I like to ride my bicycle . . .

A few weeks ago we made a deal with Gracie.   Learn to ride without your training wheels and get your first new bike.  Gracie has been happily riding Matthew's hand-me-downs since the very first tricycle.  The current bike is emblazoned with dinosaurs.  The last one with race cars.  

Thank goodness she's a bit of a tomboy.  It's saved us a lot of money.

But for some reason, she was so hesitant to take off those training wheels.   We didn't really understand because she can be a bit of a daredevil.   So we threw out this offer to her. 

For the last week or so, she's been trying to ride without them.  It was not quite as smooth sailing as when Matthew took his off, but kept at it.   So this weekend, we decided we'd go find her bike.

Now my husband has a thing about kids' bikes.  Matthew's very first bike had Thomas the Train on it and it all but fell apart while Matthew was on it.   Since then, we've gone for the quality bike, even if that means paying more.  But as I've already told you, it's been well worth it, since our bikes have gone through both of our kids.   One of them our friend Bennett rode for a while and then they've all gotten passed on to other friends.

So once again, we found ourselves at REI.  Amongst the very high priced mountain bikes and racing bikes, they have a nice line of kids bikes.  Plus they have a staff of people who help you pick out good bikes, assemble them, and adjust and repair them as needed--all included with the price of the bike.   We walked in with our 20% coupon in hand and our dividend check for being REI members ready to find Gracie's new bicycle.

 The bad news was Gracie was not big enough for the next size up bike.   She's just not tall enough yet and with her confidence not being terribly high, we didn't want her on something she was "growing in to."   So there we were, buying another 16 inch bike.    And in a funny twist, Gracie bypassed the "girlie bikes" and chose a bright green (the color is called "limeade") dirt bike!   I have to tell you, her choice made my heart smile.   The guy at REI says they sell that one to girls and boys with the only difference being that they remove  the streamers on the handlebars for boys.  Naturally, Gracie loves those, along with the silver bell. 

She hopped right on when we got home.  She has a hard time getting started and somehow her steering abilities diminished with the removal of the training wheels--but I think she'll be zooming around before we know it.