a new set of wheels

On Monday, we finally put to good use the money my parents gave me for my birthday: we bought a bike for me and Calvin.  And when I say for Calvin, I mean he gets to be my passenger.  Luckily I'm not a reckless mountain biker like Nick so Cal should be in safe (and extra cautious) hands.  He even has a helmet that has penguins on it.  The penguins don't make him like it any more than he already does, which is to say that he hates it on his head.  But when he is in the child seat, there are plenty of distractions for us to slip it on.  He seemed to enjoy the first ride, even though it was a bumpy one along the path between Cambridge and Grantchester.  He was saying "ahhhhh" the whole way (not a "I'm terrified!" ahh but a "my voice vibrates as we go over bumps" ahh) ending with him falling asleep just as we arrived home.  Nick installed a bell on the bike so I can warn pedestrians of our arrival but with Cal's vocals, I probably won't need to use it.

 First bike ride! (for Calvin, obviously)

Putting up with the helmet (which looks like it still needs some adjustment)

It will be nice to have the bike for many reasons but especially since our car is either going to have a lot of work done to it or we'll have to scrap it and get a new car.  Yes, our car had an accident but luckily we weren't in it.  Somebody hit our parked car (just outside our house) and moved it a car length and drove off.  We've had a week or so to cool off about it but we're still very angry.  We'll see what happens after the local mechanic takes a good look at it.

 Top view of the front of the car with hood ("bonnet") opened

What Cal thinks of people who damage cars and drive away

Stay tuned for the next blog post: exciting Calvin tricks!