a reasonable request and something that most boys would think was kind of fun, so I agreed. Since the kids aren't allowed to ride their bikes out of my line-of-sight yet, that meant I had to go with him. So this morning Ron went into work late so he could stay with Danielle while Tyler and I rode the 1.3 miles to the school. Tyler was really excited and enjoyed waving at his bus driver (who "yelled" at him to get to school) and the other kids we passed along the way. There was some question about whether or not he was allowed to ride his bike to school because he's not in 4th grade, but we decided not to ask for clarification of the rules so we wouldn't be knowingly breaking any. It rained a little this afternoon but stopped just in time for Danielle and I to ride over to the school to meet him. He must have been the first kid out of the building and he talked all the way home! I know he enjoyed himself, and I'm glad it was something we were able to do.

Tyler's last day of school is a week from today, but they're already winding down. I feel like he's been doing a lot of busy work this week. Tomorrow is the last day for the reading program Tyler's in. Tyler was excited to report that today he moved up another level to 5.5! If he keeps up all the reading over the summer, I'm sure he'll be up to a 6th grade reading level by the time school starts, if not higher. The books in the school library for this reading program only go up to 7.9, so I'll be curious to see what happens when he hits that mark early in the 2nd grade. Have I mentioned how proud I am of him?

Today was the first day in a week I didn't have to go in to Tyler's school to tutor or run copies, so Danielle and I headed to the metropark. We got caught in a light rain shower, but it was warm enough we didn't mind too much. We are so lucky to have all these wonderful parks nearby! We've only been to this specific park once before and it was in the middle of winter, so everything was new to us today. This was a wetland area, and the birds we saw were different than the ones we typically see on our walks (not the duck - the other birds). It was fun. We also saw a couple frogs, and Danielle is always a sucker for a flower, even if it's attached to a weed. We're hoping to fit in at least one more picnic and nature walk before Tyler gets out of school. It will be nice when the 3 of us can explore together, but sometimes it's nice when it's just the girls.