Lucky Find = Lucky Madeline

Due to the comments on my blog as well as comments from my Facebook friends, I was convinced that I needed to purchase a bike for Madeline. Not that $80 is a ridiculous fortune, but it is a lot to shell out for no apparent reason. Nonetheless, I resigned to the fact that I needed to shell out the dough. The only question left was should I save the purchase as a "1/2 Birthday" gift (Madeline turns 4 1/2 on May 4th) or a "Gothcha Day" gift (June 25th). I wasn't pleased with these ideas though because (a) we do not normally celebrate "1/2 birthdays" and (b) our "Gotcha Day" traditions do not include large gifts but rather, a dinner out at a simple kid-friendly ice-cream servin' joint accompanied by a much smaller gift.

Well, Mama-Dirtyfoot hit the jackpot! My friend Tammy, a teacher, is on spring break along with her daughters. Madeline and I headed over to their house for a visit. On the way to Tammy's, on the main rural road off which Tammy's house's development runs, I spied 3 two-wheel bikes displayed for selling purposes on a front lawn. On the way home I stopped to find that these bikes, of various sizes, were being sold for $15 each. The "middle-sized" bike was the same size as the ones I looked at in the toy store. Yes, Madeline will out grow this bike too in a few years so a $15 investment was a no-brainer, especially since the bike was in good condition. This find also solved the gift-giving/cost dilemma.

Today, I shabbily attached the training wheels and Madeline got to try out her new ride this afternoon. Despite having the training wheels on, I still needed to help Madeline out. And, as the test drive continued she seemed to get a little wobblier. I am not sure if that is because Madeline was starting to realize that she could potentially fall or if my shabby job of attaching the training wheels was starting to effect her. The later is probably more the case since after a couple spins up and down the street, the wheels were hardly touching the ground. The new unsteady ride eventually had Madeline revert back to her comfort level on the tricycle for the rest of the afternoon. However, I am proud of Madeline's good try on her first go on a big girl's bike.

In the evening, when David came home from work, Madeline was proud to show Papa her new bike. We ended a good day with a fun meal time. We, as a family, made our own personal pizzas for dinner. The excitement of the day has lead to a difficult bed time. No, Madeline isn't giving us a hard time, but rather, the excitement is making it difficult for her to fall asleep. We are now pushing 10pm and Madeline has yet to fall asleep! She is up there singing away and talking to her dolls & stuffed animals.....sounding very happy! (See video below of an early run on the bike)