Monday, April 20, 2009

My SCARY story

The weather here in Spokane has been beautiful!! So, last Wednesday we decided to go for a walk. We loaded Ella up into the stroller, strapped on Hunter's bike helmet and set off for the bike trail that runs along the river. It's only about a 10 minute walk from our house, it's so great! Anyhow, Chris was pushing the stroller and I was walking next to Hunter on his bike. We started down the hill that goes from the road down to the trail. I told Hunter "stay on your brakes just like you did last time so you go slow down the hill." Hunter agrees and down we go. All of a sudden Hunter starts FLYING down the hill. I am yelling "BRAKES HUNTER!!" and take off running after him. He just keeps picking up speed. As I am running down I realize that he is not going to stop and the end result will be either him riding into the very swollen fast running river, slamming into the big tree on the other side of the trail, or flying over his handle bars into the jagged rocks that line the side of the river.

At the bottom of the hill there just so happened to be 3 men standing by their bikes talking to each other. One man sees what is happening. He runs over to the bottom of the hill, holds out his arms and stands right in the path of Hunter. Right as Hunter reaches the man, this stranger sticks his arms through Hunter's and lifts him up off of the bike. Thank God that that man was there. When I finally reached the bottom I quickly said to the man "thank you so much," and knelt down in front of Hunter. His eyes were huge and with a panicked voice he said "mom I was on my brakes..." and just started sobbing. Which of course made me start sobbing. I picked up my big 5 year old boy and held on tight. His heart was beating so fast and so hard. I felt nauseous. I could have lost my son, or at the very least had a badly injured and broken boy.

Chris made it down to the bottom of the hill with Ella. He was pretty pissed. He said he was yelling at me to take Ella so he could run after Hunter, he tried to ditch the stroller off to the side but the hill was too steep. He said he felt so helpless. I never heard him, I was solely focused on Hunter. Chris did say that Hunter was on his brakes the entire time. Apparently when you are on a bike with training wheels and lean to one side the back wheel can leave the pavement. Well, in a small bike like that the brakes work the back wheel. So, Hunter was in fact on his brakes, and the back wheel wasn't turning, only his training wheels. Poor Hunter, I can't imagine how scared he was, knowing that he was doing what he was supposed to do and it not working.

I just thought I had better share this story so all you moms out there know not to let your children ride their bikes down hill, especially if they are on training wheels. The interesting part of this story is that just a few days before this happened the kids and I had walked the same route. When we first started out though, Hunter's new bike had a flat tire so we had to go back and switch them out. Hunter's older bike is one of those that is in the shape of a chopper/motorcycle, where it is shorter the seat is further towards the back, the tires are much wider, and the bike itself is really heavy. So we had gone down the hill before but on this other bike, the wider tires allowed for contact on the pavement. Thank God. Hunter
is still saying at least once a day "I'm so glad that man saved me."

After Hunter and I settled down he wanted to continue on our walk. I had brought my camera so I could snap some pics, so I did. Before we had left the house I had a little photo shoot with Hunter (and attempted to take pics of the two kiddos together), anyhow here is a lot of pics....
Before..












The best big brother












Sitting on Bubba's back.

























Her new cheesy smile
with her eyes closed





































See my teeth!














He is just so beautiful!!



















































On our walk...











































The Spokane river.



































Thumbs up, we're all better!






















Isn't it beautiful out there?












See how close to
the river?










Hunter took this pic
of Chris and I.









Ella was exhausted after her
long walk : )

21 comments:

Molly said...

Wow! I am anxious just thinking about that. My dad once scooped up a little girl right as she was about to run into the street.

Jennifer said...

Thank the Lord He was watching over ya'll. Miss you!

Bethany said...

Oh my goodness! I need a pic of the hill and the bottom to visualize it better. LOL. Poor little guy. Hills scare the crap out of me because they think they can do it and I know one of these times, Mason is gonna bite it. I wish we lived closer ... our kids would have so much fun together! Love the pics too!

lisavengesta said...

that is so scary!! thank God that he's okay. poor little thing; and poor you! i can't imagine.
the pictures are gorgeous. hunter and ella both have the cutest faces! and i love the pic. of you guys! :)

Kristen said...

That is a scary story!! Hunter has a guardian angel with fast wings!!

Wendy P said...

Thank the Lord!! How terrifying!

Anne and Whitney: Up, Down and All Around said...

so scary!!! THANK GOD that man was there and willing to stand in Hunter's path to stop him from going into the river!!!
I love the pics of the kids... Anne always loves to see pictures and videos of Ella Grace! We have the same cheesy smile with the eyes closed going on here too :)
By the way - what shampoo/conditioner/gel do you use for your curls - they look so pretty in the picture of you and Chris!

Anonymous said...

That is so scary...I'm so sorry that happened to you all. I'm glad it worked out ok. I'm glad you shared b/c I would not have know that about the training wheels!!

Your pictures are beautiful!

TUC said...

"The best big brother" is such a beautiful picture. You should blow up and frame that one!

This was a scary story. We just got a big boy bike with training wheels, so thanks for the heads-up.

Mary said...

Great pictures. Hunter took a good one of you and Chris.

Tricia said...

Thank God that man was there to grab onto Hunter! So scary!

Ssejors said...

Wow! Hunter! What a story! It's a good thing that man was there. Probably a good experience for Hunter in a way. Good that he will be more cautious and good because he got to see someone do something very amazing to help someone else out as well. Kindness! And Ella! /Swoon! That girl is so stunning! She looks so happy hanging with her big bro! Looks like you guys had a great day. Hunter took a really good pic of you guys!

datri said...

Oh my! How frightening! That man must have been a guardian angel!

Aunt Tami said...

Whew!!! That was a close one! I am sure Chris was ticked!! Oh well he is a boy, and that is just the first of many heart stopping moments! Glad he is ok. Love the pics of him on his bike, is that the one he bought with the gift card from Mimi and Papa? They told me about his little shopping trip! How cute! Love the pic of you and Chris, finally and pic of you guys too! And of course little missy is just so beautiful as always! I love the pic of her and Hunter sitting by the trees!! Makes me miss you all even more!!!! Love ya's--Aunt Tami and family

Mommy to those Special Ks said...

Oh my gosh that brought tears to my eyes. How terrifying! Thank GOD that man was at the bottom of the hill!!! I'm SO glad he's ok!!!

Pallavi said...

Hi kacey,

I have been following your blog for quite a while now.
I love Ella and Hunter.
Ella is very pretty.

Your blog and Ella have inspired me to write about my daughter.

Do visit my blog. I am a novice to blogging/writting. I am learning from Mommy bloggers

Give my Love to Ella.

Take Care

Pallavi

Monica Crumley said...

What a frightening experience! Thank God for the man who acted quickly. The photos of your kiddos (and you and your husband) are stunning! Beautiful family.

Cheryl said...

I'm so glad Hunter is o.k. How scary!
The pictures are great!

kecia said...

Wow what a SCARY story! I am SO glad that man was there to help you! thank goodness for angels around us huh?! Love all the cute pictures! ella is starting to look so old!

Nicki said...

That sounds scary! The guy who saved him was quick-thinking... my first instinct probably would have been to stop the bike, not to grab the kid off to keep him from falling!

FBF Rothkopf said...

Yikes! But wow, those pictures are gorgeous!