Last night I realized that today would be my last full day with my kids before school starts. Without Andrew that is. Of course I started thinking about the things we never got to do this summer, the friends we didn't get a chance to visit. I wanted to do something different this morning with them. The kids were excited by my suggestion to go for a hike this morning. Last night when I talked this over with them Nathaniel immediately asked if he could ride his bike. You see, as I went out for my run yesterday after supper, Nathaniel just happened to ride his bike without his training wheels. Earlier this week Andrew had taken off the pedals and training wheels so he could use his "scooter bike" to practice balancing. Andrew put the pedals back on and Nathaniel just got on and started pedalling. I think he surprised himself more than it did Andrew. Well, Nathaniel just started whipping up and down the street showing off his new skill. I am a bit bummed that I missed out on this, but hey, I've basically been there for every other milestone in my kids' lives. Andrew needs to have one to himself. When I came back from my run Nathaniel immediately jumped up saying that he wanted to show me something. So, off he went on his bike. I knew he had the ability to balance, but I was blown away by the fact that he could get himself going all by himself too. I remember Abigail needing to practice getting herself going without me helping her push off. I think it was all the practicing on his "scooter bike".
So, here is my guy tearing up the sidewalk last night. He made a few pretty impressive skid marks too. He was so proud of himself and we are so proud of him.
So, here are my bikers from this mornings hike. Nathaniel was a bit apprehensive to take his bike without training wheels, but I assured him that he had biked here before and that he just needed to practice. Well, he spent most of the time dragging his bike up and down the hills of the hiking trail.
At one point he was fed up and left his bike in a bit of a huff. This does describe my boy. When he gets it into his mind that he can't do something his stubborness takes over. Now, when he believes he can do something he can be very motivated. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot that I can do to shift him from one mind set to the other. Not at this age anyway. I knew that he could have riden his bike without training wheels a while ago, but he just didn't want to believe it.
The promise of a break and snack got Nathaniel back on his bike pretty quickly. We'll have to go back when Nathaniel is a bit more comfortable with his new found skill. We didn't last very long, plus there were a few hungry mosquitos in the forest.
We dropped by this particular restaurant for what ended up being their lunch. I have to say that I have never taken my kids here. And I do not want this to be the first of many visits. But they were happy and it concluded our last summer outting as a foursome.
So, here is my guy tearing up the sidewalk last night. He made a few pretty impressive skid marks too. He was so proud of himself and we are so proud of him.
So, here are my bikers from this mornings hike. Nathaniel was a bit apprehensive to take his bike without training wheels, but I assured him that he had biked here before and that he just needed to practice. Well, he spent most of the time dragging his bike up and down the hills of the hiking trail. 
At one point he was fed up and left his bike in a bit of a huff. This does describe my boy. When he gets it into his mind that he can't do something his stubborness takes over. Now, when he believes he can do something he can be very motivated. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot that I can do to shift him from one mind set to the other. Not at this age anyway. I knew that he could have riden his bike without training wheels a while ago, but he just didn't want to believe it.
The promise of a break and snack got Nathaniel back on his bike pretty quickly. We'll have to go back when Nathaniel is a bit more comfortable with his new found skill. We didn't last very long, plus there were a few hungry mosquitos in the forest.
We dropped by this particular restaurant for what ended up being their lunch. I have to say that I have never taken my kids here. And I do not want this to be the first of many visits. But they were happy and it concluded our last summer outting as a foursome.
1 comment:
Julia and Sarah congratulate Nathaniel and can't wait to see him riding his bike!
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