Wildman Rides Again

Bike Day is coming up this again and Wildman is determined to ride his bike without training wheels this year.  You know, “I’m five”,  “I’m independent”,  “I’m not a BABY”.  Last weekend he asked J to take his training wheels off so he could practice.

This was Wildman last spring trying out two wheels for the first time on a local sports field:

He did surprisingly well for his first time.  But he got frustrated after a while and asked to have his training wheels put back on his bike.  We obliged and did not push him to keep riding without them.  We figured that when he was ready to try again he would let us know.

Last weekend he let us know.

He took off down the sidewalk in a flash!

There he goes!  He was so proud of himself.

His only problem is starting to ride from a parked position.  He’s not quite sure how to handle the push off, peddle and balance that the take off requires.  But he’s getting there.  J lowered his seat a bit and that helped a lot.  J is also going to Bike Day on Friday with his tools and the training wheels just in case…

What a difference a year makes!  We’re so proud of Wildman.

*** I just realized that J is wearing the same shirt in both sets of photos.  I guess that’s his teaching-a-kid-how-to-ride-a-bike shirt***

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Hopscotch

The boys requested to play in the front yard on Thursday afternoon.  It was nice and warm so I happily agreed.  I sat in the grass flipping through some catalogs that came in the mail while the boys played t-ball.

When t-ball got boring I suggested that we play hopscotch on the sidewalk.  Wildman helped me find some chalk then requested that I draw the squares all the way down the sidewalk to the end of street.  He likes everything to be as big or as long as possible…  I declined but told him that I would draw up to 15 squares.  He seemed happy with that.

The thing about Wildman is that he must have his hopscotch game start with a “0” square instead of a “1”.  He made sure to grab the chalk from me to correct the starting position.  🙂  Then he tacked on a few more squares on the end of the game making it go all the way up to “18”.

Wildman played a few rounds while Cutie Pie rode his scooter.  Sometimes Cutie Pie would ride right over the hopscotch game much to Wildman’s chagrin.

I even gave it a try or two as well.  Wildman insisted on taking my picture…  I just noticed Cutie Pie fell off his scooter in the shot that Wildman took!  He never complained or cried.  Guess his fall wasn’t that bad 🙂

We played out front for about an hour then J came home on his motorcycle.

The wind was pretty strong which meant that J wanted to hit the beach with his friends for a kiteboarding session.  We all went with him.  Photos of that to come!

Sunday Evening Stroll

It poured sideways on Sunday afternoon.  It did not look like we would be able to visit a park or the beach like we had planned.  We resigned ourselves to indoor fun in the form of board games and playing with toys.  We ordered pizza for dinner and dined while it drizzled outside.

The storm eventually subsided leaving everything drenched.  But the sun finally came out when the clouds parted making for a lovely sunset.  J suggested a walk around the neighborhood before bedtime.  We all readily agreed!

We walked up to the local ball field to look for manatees in the small canal that runs along its west border.  We didn’t see any but we did meet a friendly, raccoon-tailed cat on our way.  The boys hopped out of the jogging stroller to pet him.  Much to my surprise the cat allowed it.  The boys love cats.

We headed back home just before dark.  The boys talked. the. entire. time.  *sigh*  Sometimes I wish for a peace and quiet when we walk…