Birthday Bike

Gabriela's birthday technically isn't until Wednesday, but we gave her present to her on Sunday, after the party madness was over and on the weekend so Daddy could enjoy seeing her get her bike and spend time with her riding it around.  

She was thrilled.  And probably not too surprised since she has been informing nearly everyone she comes across for the past month that she is getting a bike for her birthday.  At first she was terrified to get on it. I was starting to wonder if she just wouldn't like it. But two seconds later she was walking on her bike across the whole house. 

Next it was time to put air in the tires. Lane borrowed a bike pump from the neighbors and pumped until the tire exploded. Literally. I should have taken a photo. It sounded like a cannon went off in our living room and the tire was ripped to shreds. Whoops. He was reading the wrong units on the pump and put more than twice the recommended amount of air. I stayed calm, since I knew he was really upset with himself about this. But I'm not gonna lie. I almost cried.  The first thing he did was ruin her birthday present!!!  How were we going to enjoy watching her ride around on her bike over the weekend with a busted tire!?!?!?  Luckily there is a bike shop within walking distance of our house (did I mention I love our neighborhood?) and they got him all set with a new tire and inner tube. 

Gabriela asked her daddy not to make that noise anymore and also asked why he broke her bike. Phew, thank goodness we got it fixed the same morning. 

Next, she informed us that she needed a helmet. What a safe little biker. We then gave her the present we'd been holding onto from Auntie Ann and Uncle Jesse. matching helmet, elbow and knee pads! She was so excited, and she looks so big!

 

Birthday bike from mommy and daddy, cute outfit from Walter, helmet, elbow and knee pads from Auntie Ann, and shoes from Auntie Liss.  This is one loved little girl!

 Testing out the new ride

Gabriela rode (well, walked on her bike) the half mile to a park and back this afternoon. And by the time we were almost home and Daddy was waiting for us out front, she pulled out all the stops and actually started going kind of fast.  It just took one day for her to figure out how to move around and steer and actually watch where she's going.  What a little Grover.