Ripstick

This is a ripstick.

Thalia brought it with her...and it was a hit. Just about everyone, except - thankfully - Saddie, tried their luck at riding it. This blogger decided pretty quickly that it wasn't for me - no sirree, it would be an emergency room visit.

Thalia is a master... uphill, downhill, in circles, walking Blu... she's good, really good!Thalia and I were on a walk - well, wait a minute - I was on a walk and Thalia was cruising along on her ripstick. We were on this beautiful trail. Thalia, who loves nature, was able to look all around, ask questions about things she was seeing, and still just cruise effortlessly on her ripstick! "Come on, Mimi!"
Now Lindsey is an athlete, always has been, and she has great balance. It didn't take her anytime at all to master the ripstick. Oh, she wasn't as good as Thalia, but then again, she only had a few days.
Look at that form...
There she goes... past the Great White......down to the end of the cul-de-sac......back up the hill she came. Oh, oops! Well, just a little loss of balance..."Whew! This ripstick business is tough!" (Actually, I don't really know if Lindsey said this or not, but it fits the photo!)Thalia was good at instructing. I think here she was showing Lindsey how best to come up the hill.Gabe decided to try it... as his mother, I tried to convince him to not do it with glass in his hand. Did he listen to me? Why no! I just knew we'd see the emergency room doctor. Here comes Lindsey again. She did the 'around the wheelbarrow' maneuver. ...and the 'around Dad working' path... (notice her concentration!)...I'm sure her dear brother, Gabe, is telling her how easy it all is...Saddie was enjoying the escapades of her grandkids and great-granddaughter! Saddie was also hoping she would NOT get to meet any emergency room doctors on this visit.Now Joshua may appear to be... well, 'holding on for dear life' could be used here. But I actually think he is holding on so his Saddie won't be nervous.My guy, not to be outdone by his boys, got on the ripstick. Now I cannot tell a lie, nor deceive the readers of this blog, so what I will tell you is this.... My guy was actually holding on until the split second that he screamed, "NOW!" and simultaneously he let go and I snapped this amazing photograph!Now Joshua could not let his baby brother and baby sister put him down... so he showed us his skill on the ripstick. Again, he started off slow - JUST for his Saddie's peace of mind...of course!
Lindsey notices her brother's excellent form ....Notice his shirt billowing in the breeze... Now, this may look like a spill, but actually it's not. Josh did this on purpose. He was trying to show everyone how to GRACEFULLY get off the ripstick. I did a close up so you could see his gracefulness!Oh geez, forget it Gabe. (Ahhh, no glass in his hand!)Well, rats. The glass is back, but do you notice anything different?

Come on...look a little closer at the 'ripstick'... yep, it's NOT a ripstick. No, it's a dolly. Now this is not one of Lindsey's old dollies...but the dolly my guy bought to move the piano. Gabe wanted to show he was multi-talented. He can not only ride a ripstick, but he can also ride a piano dolly!
Lindsey and Gabe giving their command performance... dualing ripsticks!Saddie enjoyed the show...Actually, we all did!