And They're Off...

Oh my goodness, I can't belive I haven't posted this post yet! Better a week late than never!

Ava has been burning rubber on her brand new Disney Princess bike! When weather permits we take family "rides" around the block -- she on her bike, Jax on the trike, Andy pushing the trike and me walking beside Ava. The little miss and I are usually in the lead with Daddy bringing up the caboose. Ava loves to be the leader and often tells me how big she feels on her bike. While she is a good leader and has a great sense of direction, her sense of speed tends to be a little, well, off. The thing is, Ava is an explorer, it's one of the things I admire most about her. A bike ride isn't just a bike ride to her, it's an adventure. We make the same loop each time we go out, yet each time she spots something new which tends to slow down our little bike train while she observes or asks questions. So, we go from me having to walk extra fast to keep up with her to Jax's front wheel rubbing against Ava's back in no time flat. But, once her attention is back on the ride she's a little speedster. It's so cute to watch her skinny little legs pump as she zooms over a flat part, or to watch her push the handbreak as we near the street or a little bump. She's very cautious, and always a stickler for the rules of the road (she ALWAYS walks her bike across the crosswalk). Andy and I often smile at each other as we watch Ava navigate her bike around a corner and then listen to the excited, "I did it!" that comes from in front of us. She's getting so big!

Jax loves to cruise on the trike. Actually, I think he just likes wearing the helmet because when it comes to the actual trike he seems very uninterested. First of all, he can't quite reach the pedals. Well, he can reach them he just can't extend them far enough to actually move them in a complete circle, so he just sits while Daddy steers the trike via a push-attachment. But, rather than keeping his feet on the pedals (which keeps them from rotating when someone is pushing) he prefers to drag them on the ground, which forces Andy to push Jax like this:

Yep, he pops a constant wheelie around our neighborhood. And, I gotta say I'm very impressed by just how much Jax trusts Andy because more often than not he doesn't have a single finger on the handle bar. Nope, they just dangle by his side or sit in his lap. He has full confidence that Daddy will keep him balanced.

We made a stop at the church parking lot so the kids could ride in open space. Here they are in their very first race

Ava did have her first major biff while making the parking lot rounds. Now that I know she's okay and a little time has passed, it's actually kind of funny because I'm not really sure how it happened. Well, I know how it happened, but, well read on... So, Ava decided to speed from one side of the parking lot to the other. She had done it several times before with no problems. But this time, she went full force, pedaling lightning speed toward a pile of snow. Here's the thing, the first few times she did this she stopped well before the curb in front of the snow. But this time she didn't. But, it's not like she just couldn't stop fast enough, she saw the curb, she knew she was going fast yet she plowed right into it. I don't know if she just wanted to see what would happen or if she's watched one too many monster truck videos with Daddy and Jax. Anyway, she fell right off her bike and into the snow. Her head hit the light post next to the snow, but was saved by her princess helmet, thank goodness. She cried a little and expressed her concern with getting back on her bike because it was "too dangerous." But, after a little encouragement and me telling her a few of my childhood bike wreck stories (there were many) she got back on ... and five minutes later, she fell again. This time she took a turn too sharp. Again, she cried, I hugged her, then my brave little girl wiped the tears from her face, then her hands on her pants and hopped back on that big pink bicycle -- and she was off! It was a proud Mama moment. I think it was an even prouder Ava moment.