Today is a really lovely fall day

Theo and Ruby rode their bikes today. Just before we got started, Theo said, "I don't want to take my training wheels off." Dad and I tried to bargain with him at first, saying that we would only take them off for the first few minutes. He said no. Then, in what I believe was a truly inspired moment, I said, "Theodore, do you mean to tell me that you are now five years old so you are allowed to chew gum but you can't even try to ride without training wheels? That doesn't make any sense!" For whatever reason, this reasoning made Theo smile sheepishly, and he said, "Oh yeah!" So the training wheels came off for a little while. We did put them back on later when we decided to all ride around the pond.

Theo had a lot of fun practicing without training wheels with Dad's help. Ruby watched her brother's success and made some extra effort herself--she practiced getting started without help and standing while pedaling, and she required a lot less pushing. She was even singing an original song about being a big girl. The lyrics were, "I am a big girl, I am a big girl...."

I meant to take many more pictures, but the camera battery was not charged.