A quarantine birthday is a little different. And it was a big one for Sam, so we did our best. Magan always asks if I know what he wants, and she is always surprised because I can usually come up with a good list. That is because Sam is much like me, so I just go tell him, I need a list of what you want, or you will end up with stuff you don't. He prepares a note card with various selections at different price ranges and we go from there.
The top thing on his list was a new mountain bike, and that took me on a journey and youtube video search to find the best Walmart bike...as Walmart is basically the only store like that opened right now. And I found a Schwinn Boundary that had front and rear disc brakes, Shimano speed shifters, and a Walmart lever price (I know! right! Awesome). Then I realized that everyone else in this quarantined time had also decided that fitness equipment was what they wanted to buy. Like toilet paper aisles, the fitness equipment and bicycle areas are almost empty. Also empty of this bike was Walmart.com. So I found one that said it was in store at in Inverness, but it was a lie...neither was one in Chelsea, or in Calera, or in Pelham...so one Saturday morning (I think during the AHG campout weekend) I drove to Leeds where I found one finally...but it had a broken cable. But they actually had another one at the same store in Leeds.
So what is next...he gets to select the meal...and he picks 5 guys. I like a burger, but I can't pay 5 guy prices for the family, but for my oldest big bud, I let him order whatever he wanted there. Haha, and this was a triple patty bacon cheeseburger with an actual bucket of fries. It looked good, and he devoured it. The reset of us had ChickFilA.
He has still not gotten his permit, as we are hearing dreadful stories of the DMV as it has only just recently opened after the quarantine. Magan took him to FOES to test out his driving skills and she said he did fine at 10 mph. She asked if he wanted to take it out on just a small road that goes by the school, and he quickly said "NO, my skills are not to that level yet".
And for the birthday weekend, we decided to test out the new bike at Oak Mountain, and wow, what a day. It started with us realizing that both boys needed new helmets, we haven't gone in awhile. So the only ones we could make fit was a really old one for sam that was basically just a Styrofoam lid, and then Davis just wore Anabelles...you can see the purple in the picture below. Plus he was riding Sam's old bike, and the reason Sam could no longer ride it was because it was too small, but also because it had no back brakes.
But no problem, we were off to the trail around the lake. And almost at the mid point, Davis was going down a hill and the brakes did not work as fast as he needed and he slammed into a dirt wall. He was OK, but the left foot pedal was bent to almost a 45 degree angle. So we tried to repair it, but we could not do anything...so Davis got back on and started a wobbly peddle just to make it back to the road where I could then go get the van. But back on the trail, our day got worse, as going down another hill, with the wobbly peddle...the brakes completely came off the wheel and he had zero brakes. Almost hitting Sam because he could not stop...he was finally able to coast off the trail as his life passed before his eyes. With no hesitation, Sam handed Davis his new bike, he took the one with no brakes and I left ahead of them to go get the van. So our trail ride was a little shorter...our day wasn't what it was planned to be...but we all were smiling about it later. Happy birthday Sam. I never said anything, but could not have been prouder how you handled that situation on this day. You knew what was needed, and knew that was the best way to get us back to the van.
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