Family Ride: Kid's Choice Picnic Dinner

Last week, before school, my son said, "After school? I wanna go for a long ride? And have a picnic!"

You got it, kid! The weather was lovely. I had a transportable dinner menu planned. We could take a not-TOO-long ride to a playground near daddy's work, so he would have more time with all of us before bedtime.

Daddy bikes to work, so he was able to ride home with us!

Of course, when I picked up my son from school, he didn't want to do it anymore. But I explained that I had made a plan at his request and daddy would be left at the playground with no dinner, wondering where we were. Fortunately this was amusing enough that he neglected to suggest I use my cell phone to alert daddy to our whereabouts. So, after picking my daughter up from day care, we set out in the box bike for the Downtown Children's Playground.

The playground sports a lot of great equipment and a really neat human-powered water feature. We've visited this playground before, but this was the first time the water feature was functional. The kids loved it!

Our menu included pan-fried chicken cilantro dumplings from Costco and spinach salad with carrot ribbons and yellow pepper spears, all garnished with soy sauce and sesame seeds. Crackers and cheese kept hunger at bay while we waited for daddy to arrive from work. I cooked the dumplings right before picking my daughter up from day care, and was pleasantly surprised that they held their heat so well in our indestructible Ortlieb pannier.

On the ride home, Daddy rode the box bike and coached our son in reading the street names posted over the Cherry Creek Path. Meanwhile, I was riding the commuter bike behind them, hearing both kids yell, "BANNOCK, MOMMY!! BAAAAAANOOOOCK!" More yelling of a new street name ensued at the next underpass. At this rate, our daughter will have a better sense of Denver's layout by her third birthday than I have now.

The kids melted down upon our arrival at home for bedtime. I couldn't really blame them. Who would want an evening like that to end?