From Caterpillar to Butterfly

Here's another post with just pictures of Elizabeth. I really did try to get some of Rachel but she just didn't cooperate. Today, the girls and I went to the Butterfly Festival at Cox Arboretum. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and in the 70s, unlike the rain and strong thunderstorms we've had this week. On Wednesday night I really thought our cars had been struck by lightning because we had the strongest storm I can remember come through in the middle of the night but luckily, everything was safe. Anyway, we saw some butterflies of course at the festival and Elizabeth got her face painted so here are some pictures.

Here Elizabeth is being oh so patient getting her face blotted with paint.

The finished product.

Add some beautiful wings at home and she's a full-fledge butterfly.

A very hungry caterpillar.

And a pretty butterfly resting on a leaf.

Elizabeth pics and videos

So I'm biased to my eldest daughter in this post. I just had to put some pictures and a video of some funny things she's done lately.

The first picture is Elizabeth converting our couches into a fort or house. I don't know if this is naturally ingrained in little children but I remember have fun doing the same thing as a child.

Most days Elizabeth really needs a nap because she gets cranky and irrational but she doesn't fall asleep unless riding in the car or she's fallen asleep at the dinner table a few times. Saturday she was crying about I don't remember what while I was working on the computer and then it got quiet and I looked down the stairs and this is what I saw. Elizabeth must have been so exhausted that she couldn't move but fell asleep on the stairs.


Here is a video of Elizabeth from yesterday. I have little weights on my exercise bike and she grabbed the 2 pounders and had fun building muscles.

New Bike

One of the great things about leaving an old job is that you get to cash out on the paid time off you built up. Although I had been planning for years to buy a touring bike I decided instead to buy a new road bike. One of the reasons was probably when I watched the videos here, and got an adrenaline rush just from watching those guys weave through traffic. I won't be nearly that crazy, but it is fun to sometimes keep up with traffic around me. I just wanted to finally go faster. I also realized that my modified hybrid is actually a pretty good touring rig. It has strong linear pull brakes. It has long chainstays for panniers and a relaxed geometry. It has holes for a rear rack, a cushy saddle with a suspension seat post, and trekking handlebars for multiple positions but an upright riding position. It also has a strong wheelset with wide tires. The only downsides are that it is made of aluminum and it doesn't have front eyelets for front panniers. But those are minor points (with my lightweight backpacking gear I don't need from panniers).

So I decided to try something a little risky. There's this website called bikesdirect.com. Basically they don't have to pay for a store front and all that entails so they ship bikes direct from the factory at a much lower price for the same (allegedly) quality. I bought a Motobecane Vent Noir. It was a toss-up between that and the cheaper Motobecane Record. In the end I decided on the nicer features of the Vent Noir and (I'm somewhat sorry to say) I just liked the looks of the Vent Noir so much better (I've always loved black bicycles).

So I've ridden it a few times and it is nice. It definitely needs a tune-up though. I will say that it is fast, it's not like all of the sudden I'm Lance Armstrong, but it did give me a couple of extra miles per hour on my ride this past Saturday. It accelerates much quicker and I can go faster on downhills when I get in a more aerodynamic position. I was expecting some improvement on the uphills, but when I weight 230 pounds what's a few pounds difference in a bike? Mostly it's just a lot more fun to ride.

So, on to some of the things I like. It has a carbon fork, which is nice for weight and for smoothing out road vibrations. I like the Shimano 105 rear derailleur (mid-level quality). I wish the Tiagra shift levers were the new ones since they have little windows that indicate what gear you're in, but you can't have it all. The wheelset is light and has a low spoke count with aerodynamic, bladed spokes. I'm a little bit worried about that, hopefully they will hold up under my weight. I've yet to try the included clipless pedals but I'm a little disappointed that they are only one-sided, I wish they would have advertised that. I like that it's a triple, even though I rarely use the smallest chainring. I'll probably replace the saddle and pedals soon. Maybe I'll get a Shimano Flight Deck cyclo-computer at some point. The frame is a respected brand, Kinesis. The components are also well respected Shimano Tiagra and 105. The bar, stem and seat post also are from well known companies. It looks like the pedals and saddle is really the only place they skimped. The wheelset is from the American equivalent of a good European name, not sure what the relationship is there. Overall I'm please so far. I've had some pops and creaks come from it that I can't seem to get rid of though, but that's probably normal for a new bike. Hopefully the shop can take care of it in the tune-up. Other than that I'm loving it.

Oh, and I am taking some of the riskier traffic routes now that I can really mash and hold my own with the cars (area with lots of lights). So far I usually max out at about 35 mph on the commute home, I can't seem to break that. We'll see what the future brings.