Mission SPY-cycle!

This summer we're taking a big trip overseas (which I feel very blessed to be able to pull off - we found some bargains). As part of our grand adventure, we're taking the kids back to Salzburg, Austria and have booked the famous 8-mile, 3 1/2 hour Fraulein Maria (Sound of Music) bike tour.

Photo credit: Getty Images

I'm crazy-excited about this little family adventure, but our bikes have been in storage all winter, and we can hardly go a single mile with the kids on bikes without them groaning (my legs hurt!) and complaining (I can't go on; it's just toooooo faaaaaar!).

So I thought I'd "Solve A Problem Like Maria" and help the family whip ourselves into shape NOW so that in a few months we can "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" and pedal through the land of Mozart. How? I call this little rear-into-gear operation: Mission SPY-cycle. (Because after all our kids are obsessed with spying.)

I created little laminated maps of various bike routes to places like McD's, the pool, Sonic... with little clues and treats at the end. I think the kids will love it!

Let's hope they're beaming about their bikes as much as these happy Von Trapp children! 

Here we are on Mission "I SPY FISH FRY" at the local Catholic Church for Lent.