Dirt is like, the all-time best stuff

I've got some catching up to do, and I'll do it the best I can ... beginning with our first trip out to the BMX track at Oak Mountain a couple of weekends ago.

On days that they aren't hosting races, it's open to the public. We'd never been, so we loaded up the boys' bikes and headed over.

Jake isn't comfortable on a bike yet, but he's exceedingly comfortable in dirt, so, win-win.

Dirt clods are totally awesome. Throwing them into the paths of your brothers' bikes: priceless.

I'd worried that Jake would be bored without a bike, but I needn't have worried for a moment.

If he wasn't tossing dirt clumps everywhere, he was scaling the ramps, following the boys as they rode.

Up one side and down the other.

I thought he'd tire of it, but no. Up and down, up and down. Up the front, back and sides.

Side note: You know who ought to advertise out here? TIDE. You're just gonna have to trust me on that one.

He loved watching the big boys circle him.

(P.S. You have all just become the victims of the order in which I uploaded the photos. Because while this post is about the BMX track and the big boys riding their bikes, I took a bunch of pictures of Jake while the big boys were quaking in their shoes, too scared to try to ride the track. And then I forgot to load them into the post in a more, um, varied fashion.)

The big boys started off our visit to the track too scared to even attempt to ride any of the ramps. They started off just by riding the flatter parts. Nathaniel went first.

Nick followed. As did many, many falls and non-life-threatening injuries.

We were fortunate to be there early, and we had the track to ourselves for the first hour, The Painful Learning Hour.

The boys were convinced that they were going to be permanently crippled from their injuries.

I was convinced that I was going to be permanently crippled from their whining.

Nathaniel made it over to the far side of the course, which had a series of small hills to traverse.

The small hills ended up being as hard as the larger ones, because they bounced them around more. Like little snow moguls.

But they persevered, endured a few more broken pieces of skin, and enjoyed the heck out of it.

"Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice ..." Jake was holding down the fort by keeping track of all the rocks.

He couldn't get enough of them.

And you'll never be able to convince him that he would have had more fun on a bike.

Nope. A boy and his dirt clods.

Can't be beat.

Just ask him.

Sirrusly.

At one point he did break away and climb up into the tower in the middle of the course.

I told Grayson it didn't look exactly "up to code," but he didn't stay up there very long.

And I'm sure you can guess what the kids asked to do the next day, and the next day, and basically every single day since then. YES. The BMX track.

It's the new black.