Brakes! Lily, put on your brakes!

We ventured out on our first bike ride as a family of four yesterday. Jade is just now ready to ride in our bike trailer, so we got her settled in, and Lily in her gear and headed out.

We got to the park and headed over the pond.

Saw a cool bird.

Were intimidated by some aggressive geese.

Finally found some ducks to feed.

Got packed back up and headed home.

Sound perfect? Too perfect?

We love the bike paths here in town. Over a couple of bridges and through some shady woods we went. After typing that I can hear my mom singing, "Over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go...." However, Jade started fussing on the way back, so Jerry sped up and went ahead of us to free her from restraint as soon as possible. Lily was about 20 feet behind me when the bike path began to come to an end. It ended at a "T" with the sidewalk of our street, a fairly busy street. It also ended with quite a little hill, steeper than I remembered it to be as we ascended it just an hour earlier. I called back to her to slow down and put on her brakes. I quickly realized that her braking experience was not going to be enough. So I got to a stopping point and started to get off my bike so I could slow her down by grabbing her handle bars. As I turned around to do this, she sped past me, down the hill, crossed the sidewalk and went over the curb. RIGHT OUT ONTO THE STREET.

A busy street. Not busy, like traffic light busy, but busy enough. Not that it really matters. One car on a very quiet street would have been enough to change our lives forever.

Not to sound too dramatic, her entire life, all 3 years, 8 months and 7 days of it, flashed before me in 3 seconds. She immediately crashed after going over the curb and came to a stop, the bike on top of her, about 5 feet into the street. I screamed so loud that Jerry heard me and came back and a neighbor lady came running to help with ice bags.

I ran to get her out of harm's way and assess the injuries. Not a scratch to be found. Anywhere. She was crying just from being scared or maybe just because her mommy was screaming like a mad woman, but not a scratch to be found. Go and buy your Disney helmet, knee and elbow pad set now!

Daddy fetched the car and we drove home safely.

Later though we noticed she was favoring her right arm, holding her left arm stiffly at her side. No swelling or bruising though, so we went on with our plan to go see my step-father an hour away.

When we got there, my mom and sister, immediately knew she had broken her arm. So, we cut our visit short, skipped dinner with extended family, and headed for the kid's urgent care center near home.

Sure enough. She had fractured her left humerus where it meets the elbow. 5 x-rays, an empty wallet, and a grape popsicle later, we left with a bright yellow temporary cast.

I always thought knowing a good pediatrician would be enough. Now we've met a pediatric GI (for Lily's potty issues) and will be meeting a pediatric orthopedist as well. Hopefully he'll have a pink or purple cast to give us. Like Tricia or SweetPea's latest ones?

So, without further delay, here are the pics of my newly casted girl. Put on your sunglasses...the yellow is bright!

I don't think this is going to slow her down one bit. I will need to postpone her swim lessons though. Unless I'm able not only to talk the doc into a pink or purple cast, but a waterproof one as well. That would be nice just for bathtime I'm thinking. I've got some things to learn about caring for a casted kid...bathing, car seat comfort, clothes that work...fun stuff!