The Next Big Thing

I'd been meaning to take the training wheels off Porter's bike ever since the snow melted this year.  I knew he was more than ready, but I kept putting it off.  There isn't anywhere by our house that is good for novice bike riders, so it required packing bikes and babies into the car and making a big trip out of it.  But the other day, I finally got motivated with a wrench, and I took them off.  Porter watched me nervously.  I could tell he wasn't too excited about this latest development.  He kept asking me about falling and balancing, and I assured him that I would help and that we would figure it out. 

We loaded his bike in the car and drove out to the end of the road where there isn't any traffic.  I had the girls with me too, so I set his bike by the side of the car, and started working on unloading the brood.  All of a sudden I looked over, and there he went.  Riding his bike.  With no training wheels.  And no help from me.  He just got on and rode off, like he'd been doing it for years.  He turned around and looked at me with his mouth wide open in amazement, and it was done.  I guess he was really ready for this one, because an hour later he was a pro.  And now it's all he wants to do.  He's had a couple of crashes, but he's all over our hilly neighborhood having a blast. 

Bike riding and beaches, it's what summer time is all about.