Jack can ride a bike!

Two weeks ago Grandma Jo had Jack and Caroline for the weekend while Trace and Becky and I went to the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) conference in Anaheim. We had a great time, and connected with others in the coffee industry, but I think the kids had more fun! Grandma Jo lives next to the church, with a wide open parking lot, flat, and perfect for biking. At the time, both kids had "balance bikes," meaning that we had taken the training wheels and pedals off (Aunt Katie's superb recommendation) so that they could work on their balance. By the end of the weekend Jack could balance for twenty seconds while going down a gentle slope. The next weekend, three days ago, Trace spent ten minutes, or less, working with Jack on how to get started with pedals, and that was that. Jack can now ride a two-wheeler! He's very excited, and he was going on daily rides with Trace, at least until the rain/snow started again yesterday. So maybe that was only two days of riding, but he loved it!

Caroline is sure that she also learned to ride a two-wheeler. She's been telling everyone, whenever I mention that Jack can ride a bike. We actually put her training wheels back on, thinking that maybe she could keep up a little better, so she does get to pedal on her bike now: thus she can ride a two wheeler. She pedals now doesn't she? That's the definition in her mind anyway. She is quite excited that she finally got her own, purple, bike helmet, as you can see in these pictures. She's been wearing it a lot, and tells everyone how safe she is. The most impressive to me, however, was how Trace got her back to the house when she was tired from all the bike riding:I'm quite sure that I can't ride a bike while holding a kid with one arm, but Trace made it look easy! I'll finish with a video of the new bike rider coming toward me up the street. He's an expert now!