Bike Trailer Vent

Most of you probably don't know, but I have been looking for a bike trailer for about 3-4 months. If you have never priced a bike trailer, you probably don't realize how expensive they are can be. Yes, there are cheap ones, but I don't think I would trust putting my kids in some of those and the reviews on them are terrible. I've learned that it's just something you have to be willing to pay a little bit of money for.

At the stores in town, I was left with very few options. You have one at Walmart for $165, which looks somewhat decent, or you have the really great ones at Sports Authority that run between $400-$600. No thanks! Then of course there is Amazon. I found a really great one with tons of positive reviews for about $150.

Even though that is my best option, I'm not sure I want to pay $150 for something I have never even tried before. What if Will hates it? What if I hate it? So finally, I decided to try and find one used....at yard sales, ksl, or where ever else I could. And I've had pretty amazing luck finding them, and getting really good deals. The problem: securing the purchase and getting it home!

Case #1: I saw an ad for a yard sale that was going to have a bike trailer, and the brand was for one of the really expensive ones. The yard sale was from 8am-12pm in Smithfield (about a 15 minute drive). I got off work early just so I could make sure to be there right at 8am sharp. I got there at 7:55am and the trailer was already sold.

Case #2: Again, another trailer at a yard sale. I got there really early and actually managed to be the first one to claim it. It was a nicer brand, though a very old model. She only wanted $50 so it was perfect. I was about ready to throw it in my car, but then we realized that she couldn't find the attachment to connect the trailer to the bike. I waited for about 45 minutes while she looked for it. I wasn't sure how much the attachments were, but I figured they couldn't be too much...so I planned on buying it with or without it. Instead, she told me to leave my phone number and she would call me when she found it. She didn't have paper or phone on her, so I took her number instead and told her I would send her a text to remind her. I even offered to pay for it then, but she said no and I went home empty handed. I texted her several times, but never got an answer. I was tempted to just drive to her house and ask about it, but I was too chicken and figured she just sold it to someone else. In just the 45 minutes I waited, there was at least 5-8 people that wanted to buy the trailer.

Case #3: There is a facebook group called Cache Valley Classifieds that people sell/buy things. It's great. Anyways, I decided it might be easier to find a trailer on there. I was logged into the group, but not really paying attention (cause I was playing a game on different web page.) Once my game was over and I checked the classifieds, someone had just posted a trailer for $50. They had posted it 11 minutes before, and within about 8 minutes, someone had already claimed it and talked her down to $40. Seriously? If I would've check about 5 minutes before. 5 minutes!!!

Case #4: This time I got to a yard sale and there one was! Yahoo! But as I was looking at it and making sure I wanted it, I was informed that it was already sold. Barely missed out, yet again!

Are you starting to see a pattern here? How many times will I miss a sale?

Case #5: This one was pretty heartbreaking and only happened a few days ago. I found a trailer in the classifieds. It was the same one selling at Walmart for $165, but she was selling it for $75. I talked her down to $65 and she gave me her address so I could come pick it up. Turns out she lived about an hour away in Idaho. With our car having so many problems, I just didn't trust driving it. I'm sure it would have been fine, but I didn't want to take a chance, so I told her I would have to pass and to sell it to someone else.

At this point I was getting really discouraged. It seemed like I was destined to fail at getting a bike trailer. The whole purpose was so I could ride it around all summer and take Will to the pool in it, or the park, etc. And now, summer is almost over and I am still bike trailer-less. I vented some on facebook and a friend responded that maybe I wasn't supposed to get any of those other ones because a nicer, cheaper one was waiting for me. It seemed as if she was right..for the very next day...

Case #6: I found the exact same trailer as case #5, but it was located in Logan and she was only asking $50. I asked if she would do $40, which she said she would do $45. I told her I definitely wanted it and that I could come pick it up right away. She sent me her address, but then before I could even leave, she sent me a message saying that someone had offered her $100 for it and she had to take that offer.

Really? I think spent the next few hours ranting to Lance and complaining about how people hate me and blah blah blah. (This was just a few days ago.)  So now I'm even wondering if I should bother. By the time I actually get one, it'll be snowing and I wont be able to use it anyways. I should've just gone with the one on Amazon in the first place, but now that I know there are so many used ones out there, I hate to spend that much. Then again, it might be worth my sanity and saving me some frustration.

Anyways...sorry to vent. Pretty frustrating when it happens once or twice, but to have 6 missed opportunities in the last few months is just wrong. Maybe one day I'll laugh about it...maybe.

Congratulations on those of you who actually read this whole thing. I'm sure it was long, boring, and not exactly interesting and for that I apologize.

15 Months Old

Weight: 25.4 lbs - 62%
Height: 32 inches - 77%
Head Circumference - 49 cm - 92%

Will had his 15 month appointment a few weeks ago, but I'm just now getting to this post. The doctor says he's doing great and there are no concerns. He is learning new things everyday, and he really likes to keep Lance and I on our toes.

Will has been stung by a bee twice this summer. Poor kid. I didn't have my first bee sting until I was in my 20s! He loves to play with our gate in the backyard, and I found out the hard way that there was a nest in the gate.

He loves cereal for breakfast and will eat any kind. He especially likes mini wheats, honey bunches of oats, cheerios, etc.

He's been on a new kick lately where he has to feed himself. He wont eat if I try to feed him. So I have to put the food on the fork/spoon, then hand it to him so he can feed himself. The problem is, often times he'll turn the spoon upside down on the way to his mouth and the food gets everywhere. But he's learning and getting better all the time. He can now stab watermelon with the fork and eat it by himself.

This was a particularly messy night. There was spaghetti all over him, the floor, everywhere.

He loves to find his belly button (and anyone else too). He'll pull his shirt up tosearch until he can find it, then he'll smile and laugh. Then he runs over to Lance and lifts his shirt to find his belly button.

He still typically takes a morning nap, but an afternoon nap is really dependent on the day. For some reason, when he does take afternoon naps, he is such a grouch when he wakes up. The only thing that will take him out of his bad mood is if we go outside.

He knows how to say nose and eyes, and he will point to them. I haven't gotten him to point to his own yet, but he can show me where my eyes are.

Will loves to play with cars, trains, or anything of that nature.


He is so close to being able to climb onto the couch. If someone is sitting there that he can grab, he can make it. Otherwise, he climbs onto the love sac, then climbs over the arm of the couch. He does this several times a day.

 He has also started a new "game" where he climbs to the top of the love sac, then he falls and rolls down into the love sac. Or he'll sit on the arm of the couch, then he'll purposely fall off into the love sac.

Will also loves events that involve counting such as: being thrown into the love sac, holding our hands and swinging into the air, etc. He gets so excited, he often lifts his feet up before we get to three. And if we wait too long in between, he'll say "two"...


I've also been trying to get Will to say "please". At the beginning he would throw a fit because I wouldn't give him what he wanted. Then there was a miracle day where he actually said it. So of course I made a big deal, clapping and getting all excited. Well, that got him excited and he started to associate please with clapping. So now when I ask him to say please, he claps.

He loves to play in the closet while I'm on the computer. He will go in, close both of the doors so he's standing there in the dark, then open them. Though it keeps him entertained, it has also resulted in smashed fingers on more than one occasion.

Will gets so excited if you tell him we're going outside, for a walk, or for a ride. He gets a huge smile on his face, drops whatever he's doing, and books it for the door. He's learning that we don't leave until we put shoes on. So when I say shoes, he also gets excited because he know we are going somewhere.

When I am sitting on the couch, Will likes to find a flip flop and put it on my feet. Then he'll take it off, just to put it back on.

He loves riding his little four-wheeler. But often times he will stand next to it, push the button, and watch the wheels spin. Our carpet is going to be destroyed because he loves watching those wheel spin.

 He also loves to do crazy stunts, like stand on the seat or lean back as far as he can. He's such a goof ball.

He is very much a ladies man at church and has quite the female following. I can't walk down the hall with him without some young woman or girl ooo-ing and ah-ing and excited to see him. Lance finds it very amusing.

He is very active and refuses to sit still for more than 2 seconds. This makes church VERY difficult. We've had to put him in nursery a few times when Lance had to work and he did AWESOME! Only 2 more months until he can officially go, and we can't wait.

Will has been waking up really early lately, so often times we will bring him into our room to lay with us for a few minutes while we finish waking up. This morning I was exhausted and really not wanting to get out of bed. But apparently Will was really hungry. He went into the kitchen, opened the dish washer, found a bowl and utensil, and brought them to me. I took the hint and got out of bed to feed him.

Will loves to clap. While we were watching the Olympics, he would clap whenever it showed the audience clapping.

He has also started waving. It's a pretty adorable wave, but hard to describe. It involves the whole arm and a flappy wrist. He waves to people as we leave the gym, the grocery store, or pretty much anywhere. Gets him a lot of smiles.

Will loves the picture of the temple we have. He just looks at it and tries to say temple. I always sing "I love to See the Temple" and today he started dancing around. Then shortly later, it looked like he was folding his arms.

He throws a tantrum if his blankets are stuck in his crib. He will tug at them and tug, but if he can't pull them out, he freaks.

Will used to love bath time but lately is more of a fight than anything. Mostly, he just hates to lay on his back, which means the only way to wash his hair is to pour water over his head (which he hates just as much). I feel bad every time, but he seems to get over it pretty quickly.

Will loves to help with laundry. When I transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer, he likes to help. Anything I drop or hand him, he will throw into the dryer, then he will slam the door closed.

Like I said, he is growing fast and learning a lot. He has really moved past the baby stage and right into being a toddler. Even though he has his rough moments or days, he really is a happy and content kid most of the time, especially if we are around other people. We're so lucky to be his parents.

Weekend Trip Part 3: Lake Powell

After a long day dealing with our car problems, we finally made it to the lake. It was getting dark fast, so we quickly threw our tent up and got our camp ready. We were exhausted and went to bed early.

Will was up bright and early the next morning.

The sun was just barely starting to come up over the cliffs.

He is wearing the necklace I got from my grandma that passed away.

Of course, he had to find the biggest rock and try to throw it.

Ignore my shadow.
Picture of our campsite. Our tent is actually behind the motor home on the other side.

It didn't take long before Will had fallen in and was completely soaked.

Guess I should've just put him in his swimsuit immediately.

Later in the day, Will found a nice mud pit. He has been obsessed lately with trying to walk up and down steps, so it was fun for him to climb in and out of it. One time, he slipped and went face first directly into the mud.

And what do I do? Grab my camera as fast as I can!

Mud was caked in his eyes, eyelashes, nose, everywhere. He was not happy that I wanted to take pictures instead of clean it off.

The most popular ride/event for our family: the water weenie.

They all wiped out right after this shot.

I thought this picture was awesome. Everyone else had just barely fallen off and he was trying his best to stay on. He didn't make it.

Chillin at the front of the boat, watching everyone else ride.

Because it was so hot and noisy, Will pretty much skipped naps the entire time we were there. A few short ones here and there, but not as much as he'd have liked. The result was a very tired boy, and sometimes a boy content to just sit there.

Lance enjoying a ride. They were trying to go up some steep rocks and actually ended up flipping it on its side. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Will liked to play on all of the toys.

Looks like he is ready for a ride!

On our way out to take Lance for a ride on one of the tubes, the boat broke down. We were only a couple hundred yards from shore, luckily. My niece Danielle swam to get help. Meanwhile, my dad pulled out some skis and started rowing us back.

Everyone else jumped in the water, grabbed the rope, and started swimming us back.

Fortunately, Danielle was able to get someone to come tow us back to came.

On Saturday night, a storm decided to blow in. It rained a bit and was EXTREMELY windy. Our tent is about 90% mesh, then it has a tarp that attaches over the top. The wind would blow the cover up, then send sand storming into our tent. We literally felt like we were sleeping outside because it was raining on us and we were getting covered in sand. I had to cover my face because sand kept falling into my eyes. Luckily, Will slept through all of it and he wasn't bothered.

Here is a picture of Will's bed the next morning. I know it doesn't necessarily look like a ton of sand, but it was!

Will saw me sweeping out our tent and he decided it looked fun. Isn't he such a good helper?

Even when its not being pulled behind the boat, the water weenie is still very popular and the kid love to jump off of it.

His favorite thing was to sit on the edge right there, then slide off into the water. (Someone would catch him of course.) You couldn't put him back on fast enough, and the second you set him down, he'd slide right back off. This lasted forever. I don't think I've ever seen him entertained by the same thing for such a long period of time.

My sister Cindy had school up in Boise on Monday, so we headed back to Salt Lake City on Sunday. We took a little stop in Scipio to get gas and stopped to see the petting zoo.

It was a good break for the kids to get out of the car and stretch their legs. Though Will wasn't quite sure what to think of the animals.

We stayed overnight in Salt Lake then my sister dropped us off in Logan on her way to Idaho. We were really lucky that we were able to get a ride home and not add that to another of our worries for the weekend.