No Training Wheels!

We got Nathan a new bike yesterday...early birthday present for our almost 5 year old!!! It is a little smaller than the one we got last year so it is the perfect size and much easier for him to manange. We had it waiting for him last night when my parents brought him home from the lake. He was thrilled! And, a bit intrigued that it didn't have training wheels. That was the catch... if he wanted to ride it, he would have to learn how to do it without the training wheels (they are in the box, but we told him it didn't have any). It worked! He was so excited that he jumped right on. Travis worked with him on a few runs up the sidewalk from our house, but it was getting late so we didn't get to play with it much.

So, this afternoon we got the bike out again and after a few runs with daddy holding on, we gave him a good start and then let go! To my surprise, he did great! The first ride was about 20 yards and then he ran into the fence...oops :) But he got right back up and did it again. Each time gaining more control over his balance and eventually the steering and brakes. We are still going to have to work with him on getting started, but that will come in time. After about 15 practice runs behind the house, he was ready for the pavement. He was so proud of himself (and of course we were too) he wanted to show Memaw and Papaw his new biking skills, so off to their house we went.

Here is one of the first couple of runs....

Showing Memaw and Papaw his new biking skills!

After a good ride through the neighborhood we took the kiddos over to the park to burn some more energy before heading home for the evening. Natalie quickly made friends with another 2 year old little girl at the park, and the three kiddos had lots of fun playing. CLICK pics to enlarge