Anyway, Grace took a good digger and super-manned off her scooter at one point. They were both exhausted at the end of the day. When we drove home from the camp-out, I asked if they wanted to learn how to ride their bikes. That way they could ride their bikes at the camp-out in June. The next weekend Sarah wanted to practice riding. I got really sick, so Tracey practiced with her out front. Sarah was so excited to learn. Monday I didn't feel much better, but on Tuesday I went outside to help her learn. Tracey was funny because she was holding Sarah up the whole time and wouldn't let go. As Tracey put it, "teaching them how to ride is more of a Dad thing." This didn't make any sense to mean until I saw Tracey trying to teach Sarah how to ride. There was no way Tracey was going to let go of Sarah's back. Which is just how Sarah wanted it. So when I finally got out there to help, I realized that I needed to let go of Sarah. The first thing she said to me was "Don't let go Dad." I replied "I have to" and she said "NO, DON'T LET GO!" "Ok" I lied. Once we started going and she had good balance, I let go. Sometimes, you have to tell people what they need to hear even when it may not be the exact truth. I didn't let go at the beginning. Once Sarah started riding a few feet on her own, her confidence increased. Then all of a sudden she was riding her bike. The stopping part was a whole other obstacle.
In the midst of all this practice, Grace was watching and then she started trying to ride. Tracey had her hand firmly attached to Grace's back too. The same routine worked with Grace and they both learned to ride on the same day. They were both so excited.
The following Monday I had an early day and picked up the twins from GJ's house. I had decided that it would be really fun to ride to Cherry of Top. This is a frozen yogurt place that is more than a mile from our house. The girls were bursting at the seams when I asked if they wanted to ride their bikes to Cherry on Top. You would have thought I asked them if they wanted to buy them a puppy. Keep in mind that they had only ridden their bikes three times up to this point. I wish I had kept this in mind. The whole time we were driving home they were saying "I can't believe that we are going to ride our bikes to Cherry on Top, this is the best day ever!" While getting on their helmets "This is the best day ever!" I asked them before we left home "Are you sure you want to ride ALL the way to Cherry on Top?" "YES" they screamed excitedly. Riding through the neighborhood everything was good. Crossing the crosswalk we were okay. Then I made the fateful decision to go down Buena Vista. This street doesn't have the widest sidewalk and it has small rolling hills. This freaked the girls out. Looking down the street, all Sarah could see was a looming downhill slope. This is a little daunting when braking involves putting your feet down, instead of stepping back on the pedal.
This is when the tears started. "I can't go down the hill, I'm going to go too fast." "I can't stop." "Slowdown Dad." All of this, while cars are whizzing by. Then I've got two girls that are starting to spread out along the ridiculously narrow sidewalk. This just went from "The best day ever" to "The worst idea of the week." The whole time I'm worried about rookie bike riders that can't steer in a straight line, and panic when they need to stop. Both Grace and Sarah cried on two separate occasions. Then thirty seconds later one of them would say "I can't believe we are riding our bikes to Cherry on Top."
We eventually made it. It was the best frozen yogurt ever, and we came back home riding down Alta Vista. Huge sidewalk. Less hills. Should have gone this way in the first place. When we finally got home they both said "It was the best day ever."
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