Trail blazing

It happened so gradually, I barely noticed. (This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I was not the one stooped over chasing her bike up and down our street pretending to hold on while she gained enough confidence to fly solo.) But shortly after her fifth birthday, it did happen. And just like everything else she puts her mind to, Abby's successfully up on two wheels, just the way she said she would be when she turned five.

Now she breezes past our house and into the cul de sac with the big girls who are kind enough to ride at a pace she can keep up with. And then before we know it, she's pedaling past us the other way, careful to go no farther than the next mailbox that is her present boundary marker.

And following not too far behind is the little brother who wants to do everything his big sister does. He's long grown bored of propelling his balance bike with his own two feet and has mastered the art of pointing his little bicycle downhill and coasting for as far as it will take him. The thought of receiving a big boy bike when he turns four--"just like Abby did!"--is a driving force as he practices racing around and keeping steady.

And so, on a mild night in November, we found ourselves chasing kids on wheels around the trails at a local park, checking one of the last remaining items off our Summer Fun List.

For the record, the kids could care less that we're still working on our list of summer activities well into Autumn. They got a new little brother in July. That totally beats out tie-dying t-shirts and splashing in a fountain.