One of our favorite things to do on a lazy weekend is to bike into Coconut Grove and get something brunch. It’s the best of both worlds: exercise and eating!
Our most recent brunch expedition was to Lulu’s right across from Greenstreet Café. I hear that they have the same owners. Since the line at Greenstreet is usually super long on a weekend we tend to go to other Grove favorites.
So, we got on our bikes and took off for a lovely brunch. We ran into some friends and the mom mentioned what a “cute family” we were. Side Note: (Getting my college aged children out of bed before noon and on a bike to go to brunch is a miracle!) So, I told her we may look cute now but it was not as easy as it looked.
Here is what really happened…
My youngest son wakes up first and makes an attempt at a mini breakfast so he can get some quality alone time before we wake up and invent something.
I am quite happy to sip coffee in bed and read.
My husband begins to tinker with something while he’s waking up.
Then the others (my 18 and 20-year-old) are dead to the world.
Windows open. TV on. Blender on. Peacock noises and they will STILL not wake up before noon!
Once I venture out of my room, my mom instincts kick in and want to take advantage of the rare morning that we are all home and can be the “cute” family riding to brunch. After all, I couldn’t just sit and waste a morning putzing around the house. We should be doing something fabulous and making memories! Right?
We wake the others with a promise of a nice brunch. I just initially leave out the biking part. Now they are dressed and somewhat ready when I break the news that we are biking. (It’s not that they don’t like to bike it’s that they are half asleep, hungry and let’s face it Miami heat is real.) This is when the family experience kicks in and all the opinions as to where we should go and how we should get there start flying.
Long story short we ended up at brunch hot, sweaty, kind of grumpy and starving! The lesson I learned that morning: The “cute family” that seems to have it all together often has a messy journey behind it.
By the way, once our blood sugar stabilized and we cooled off we agreed biking on a hot, empty stomach was not ideal for us. Now I get a friendly reminder of the sweaty brunch every time I suggest the bike and brunch activity.
