As the Wheels Turn

We had a major milestone in our house this past week. This one has been a long time coming, too. A long time, with a lot of drama.

But now. Now it's official. Molly is a two-wheeling bike rider.

Yes, I do realize that Molly is almost 9 years old. I do know how old that is for someone to finally start riding a bike.  I know all this. But, hear me out.

So, technically, Molly learned to ride with no training wheels last spring break. Exactly a year ago. And, while she could technically do it, she was not comfortable with it at all. At all. We'd ask if she wanted to go ride her bike, and the answer was always an emphatic "no." I thought that she just hadn't been bitten by the bike-riding-loving bug. I blamed myself (as I am always wont do) for not pushing harder. She was too old when she finally learned. We should've worked harder with her. We should've been having family bike riding sessions. Yada, yada, yada. The neverending parental guilt, right?

Well, I really don't know what happened. I don't know why the change. Maybe it took a year of considering the ramifications of not riding a bike. Maybe she got tired of seeing all her friends ride by on their bikes. Maybe she just needed that much time to work up the courage. I mean, she is my child afterall. Taking time to work up to scary things might've been passed down in the DNA. No one would ever describe me as a jump-without-looking kinda gal. Ahem.

Anyhoo, back to the story at hand. Something shifted and all of a sudden, over the last week, Molly has become a bike-riding extraordinaire. She's ridden with Cory to get breakfast at McDonalds. She's ridden all over the school parking lot during spring break. She asks almost every day if she can ride up and down the street. And, yesterday, she begged to be able to ride her bike to school.

Now, keep in mind that school is less than a quarter mile from our house. I mean, we can literally see the school building from our front window. I'm looking at it right now, in fact. But, who are we to discourage this budding excitement? So, last night we trekked over to Academy because we just had to buy a bike lock to ensure that this morning's pilgrimage could happen.

And, this morning, she couldn't wait to jump on her bike and ride like the wind that whole .2 mile to school.

Oh, did I mention that Charlotte wanted to ride her bike, too?

"Look, ma, no training wheels!"

Using that oh-so-important bike lock!

Now that Molly is in the world of bike riding, I couldn't be happier for her. So many memories of my childhood revolving around riding my bike everywhere around the neighborhood (and beyond). And, I know I sound like the stereotypical old person here, but bear with me. My gosh, it was fun to just ride around wherever, whenever and however we wanted. Ahhh, the freedom and happiness we didn't even know we had or would forever be looking to reclaim.

The great outdoors

Ah, Kansas weather. What to do with you? Last week, we had snow. This week, it reached 90 degrees. I seriously cannot keep up with it. My closet is a confusion of shorts and sweatshirts and flip-flops and boots. Our house was built in 1986. Apparently, in 1986, people didn't have a lot of clothes. At least, that's the impression I get because the closets are not big. At all. (Although, you'd think with all those shoulder pads, they would've needed a humongous amount of closet space.) I salivate at all my friends' giant walk-in closets. Oh, how I would love to not have to keep out-of-season clothes in rubbermaid tubs in the basement. That would be a glorious indulgence I will not soon know. But, I do dream about it.

Anyway, what's even harder than keeping my clothes straight, is trying to explain to a 3-year-old why we could go outside and play yesterday, but not today. If I can barely comprehend the massive meteorologic changes, how can I expect Molly to? For some reason, the explanation, "but it's cold outside today," doesn't really cut it with her. That being said, we have had some nice days lately. So, when we do have them, we venture outside.

Both girls adore being outside. And, I adore going outside and having real adult conversations with all the real adults on my street. So, it's a win-win.

We have a canoe. Ask me in person why. It's a great story, but not one for this blog. We got it out the other day just to clean and check on it. Molly and Charlotte had a blast playing in it. Molly pretended she was paddling down a river, while Charlotte just kind of bounced up and down while holding onto the edge. Either way, it made me so much more comfortable than if they'd actually been riding in the water. Call me a nervous-nelly mother. I'll take it. I'll admit it. I like them in a canoe on dry land.

Last year, for her birthday, Molly got a big girl two-wheel bike. She rode it for a little while, but then reverted back to her tricycle. Well, this summer, she has been forced into officially retired the tricycle, because Charlotte is now "riding" it. After she saw her baby sister could ride it, Molly told me, "I'm all done with my little bike now, because I'm a big girl!" Good thing, Molls, because your little sister is working her hardest to catch up to you. Now, if only she would walk as well as she rides her trike.

We have lots of kids in our neighborhood. But, the ones most often out are the boys. So, Molly spends a lot of time trying to fit in with the boys. This is when she is not trying to tell them all about her My Little Ponies. They are never interested, by the way. When Jack and Michael needed to take a break from all their basketball playing, Molly decided she needed a rest, too. It's what all the cool kids do.

One girl who does come out to play is Ella, Charlotte's bestie. Well, that's what we call them anyway. Right now, I'm pretty sure Ella is more interested in watching what Molly is doing, but we insist on putting Ella and Charlotte together and taking their pictures. It is our prerogative as mothers of children who are not yet old enough to tell us differently.

And, one last picture that is just too cute not to include. I don't have anything cute or clever to say about it. Just look for yourself.

Peek-a-boo!

C'mon! Tell me that's not precious. Go ahead. I dare you.