Bonne Bay Regatta 2011 Bike Parade

As a child my siblings and I never participated in the Annual Kids Bike Parade at the Bonne Bay Regatta. I don't know why. I should ask.

Getting my own child involved didn't even cross my mind. Seriously. I guess it just wasn't in my range of "normal" so I didn't consider it for Sarah.

Until last year when Christa (she couldn't believe I hadn't already considered attending. She ALWAYS did the bike parade as a child. Apparantly I missed out on some good times.) came home in July with baby Jesse and had this fabulous idea: Sarah would be the "hunter" on her 4-wheeler bike all dressed in camo and Jesse would be the moose in the forest. It was an awesome idea and went over really well. We had the cutest little bike in the parade ever!

This year, with the parade on my radar, but without Christa for an idea, I hadn't the slightest clue what I was going to do. The night before the parade, I was in a little bit of a panic. For those of you who don't me, this is normal for me, I almost always work at the last second, and find it unleashes some of my best "work". I enlisted Mom's help. She's the carpenter of the family. And by "carpenter" I mean she's able to measure accurately, saw a piece of board off, and use a hammer to construct a basic structure.

Building the frame

Attaching the frame to the bike

 Painting the details - these are the castle doors

11:19pm: Flags Flying from the castle towers and all done!!

10:15am: Princess Sarah has arrived, decked out in her finest dress, and is waiting to get started

Sarah peddling her little heart out (she was very excited!) with Margie pushing Charlotte in the stroller

We had a fantastic time in the summer sun. Sarah had never gone on the road with her bike and extremely excited to be peddling all the way around the Woody Point loop. She needed a little guidance up the hill (thank you to Christa's dad, Barry) and also needed help staying out of the ditch when she started looking at the other kids instead of looking in front of her....haha!

Although she didn't win a prize, I personally think Sarah's bike turned out wonderfully and was definitely one of my favourites.

And then when it was all said and done, we finished up with a free ice cream from the Lighthouse Restaurant - a welcome treat!

Charlotte may be big enough to go on the tricycle next year - I wonder what we'll come up with...