Bike Riding

We thought Jillian might be getting to the point where she could ride her bike by herself, so we asked her if she wanted to give it a try. She did, so we headed off to the park for some lessons. She was so excited, but when we got there, she realized that we meant that she could ride it without us pushing her, and she wasn't quite so sure about that.

She got her helmet on, took her jacket off (I guess you can't properly pedal a bike with a bulky jacket on...), and got situated. And in no time, she was off! She'd only do it for a few seconds at a time before she realized no one was pushing her, and she'd stop. Her legs still aren't quite long enough, and the seat doesn't go forward any further, so she had a little difficulty getting the rhythm down. Poor girl has all her height in her torso rather than her legs. But she was proud of herself for being able to pedal by herself.

Jake was very interested in this bike business. He followed along right behind Jillian, studying how to do it.

And the second Jillian's butt was off the seat, Jake made his move and got on. He couldn't reach the pedals at all, of course, but he had fun just sitting on it, or letting us push him. We couldn't keep him off it!

And of course, when Jillian saw Jake enjoying her bike, she wanted to do it again. Silly girl!

We're hoping that this summer the kids will have a chance to ride their bikes more often. Its just been too cold here to take them out consistently to learn to ride. When it warms up a bit, they'll get more practice in, and they'll be pros in no time!