Emma Learns to Ride Her Bike

We finally took the training wheels off Emma's bike. We had tried riding it a few times, but she was nervous. I gave her a "controlled" fall (meaning I held the handle bars and lowered her down to the ground), and she immediately hated riding her bike. Yeah...I've got serious Dad skills.

I searched the internet and spoke with Brett Harkey about how to teach her how to ride her bike and gain confidence. Brett's idea seemed plausible, so last weekend I took Emma to the old driving range near Lewis & Clark. They have a ton of grass, and a few little short hills. I held the bike for her halfway up the hill, then let her coast down it, learning how to balance. I reminded her to use her feet to keep from falling. She coasted down and used her feet to not fall when she slowed down!! She was SOOOO stoked! We kept doing that over and over, going higher and higher up the hill. She started pedaling at the end of the hill, and was riding all over that driving range! It was awesome! We called Mommy, and she beamed the news over the phone. She eagerly wanted to ride on the road, so we got in the car to head home.

On our way to all of this, Emma found her camera in my car. On our way home, she said she wanted to go on a "photo adventure" with me. So we stopped at the railroad tracks in Johnson and went exploring with our cameras. It was so fun! I'd take a shot, and she'd try a similar shot, then show me and ask me if that's what I was trying to do. There are some pictures from the adventure (her's & mine) below.

When we got home, the fam went outside to see Emma show off her new riding skills. Here's the video. Please disregard my fatness and moobs. It was a pretty perfect day!