Riding the Bike

You may recall that Charlie got a bicycle from Santa Clause for Christmas.  Well, since Christmas we have spent quite a bit of time on that bike in the cul-de-sac.  We've worked on steering, braking, starting, and following directions.  Finally, we thought it was high time that we let Charlie leave the cul-de-sac with his bike.  So, one nice Saturday, we all headed to a local park - that is probably around a half mile walk from our house.  I had the stroller, so Andy was in charge of Charlie on his bike.

Charlie was so proud to be taking his bike to the park all by himself.  And he made it all the way there and back without having to get off, (except to cross the street.)  He fell once when he wasn't paying attention to the edge of the sidewalk, but got right back up and kept going.  Once we got to the park, we couldn't convince him to play with the other things there, so he mostly rode his bike around the splash pad and pathways.  (Don't worry, we live in Washington so the splash pad doesn't open until Memorial Day.)  He did get off at one point to practice aiming the water cannons with another little girl.  And since he still had his helmet on, I thought he looked a little bit like a Storm Trooper.

Andy and I were both impressed with how well he steered and used his brakes... he did better than either of us anticipated.  He was a little funny going down the hills, he kept slowing way down... I am sure that he will soon come to love the feeling of racing down a hill.  I know I kind of miss that feeling myself!  (Maybe it's time for me to get out my old, dusty bike?)  He did well enough that I just may be ready to handle him on his bike and the stroller by myself soon... but I think we'll give it a couple more tries with Andy there first.  ;)