Changing of the bicycle...

With the nicer weather the boys - and the family as a whole - have spent more time on bicycles. When Harry first arrived home he inherited Skip's 12" two-wheeler. A few years earlier Skip had outgrown the bike and was ready for something bigger. He learned to ride young (just after he turned 4) and so his first (and only) new bike was the smallest they made  @ 12". When we began to look for a bigger bike we lucked out and were able to get not one, but two 16" bikes, second hand. Both were in excellent condition and combined didn't cost $20! We gave him one for Christmas of 2007 and put the other in the attic. The second one was a BMX Mongoose - and I wasn't ready to encourage him to start doing stunts just yet!

So back to Harry. With training wheels, the 12" was perfect for Harry and still in very good condition.  By the end of springtime I convinced him to take the training wheels off and after about an hour of chasing him around the driveway to keep him from crashing into things like the shed, and the chimmney, and our vehicles, he was well on his way. He spent the summer zooming around, following right behind Skip. 

Riding without training wheels

Summer 2009

Come this spring, it suddenly became clear that Harry had also outgrown the little bike. I've slowly tried to get him used to Skip's bike, but he still had a hard time getting on himself and getting off (withouth falling or jumping off).  Our family 6.2 bike ride this past weekend convinced us we HAD to get him into a bigger bike and yesterday I lugged the Mongoose down from the attice. When Mike got home he filled the tires, put new pedals on it (long story) and lowered both the seat and handlebars.

Last weekend - Harry looks huge on the little bike...

And so, today Harry officially became the owner of the 16" red bike. It's still in very good condition, and there was no need to buy another one.  Skip became the owner of the Mongoose. Both bikes are 16" but as I mentioned, the BMX would only encourage Harry to become a stuntman, and he needs NO encouragement in that department.  I figure I'm all set til next summer at the earliest.  And  at the speed Skip is growing, I'm just glad we can pass things along from one to the next...and grateful the boys are happy with hand-me-downs and don't expect to have new things all the time!

Yep, this is better!