Bicycle Riding 101...57º

 Cienna has made many visits to Joseph, (she came at Christmas, Spring Break and Summers) from the time she was a wee girl, Papa and I got her all to ourselves for a week or two...Fun activities were always scheduled for these visits...The most impromptu one happened when she arrived in June 2009, just before she turned 11 years old...One of the first things we did was make a trip to Soroptimist looking for bargains...That day as we waited in line, then elbowed (not really) our way through the crowd and in the door, Cienna almost stumbled over a bicycle in the foyer. "Oma, LOOK a bike," said Cienna...We both looked it over, the tires were kind of flat, it wasn't fancy and it wasn't quite big enough for her, but I said, "Papa can raise the seat and it well be easy for you to reach the ground to keep your balance and Papa is really good at fixing/changing tires, tightening chains and all that stuff." "Yes Oma, and the tag says it is only $1.00."  Who could pass up a bargain like that.

We couldn't wait to get it home but she needed a helmet, we looked in all the stores and finally I bought this funky little helmet, not sure what it was for and I doubt if it would have helped if she had a really bad crash and it cost a lot more than the $1.00 bike but it stayed on her head and that was the main thing...True to form Papa raised the seat, fixed the tires and tightened the chain...Then the fun began...Oma holding onto the back of the seat (sort of running) while Ci tried to pump up hill, because we didn't dare come down the hill until she could work the brakes...We finally went out to the back yard where the grass was soft and the ground had a slope to it...There she could try over and over staying upright for a short distance and then catch herself as she started to tip over...From there she graduated to the driveway that was also pretty safe...This went on all day long and we both went to bed early and slept very well, knowing Cienna could ride a bike.

Thinking back now, as today she has her 19th Birthday, this sticks in my mind as one of my favorite memories of Cienna's visits to Joseph...Lots of fun times that we have had with this girl, we cherish the memories and love her more with each passing year...Many HUGS to Cienna on your 19th Birthday...OWAV:)

After practicing on the grassy slope.

Around the driveway she comes.

Oops she almost lost it.

She corrected it and stayed upright.

Almost to the end of the driveway.

Whew!

Now up the Barton Heights Hill.

Sailing down.

The end of the day, one happy girl.