That's How We Roll

So, bikes. Pretty important to a kid, huh? I used to spend hours riding bikes as a kid, despite the fact that I didn't learn to ride a two-wheeler until I was nearly seven. It all stemmed from an unfortunate incident involving a hard asphalt driveway, a bunch of rosebushes, a banana seat and my mother's "encouragement." But, that's a story for another day. I did love to ride my bike as a kid. So, it should come as no surprise to me that my kids love their bikes; some more than others.

My girls were fairly average as far as bike-riders go. They learned to ride them at about six-years-old, and enjoyed the freedom that they found from having to go everywhere with mom and dad. But Jack... oh, Jack.... he loves his bike. At barely five-years-old, he is on his third two-wheeler. He outgrew one, and ran the next into the ground, wearing the tread off of the tires and scratching up the paint job (besides leaving it unbeknownst to me behind the van.) There is no convincing this boy that he isn't one of the big kids. He will take any jump that the neighborhood boys take, nevermind they are teenagers.

A couple of years ago, Matt and I decided to invest the money and head towards becoming a bike-riding family. Matt bought a cool mountain bike and I got myself an adorable pink beach cruiser bike, with a basket. We were all set. Erin had just gotten herself a new, bigger bike, and Allie had happily given up her Princess bike for Erin's old one. Well, fast-forward a year or so and Jack's bike is wearing out, Allie is no longer satisfied with her "hand-me-down," and Erin, well, she's not sure what happened to her bike. As near as we can tell, she rode it to school, forgot she had it there, left it and then it was taken by someone before she realized what had happened. If it sounds like Erin's situation happened quickly, rest assured, it didn't. No one knows for sure how long it had been gone by the time we realized it. Sad state of affairs. Needless to say, we were all a little disillusioned with our bike situation.

So, at the beginning of the year, Matt and I decided that we needed to get the kids new bikes. Matt wanted to get them for the girls birthdays later in the spring, but after trying to run kids around while trying to accommodate a newborn's feeding and sleeping schedule, I made an executive decision and decided that they needed them sooner, rather than later.

Last Friday was the day! Matt and spent the morning while the kids were at school putting the three new bikes together. When the kids got home from school, they were in for a real surprise.



The kids loved them!



Thankfully, it was decent weather last weekend.... at least for a bit. The kids were so excited that they planned a fun bike ride with a picnic lunch to a nearby park on Saturday. We put Will in the bike trailer and went for a ride. I think Jack was feeling a little neglected because for some reason he didn't want to ride his bike, but wanted to ride in the trailer with Will. After the ride to the park, he told us that he was squished and wished he had ridden his new bike. Well, duh son, you missed out on that opportunity. It started to rain, so we hopped back on the bikes and headed for home. It was a great time... the kids had a blast, and I think everyone, including myself, was amazed that I decided to join them. Hopefully, it was the first of many bike rides to come.