Before heading to the States we thought we’d try to teach Lana how to ride a bike. We took her down to the oval near the beach for a spin. Let’s just say it didn’t go so well.

So yesterday, I decided to take her back to the same oval. I distracted her brother with his ‘new ‘ scooter (new to us…a neighbor had left it out on the curb for garbage pick-up). When we got there we decided to take the pedals off her bike so that she could try to just get comfortable balancing herself. Her friend Freckles (& her family) met us there. I didn’t know if Lana would get uncomfortable since Freckles is a really good rider. They ended up having had a great time riding around, albeit at VERY different paces. They even ‘disappeared’ for a while to check out the skaters at the ramp at the back of the park.

Since we had the car again today, I took the opportunity to throw Lana’s bike & Nuno’s scooter into the back of the car and off we went again. We met up with Freckle’s mom (Jenny) & little brother, right near their house which is on the other end of the beach. Jenny had taught Freckles (now a pro) to ride a bike by having her ‘roll’ down a hill until she had mastered her balance. This took them 30 minutes one afternoon & then she was off on her two-wheeler. By the looks of it, her 2 year old will be riding very soon too.

We gave it a go and what would you know, Lana is RIDING A BIKE!!! Yes, she still needs a bit of a push, but she’s doing it. We weren’t sure if she’d ever trust herself and just go for it, but with some effort and positive energy (thank you Inger) she did it!

We have an okay video clip here (very difficult to capture when you have to pull a camera out of your sports bra and get a shot after you’ve helped with push off). And while we have your attention, here is a clip of Nuno riding his scooter. Poor kid was ignored for the greater part of two afternoons.