A glimpse into our world...: Trike-a-thon

Ava Ryan's preschool participated in a trike-a-thon to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. We were all asked to raise money to help the cause and to send our child with his/her bike and helmet...but, there was only one problem: We didn't have a bike or a helmet. The reason Ava doesn't own a bike is because she is a horrible driver! We learned this in a motorized car first, and then in aisles of Walmart testing all of the hot rides. She is too busy watching everyone watch her that she is completely oblivious to the whole peddling/steering combo that is necessary in bike riding. But, I thought, hey, lets buy her a bike. She has to learn sometime, right? WRONG! We counted that we had 11 days to turn her into a superstar driver so we purchased a bike...a princess one, of course. Our practice sessions began in our kitchen and soon headed down to the basement because, well, I don't know why, I think we thought a change of atmosphere might help her. It didn't! She kept running into walls, when she could actually get the pedals going, which was a rarity. Basically, she wanted to be pushed. So we had to think fast the night before the event when it was apparent that Ava wasn't going to be able to ride her bike, so we borrowed a scooter for her to ride. Less confusing and equally cute! The day before the event we brought the scooter home and taught her how to ride it...it didn't go so well, but her scooter riding skilz were much better than her bike riding skilz! Luckily, a snowstorm took hold of our part of the country postponing the event long enough for a little more practice. When the day of the trike-a-thon arrived, my parents and I geared up to watch Ava get run over by the other little ones...and to my surprise THEY WERE JUST AS TERRIBLE AS SHE WAS! Which, I must admit, was a huge relief because I was having nightmares about her inability to ride a bike like the other kids her age. Sheesh! Ava, with the exception of some future cyclist, looked like a pro out there compared to some of the other kids...and the princess helmet was worn with style and grace!