urbanMamas Portland

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!  Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do with your kiddos, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

This week's ladybug nature walk promises to be a good one - walk through the Columbia Slough with your preschooler and discover this beautiful natural area.  $3/preschooler.

The Portland Rose Festival's City Fair kicks off this weekend.  Enjoy rides, food, exotic animals, shopping, and lots more along Tom McCall Waterfront Park.  Friday from 5-11, and Saturday through Monday from 11 to 11.  $5 for ages 7 and up. 

Head to University Park Community Center on Friday at 5 for the 6th Annual Spring Fling Penny Carnival.  Free, but bring your pennies! 

The Multnomah County Fair is this Saturday through Monday from 12 to 7 at Oaks Amusement Park.  Dancing, pig racing, bands, talent shows, water balls - plus the rides of Oaks Park.  Admission is free.

Take a library story walk at the Spring Garden Park in Southwest with a Capitol Hill Library youth librarian.  This special storytime will explore a book and the park at the same time.  Saturday at 10:30.  Free!

Yarr!  There be a pirate celebration going on at the Children’s Museum Saturday from 9:30 to 3:30!  Create your own treasure chest, meet a mermaid, or take in a puppet show.  Free with museum admission.  Additional craft fees may apply.  

It's Open Cockpit Day at the Pearson Air Museum on Saturday from 10 to 5.  Visitors can sit inside a T-28 Trojan and Ryan PT-21 and experience the museum's light simulator lab.  $7 adults, $5 ages 6-17, free 5 and under. 

Oh no!  There's an alien invasion at the Sellwood-Moreland Library Saturday at 10:30!  Storyteller Rick Huddle will take you on an adventure to help save the planet.  Free!

The Tigard Library is hosting a pachyderm portmanteau party on Saturday at 2, based on the book Elephabet by Hilary Pfeifer.  In this hands-on workshop you can draw your own pachyderm portmanteaus!  Free!

Every Sunday, the Portland Art Museum holds a family tour, in which a docent skilled at engaging visitors of all ages leads the tour.  Tours are free with admission and free for kids 17 and under.   

The Portland Youth Philharmonic is performing a free concert showcase at Jackson Middle School on Sunday at 4.  No tickets necessary.  

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization – especially on this holiday weekend.

Jennifer Murdock Photography offers contemporary design, that will put the joy of your family, in your home for a lifetime. 

Check out our giveaway tab to enter to win an in studio session and free print from Jennifer.

A new study illuminates why pedestrian- and bike-friendly streets are so important, not just for the health and environmental impact of neighborhood residents but also for kids' fear and sense of overall well-being. As the post in The Atlantic points out, "Automobile collisions disproportionately kill kids, for starters. Heavy traffic also prevents them from playing on their neighborhood streets. And communities with limited opportunities for walking and playing outside have been shown to have higher rates of childhood obesity, which can lead to serious health complications in later life."

But the new study by Bruce Appleyard, a Portland-based urban planner and designer (and son of an urbanist who famously showed how heavy traffic in a neighborhood increases disconnection, disatisfaction and loneliness) talks about ground-level concerns, the ones I have a lot with my own kids: knowing their way around and being happy in the place where they live.

Bruce showed that kids in low-traffic, walkable neighborhoods remembered more features of their neighborhoods and remembered playing in more parts of their neighborhood than kids in high-traffic neighborhoods where they spent more time in cars. What's more, they simply liked their neighborhoods more and felt safer (according to the "cognitive mapping" techniques he used). He wrote, "In sum, as exposure to auto traffic volumes and speed decreases, a child’s sense of threat goes down, and his/her ability to establish a richer connection and appreciation for the community rises."

Later, he went back to the high-traffic neighborhood after it had undergone improvements in walkability and bike infrastructure. They knew more about their neighborhoods, and, he wrote, "Before the improvements were made in the heavy-traffic-exposure neighborhood, many children drew expressions of dislike and danger associated with automobiles and were unable to represent any detail of the surrounding environment -- possibly feeling overwhelmed by the threats posed by the automobiles. After the improvements alleviated the exposure to these threats, there were indeed fewer expressions of danger and dislike, indicating a greater sense of comfort and well-being."

I've thought about trying this experiment on my own kids, having them draw maps of the neighborhood (without scientific rigor, given that I know next to nothing about cognitive mapping). I think it would be a great way to celebrate Walk and Bike to School month.

Hop over to our giveaway tab to enter to win a copy of the new book, "French Kids Eat Everything" by Karen Le Billon!

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check out the kid-friendly event listings at PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

The Tualatin River Bird Festival begins this Friday and continues through Sunday at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge.  There are bird walks, drop-in activities for kids (like nature-related crafts), and lots more bird-related fun.  Most events are free, but some have an additional charge.

Learn about water safety, and have fun doing it, at the Mt Scott Community Center this Friday from 6 to 8.  Enjoy an evening of swimming with fun activities, games and prizes, as well as water safety information. There will also be a free drawing for lifejackets. $0-4.50 based on age.

The Hillsboro Library is presenting a free showing of the 2011 Muppets Movie on Friday at 6:30.  Recommended for ages 4 and up.  Popcorn provided.

Oh boy, this is my son's dream come true. Dozer Days return to Vancouver this Saturday and Sunday from 11 to 4.  Kids can get in the drivers seat of actual dump trucks, dozers, excavators, and other construction trucks.  $5-10.  

Rachel Coleman, Emmy-Nominated Star and co-creator of Signing Time is performing at the St Philip Neri Catholic Church on Saturday at 12.  Tickets start at $2.

On Saturday from 1 to 2, head to Director Park to hear All Together for Music in Portland Public Schools.  Children in grades K-12 will sing songs in the park and share their love of music.  Free!

Kidical Mass hits the Southeast this month.  Join in on this family-friendly bike ride with a meetup at Mt Scott Park, a ride, and then a barbeque potluck.  The bike ride starts Saturday at 2.

Join in the fun at the Montavillage Spring Fair at the Creative Science School on Sunday from 1 to 4.  The free event includes food, local vendors, yard games, live music (including by Mo Phillips), arts and crafts, sustainability events, and a free raffle.

Learn more about edible wild plants at the Central Library on Sunday at 1.  Dr. John Kallas will show you how to identify, harvest, and prepare wild plants.  Free!

Head to Queens Mab on Friday from 11 to 1 for a creative recycling workshop on art gardening and toadstools. Every child will get a planter (shoe, boot or pot), an edible plant,
and a toadstool to paint.   For ages 2-16, $10.  Preregistration required - sign up at creativerecyclingworkshops@gmail.com or https://www.facebook.com/CreativeRecylingWorkshops

And with this weather, you may be looking forward to summer!  PDX Kids Calendar has a great listing of summer fun throughout Portland for you and your kiddos  - festivals, movies, Sunday Parkways, farmers markets…. 

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

My children are fortunate frequent recipients of little knick and knacks from their family members - maybe a package of socks, maybe a bundle of those silly bandz (which are so "out", by the way), maybe a new kids' magazine, maybe a bag of their favorite dried fruit, maybe a new notebook, maybe a bunch of stickers.

In a recent care package, they received a stack of new camisoles and frilly underthings, among the items for my older [11.5yo] daughter were a couple of bras, full out cupped with double-hook closures in the back.  A couple of years back, when my daughter was bra curious, we picked out a couple of short cami numbers, pullover type of sports-bra looking things.  "Trainers" perhaps one would call them, but I really thought of them as half-camisoles.  (wondering where to get your daughter fit for a bra?  here are a few suggestions.)

Anyway, I have to admit: when I saw that someone else had given my first-born, my eldest daughter, her "first bra", I felt miffed.  I mean, should *I* be the one to go pick one out for her, buy it for her?  Isn't it a right of passage, stepping from childhood to teenagehood, from girlhood to womanhood?  Or a small step?

I am reminded of an episode of Parenthood, when a boy's mom's new boyfriend offers to take the boy to a football game.  His dad, however, wasn't keen on the idea of someone else - especially his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend - taking his son to his first football game.

There are "firsts" and there are special moments that ought to be shared between parent and child, or perhaps I am just nostalgic about it.  Among the things I feel that only mama should do: buy a girl her first bra, have a first alcoholic beverage with their child (whether it be at 21 or before), give baby his first bath, teach the tyke how to ride a bike, take him for her first hair cut ...  what other "firsts"?  I am sure there are more.  What are yours?  Is it a big deal or no?

We all have plenty of traditions for Mother's Day: spending the day pedaling with other women, running with other women. We have hopes & wishes and even more Mama Day thoughts.

I am very fortunate to have my own mama in my life, and I am even more fortunate to now live within a quick drive of my mama, for the first time in almost 20 years.  And, so, for the first time in my life as a mama, I find myself trying to reinvent my mother's day traditions, not as a mother, but as my mother's daughter.

This will be my 11th year as a mother, and there are some strong traditions that have developed over the years.  My husband is excellent at helping and guiding the kids in helping to make the day special for me, and it always starts with a homemade breakfast in bed.  I feel like a queen having my coffee delivered to me, nice and piping hot, prepared without me even having to open my eyes or rise from slumber.  There are many other traditions for me/us: no doing dishes/laundry/chores, and an active family activity of my choice, whether it be a bike ride or hike or walk around a new neighborhood.

Well, this year, I am planning something for my mama, and I am actually also including her mama, as well as her sister, and my daughters.  Four generations of mamas & daughters head out for manicures en masse, a real treat for us all.

In talking with my mother's sister, who has lived with her mother (my grandmother) all her life, she lamented how her mother's days have never been about her as a mother, they have always been in celebration of her mother and her mother-in-law, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but .....

For you, what comes first: celebrating as a mother or as a daughter?

In honor of Mother's Day, Redbeacon is giving away a free house cleaning (yes, again!) valued at $200! Check out our giveaway tab for the details and to enter.

Everyone's talking about it, so why don't we?  What do you think of Time's new cover?  Are you an extended breastfeeder?  What does this image say to you?  

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. Check PDX Kids Calendar for other ideas for kid-friendly activities, and the urbanMamas calendar page.  And happy Mother's Day!

Celebrate National Public Garden Day at the Leach Botanical Gardens on Friday from 9 to 7.  Take a stroll and learn more about the garden and what's in it.  Free!

It’s Book Fan Friday at Powell’s Cedar Hills on Friday at 4:30.  Book Fan Friday is a workshop for kids 10 to 18 years old who love to write. This month, Heather Vogel Frederick (Once upon a Toad) leads a discussion on The Magic of a Good Book Club, finding and growing the perfect story and the perfect summer book club.  Free!

The Ezra Weiss Quartet - a jazz ensemble - is playing at the last Family Friday Concert of the season at the Community Music Center.  Friday at 7:15.  Free, with a $5-15 suggested donation.

This Friday at 7:30 take a night walk at the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, one of the few urban refuges in the country.  Preregistration required.  Free!

The Festival of the Birds is on Saturday from 9 to 3 at Sellwood Park.  Enjoy walks, kid-friendly activities, musicians and other bird-related activities.  Free!

There's free admission to the Washington County Museum this Saturday from 10 to 2.  Among the entertainment is Emmy Blue Enchantments, a storyteller we've heard amazing things about.  Free! 

How does a dinosaur child celebrate his birthday?  Find out at A Dinosaur’s Birthday at the Central library with storytelling and a craft project.  Saturday from 2 to 3.  Free!

The Sixth Annual St. Johns Bizarre is this Saturday from 10 to 7.  Enjoy music, street performers, vendors, food, and kids art activities.  Free!

Summer is here!  Portland Sunday Parkways is gearing up this Sunday from 11-4!  Explore Northeast Portland as portions of it are closed to traffic, and enjoy food, entertainment, and other fun.  Free! 

The last You Who Family Frolic of the season is this Sunday beginning at 1.  The featured performer is Laura Veirs and the Tumble Bees.  At the Kennedy School.  $5 kids, $10 adults. 

Aaron Nigel Smith of Between the Lions plays a free show at the Troutdale Library on Sunday at 2.

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

I did not begin to love Maurice Sendak when I had boys, three of them, all just as wild as Max. I loved him, as most of you did, long before that. I could recite the entire text of Where the Wild Things Are even without the pictures, probably. It's like poetry; it's like Bible verses.

But there is something else. Before I had my boys, before they were very old, I did not really understand it; I felt the mother was hasty and rather too punishing. Surely: if you're going to give in and give him dinner anyway, why send him to bed? Why call him 'Wild Thing'? I shook my head.

As I grew as a parent, I had compassion not just for the boy but for the mother, too. The lucid, elegaic movie based so loosely on the book showed me that mother and tore me up even more and, I felt, explored the true nature of this parent/child relationship: imperfect (as we all are) and intense and marked with the rich internal life and tendency toward emotional overload and explosion as my own boys, and my relationships with them, are. There is that love that overwhelms and then buzzes into absolute impatience. But it is true even across the years and weeks and days and into the monstrous internal struggles or rumpuses with which our children might be rocked. It remains.

And my love will remain for this book and Maurice's true sight into a child's heart. He died today. I will miss him.

If you've written your own tribute to Sendak, please link to it in the comments or send me a note!

This week -- May 7 through 11 -- is Teacher Appreciation Week. (Some schools might have celebrated last week; one of my boys' schools did, due to confusion about what "first week in May" meant.) I really appreciate what parents at Bridger have done, coordinating muffin baking for the teachers' breakfast one day and other fun events. And a big bouquet of lilacs was enough to make one group of teachers' Monday; I highly suggest such a simple, pretty, great-smelling gift (and there are lots of overgrown lilacs in alleys and parking strips... don't they deserve their chance to shine?). Calendula and lavender are going bonkers in front yards right now, and they make a beautiful bouquet. My seven-year-old's teacher is a huge fan of dark chocolate, so I'll pick up a few extra bars of my favorite at People's (it's even on sale this week): Equal Exchange Panama.

We've got a great round-up of teacher's favorite gifts here (from the winter holidays; obviously there will be more options now!). I'd love to hear about innovative and simple ideas like muffin baking and a potluck lunch for teachers hosted by the PTA. And this is your official reminder! Remember that teachers tell us over and over again that their favorite gifts are simple notes of appreciation. Remember, too, that this is a good time to pull your teacher aside and learn a little something about him so that you'll be able to tailor the perfect token of your gratitude for their dedication. Don't forget about the administrators, librarians, art teachers, and the like.

And, since we're also talking about whether teachers will keep their jobs this year (as we seem to do so often) -- though we can thank Sam Adams for proposing to provide cash to keep from the worst cuts Portland Public Schools was planning for next year (thank you Sam! maybe we should send him muffins too) -- Teacher Appreciation Week will be ending with a very large rally and march called "Get Upset!" to protest continued "austerity," shall we say, in school budgets. It's starting at 3:30 p.m. Friday, May 11, in the Rose Quarter.

Every year I try to schedule a family trip back to the Midwest to visit family. For the past few years, we have been able to coordinate the trip so that my two older boys spend a few weeks with our families without our presence. It's worked out well, but this year, scheduling this has been challenging unless my boys fly solo.

I've been exploring the possibility of my the boys (ages 7 and 9) flying unaccompanied, giving them 1-2 weeks with our families before the rest of us make the road trip halfway across the country. Gulp! I've talked with them at great lengths about this possibility. Both seemed to be open to the adventure especially since they'd have each other.  As I was searching for fares last night, I found something reasonable enough to purchase.  Exciting, right? When I shared the news, I was met with mixed emotions. The older one was excited, and his younger brother was well, hesitant. Apprehensive. Probably a bit scared. I completely understand. I had regrets. Maybe I jumped the gun. With the trip a few months away, I'm hoping that I have some time to ease his and my own anxiety. Have your kids traveled unaccompanied? What has been your experience? Any words of wisdom?

Tonight is the Supermoon! Evidently, every once in a while, the moon comes extra close to the earth in its elliptical orbit, and that closest point coincides with a full moon -- it will be closest within a few minutes of the "official moon phase" of its fullness. This makes the moon appear 16% bigger and 30% brighter (or thereabouts) than usual.

(Or, according to National Geographic, "Due to the moon's egg-shaped orbit, there are times when our natural satellite is at perigee—its closest to Earth—and at apogee, its farthest." Hand that off to your high school-aged kids for SAT study.)

Our immediate neighborhood is terrible for moongazing; we're at a flat part west of a very steep hill, so that by the time the moon appears over the apartment building roof to the east of us, it's lost much of its enormity. Also: apartment building roofs do not make for lovely backdrops.

My favorite views of the moon have all been serendipitous; there is an amazing vantage point at the intersection of 39th/Cesar E. Chavez Blvd and Hawthorne, where you can often see the moon slink up behind Mt. Tabor, hanging low and spectacular over the bank (I know. Such romance!).  I've also seen a stunner at the intersection of SE Market and 77th, getting ready to come down the hill to Bridger school. I'm sure the southeast approach to Mt. Tabor, from 73rd Ave, would also be a great place.

Any favorites? Have you watched the moon somewhere stunning? (and if you see it tonight, post pictures! Please!)

Head over to the giveaway tab to enter to win a gift certificate to H₅O Bistro & Bar to enjoy two glasses of Oregon wine and a cheese plate! Date night anyone?!

"You made my day!" said the woman at the doctor's office, grinning. I'd brought Monroe with me, carrying a little jar of simple flowers from my garden, tied with twine. I needed a tetanus shot and it was May Day and I was overcome on April 30 with a sudden urge to Do It.

We started with the next-door neighbor and we went bonkers; several neighbors on our block, including a few we've never met. The receptionists at the doctor's office. Truman's teacher. A friend. Drunk on our gratuitous gifting, my two younger boys ran away from two of the houses in full giggle and victory. "This is the best May Day EVER!" said Monroe (and the only one we've ever celebrated, making it a low bar).

It was such a joy to me, even more than the recipients of our random secret gifting. It was so easy; picking a few of the volunteer flowers and tulips from our yard, fill in with mint and herbs, put in old canning jars, tie with kitchen twine and a little May Day greeting, deliver as quietly as possible. To see the faces light up -- not just of the recipients, but my boys in victory after our "missions" -- was a thrill. So much fun, in fact, that I might do it again before next May 1.

Have you celebrated May Day the old-fashioned way? If you haven't, have you found unexpected joy in some simple and secret act of small generosity? Any other ideas? I need another mission.

Eight O’Clock Coffee has uncovered a stash of vintage glass coffee storage jars! Click over to the giveaway tab to enter to win one of these cool jars and a bag of beans from Eight O'Clock Coffee! 

My middle son turned seven Saturday, and I had many vague ideas about some sort of celebration. We had lots of great thoughts about themes and, of course, I do love to bake a cake. We would do it!

But, as the day approached and my evenings filled with must-dos and my days filled with appointments, as I wore myself out by running in two separate Run for the Arts and dug in the school garden and then in my own, and as I realized just how broke we were until pay day, I kept putting off the planning and putting it off until... it was Friday night and the birthday was Saturday.

I apologized. I woke up and made him a homemade version of everyone's favorite: Starbucks petite vanilla bean scones (mine had whole wheat flour and lots less sugar, but we're keeping quiet about that). We had a little money, and we decided to spend that two ways: letting him pick out a gift and going to Little Big Burger. He got bacon (his favorite!). We came home and I got to baking the cake.

Cake out of the oven, frosting made, I heard the familiar pop-pop-pop sound of fireworks. It was Reed College's Renn Fayre, and there was just time! We got ready in record time and biked over just in time to see the end of a fantastic fireworky celebration. "It's my birthday, I'm seven!" Truman said to everyone he saw as we headed home. Home again, time for cake and singing, and everything was just fine. In the end? He had a great day, and mom did not have to spend hours feverishly freaking out over how not-clean-enough the house was and whether there would be enough hot dogs for guests and whether people would come and whether other kids would like the cake...

It was just us. And it was enough.

We'll do other big parties, especially this summer for my oldest's 10th birthday, but I was thrilled to let myself have the permission to celebrate small. How about you: do you feel the need to go big every time, or sometimes, do you go small and love it?

As I was heading to drop off one of the kids at school this morning, I passed a mom and child pulled into a driveway.  She was handing off her son, pre-kinder age, to her parents.  "Mom, don't worry about it," she said.  It seemed like a regular arrangement for grandma to be watching the tot, just about as regular as another family I pass often, where mom pulls over, many times double parked, to lug her infant-in-carseat up several front steps to her dad, always waiting for her atop the stairs.

Grandparents can play a crucial role in rearing our little ones.  I, myself, spent a lot of time with all of my living grandparents - my mom's parents and my dad's mom took turns taking care of me from the time I was born.  I was even sent back to my parents' native country, the Philippines, for a while when I was around a year old, so that my parents could work odd hours and study to pass licensing exams.

Rearing my own children, I didn't have the support network of nearby family where they could play a daily role in helping with childcare.  

Having loved growing up with my grandparents, and now watchiing how adoring my own kids are of their own grandparents, I love to hear stories of grandparents developing a routine with their grandkids, a special, regular relationship and intimacy with one another.  Have you had your children's grandparents involved, on a regular basis, with childcare?  How has that been?

Here’s the scoop for the weekend. For more ideas on what to do this weekend, check PDX Kids Calendar and the urbanMamas calendar page.

Rain or shine, head to the Tideman Johnson Natural Area this Friday at 10 with your preschooler for a ladybug nature walk.  $3/preschooler.

Celebrate Dia de los Ninos y dia de los Libros at the St Johns LIbrary this Friday from 2:30 to 5, a celebration of childhood and bilingual literacy. Mariachi Calabera will perform traditional mariachi music at 3:30.  Free! 

The fourth Friday of the month means free admission to the Portland Art Museum on Friday from 5 to 8. 

Author Matt Phelan visits A Children’s Place on Saturday at 11 to talk about his new graphic novel Around the World.  Phelan is also the author and illustrator of the gripping historical fiction graphic novel, Storm in the Barn.

Tryon Creek kicks off the first of many Muddy Boots events this weekend with the Muddy Boots Family Trail Day.  Experienced forest interpreters stationed around the park will share some fun facts and activities with you and your family.  Saturday from 10-12.  Free!  Pre-registration is appreciated.  

Willing to make a trip?  The Oregon Ag Fest is happening in Salem this weekend.  Learn where our food and fiber comes from, how livestock is raised, the importance of forests for our ecology and survival, plant a seedling, ride a pony, watch chicks hatch, pet a rabbit, dig for potatoes and much more.   Saturday from 8:30 to 5 and Sunday from 10 to 5.  Free for kids 12 and under and $9 for adults. 

The 6th Annual 82nd Avenue of the Roses parade is Saturday beginning at 10.  Hang around afterwards for Montavilla Happenings and Eastport Plaza’s Carnival Days.  Free!

Kids musicians The Snail People perform their interactive music show at Milagros this Saturday at 1.  $3 suggested donation per walking human.  

Learn more about bats with five of the region's top bat experts at the World Forestry Center on Sunday from 1 to 3.  This is a free event, and advance registration is encouraged.

Teens make pizza on Sunday at 2:30 at the Holgate Library.  From the dough to the fixings, Jean Johnson will show you how to make mini veggie pizzas with whole wheat crusts. Free!

The Portland Youth Philharmonic plays Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 at the Wieden & Kennedy Building on Sunday at 4.  Tickets are $15/student or $20/adults. 

Hope this gives you some ideas. Have fun out there! And don't forget to double-check event details by calling or checking the website of the venue, performer, or host organization.

It's no secret that the mamas behind this site love biking. We bike for utility and health, and most recently, we (maybe one of us) bike for competition (Shetha is our resident cyclocross enthusiast). So it was a no brainer for us to pair up with a number of local groups who support women riders - Women on Bikes, Women on Wheels, Portland Society, Sorella Forte, and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance - to help bring the first CycloFemme Ride to Portland on May 13th (Mother's Day!) in conjunction with Sunday Parkways. Meet at 11 am at Woodlawn Park and join on us for a short bike parade. At the end, listen to a handful of women from different generations and backgrounds talk about their biking experience. While you've heard enough from us rant and rave about our biking experiences, we want to hear from a 'tween/teen-aged girl cyclist share her story at the ride. Do you have a daughter, or know of someone with a compelling story to share? Email us at urbanmamas@gmail.com.

This ride is intended to "HONOR THE PAST and the emancipation of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, for the freedom to choose and the chance to wear pants. CELEBRATE THE PRESENT and the riders who keep it rolling, bringing women's racing to the forefront, pushing the limits, breaking down barriers and sharing the love of the bike with everyone along the way. EMPOWER THE FUTURE of women in cycling and the opportunity for positive social change. Teach women to ride and they will change the world!" We hope to see you there.

Mo Willems brings his adorable characters to life in this DVD box set. "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" is especially entertaining!

Hop over to the giveaway tab to enter to win this fun DVD set!