Alyce Learns to Ride a Bike

In the past few days Alyce went from riding with training wheels to being a full fledged bike rider!  I can't believe how quickly she learned!

I did a little bit of looking online and the consensus I found was that at first you should take the pedals off the bike and allow them to learn balance before they have to worry about pedaling.  Also with no pedals on the bike they can put their feet down without any obstruction.  Alyce was in this mode for two different sessions.  The first time was with me and she was a little shaky.  Alyce's longest run without putting her feet down was 15' or so.  On Monday Mom took Alyce out for another session and she made it down the street unassisted!

Tonight we were all out together and after seeing Alyce go down the street a few times I told her she was ready for pedals.  I put them on right then and there.  We went down to the end of street and with a gentle push she was off!

After a few short rides she was off doing circles through the cul de sac.  We practiced stopping without crashing and starting.  The only difficulty she has is getting started.  If she is on a hill she is ok but if on level ground has a bit of trouble.  I figure she'll have that figured out the next time she's out on the bike.

Mom and I were both very proud parents!

Parents Observation

Tonight is parents observation night. Alyce is in the middle of her third year of dance. It's pretty unbelievable.


Alyce is such a well behaved little girl. She pays attention for most of the class. She's getting more flexible too. She can now touch the floor without bending her knees.

Girl Scout Cookies

So my little Daisy (young Girl Scout) is doing her annual duty to the troop by selling Girl Scout Cookies. As far as a product goes the Girl Scouts have a lock. Just post something on Facebook that you are selling and the orders come piling in.

I remember as a kid going door to door shilling the fund raising wares of my school. My mom making me practice my spiel before sending me out the neighbors. Walking up the driveway to every house on the block hoping that no one would be home. I don't plan on Alyce having to run through the whole block but perhaps a knock on a few doors.  You know, for character building.

But after calling the grandparents and dropping off the form at work I'm sure she'll have enough boxes sold to qualify for a badge or a pencil or something.

I'd really like to skip the whole fundraising thing altogether.  I see the need to raise funds but factor in the time for selling, accounting, and delivery and there's so much work for very little profit.  If you need cash give us the option of just writing a check for the average profit you'd like to make per kid. This argument is moot with Girl Scout Cookies because everyone likes those things.