Riding a Bike

Kaylyn has tried a couple times over the years to ride a bike without training wheels. One of her best friends learned how to ride at least a year ago but even with encouragement from her, Kaylyn wasn't able to get her balance.

But this Spring, we determined this was the year!  Morgan wanted to try too.  So in April, we removed Kaylyn's training wheels and gave it a try.  Morgan wanted to ride too so she rode the same hill as Kaylyn, taking turns.

Some success was made as Kaylyn worked to balance herself down the hill beside our house.

And sometimes, she had to let Daddy catch her.

I love taking pictures, and I take a ton, just to get that ONE shot.  I didn't realize it at the time but this next shot I absolutely LOVE!

April 2012

The first week of summer break was also a week of vacation for Adam. I immediately announced that we had a goal - Kaylyn was going to learn to ride her bike.   She was not so confident.  We had Bike Rodeo for the cub scouts in just over a week and Kaylyn didn't believe it was possible for her to ride her bike.  Right after prayer for dinner, Kaylyn announced that during prayer she'd had a vision of herself riding her bike to Oklahoma, with Adam and I running behind her. 

So immediately after dinner, off we went to help her with her bike riding. 

 All it took was seeing herself ride her bike (in her mind) and then she was able to do it!

Sadly, this was not immediate.  First we had to go down the hill on the sidewalk practicing.  Somehow I missed those pictures - I was cheering.  And then when she got it, she forgot to use her foot brakes and the hand brake didn't work.  So being Mom, I "saved" her.  In the process, I flipped over her bike, crashing on the sidewalk.  It is now July and although I'm no longer in pain, my knee still shows my injury.  Kaylyn, though, landed in the grass without a scratch.

 After tending my wounds, I made her go back out and "get back on that horse".  And these last 4 pictures were the result - she can RIDE!