Tagalong

Azalea has gotten so good at biking with training wheels that we thought she might be ready to try biking in tandem with a grown up.  My stepmom passed down to us a tagalong that has worked its way through her family.  A tagalong is one name for a bike attachment that has handlebars, a seat, pedals, and one wheel that allows a kid to bike with someone else.  It turns a regular bike into a tandem bike.  This tagalong has been hanging out in our yard for a week, teasing Azalea with the possibility of a ride.  But alas it was lacking a critical pin that is required to hold the whole contraption in place.

Tonight while I was at yoga, Ian took the girls to the hardware store to get a pin.  When I got home they were impatiently awaiting my bike (I bike to yoga, you see) to which to hook up the tagalong.  Behind the tagalong, he had hooked up the trailer so that Nori could attend the bike ride as well.  They had their helmets on and were dancing around the yard, chatting about their upcoming biking adventure.   

Azalea was beside herself with excitement.  She could not wait to try "her new bike."  

She stole the camera from me so that she personally could capture her new bike in all of its glory.  

photo credit:  Azalea

Unfortunately I was unable to take any more pictures of the event because chaos ensued.  We tried to help Azalea get comfortable on the tagalong, but it wiggled a bit too much for her taste.  We thought our error might have been starting on the grass, so we moved the operation to the sidewalk, and finally to the street.  I ran alongside the sequential bike contraption holding onto Azalea's seat, as one would to for a kid on a bike that WASN'T tethered to a regular bike.  But the poor dear was screaming and shaking, so we stopped the bike train at our neighbor's driveway.

After she dried her tears she asked for the camera.  She took this self portrait.

("How dare you, new bike.  You were supposed to be AWESOME.")  photo credit:  Azalea

She is definitely my child.  My mantra is often "no need" when it comes to taking risks.  However, this will no longer be a risk issue after she's had the proper training and experience.  See, isn't this me, too?  Seek knowledge and practice knowledge, dispel fear.  Works every time.  

I say good for you, kid, for being so eager to try something new.  We'll try it again soon, and it will be less scary.  Then we'll try it again, and again, and before you know it it'll be as awesome as you thought it'd be with little fear to bear.  I love you, Miss Bud.