Riding free

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After the party and celebrations of turning 8, we finally got some time and we set off to get Kiddo a bike.  It’s what she wanted for a Bday gift and it’s an easy enough thing to acquire, besides that, it’s a lot more bike friendly here than it was in BKK and the weather is better for it as well.  Kiddo had big dreams of a purple bike and again, that was easy enough.  Gifting done, party done, now all we need to do is to learn how to ACTUALLY ride a two wheel bike.  


We didn’t get the small bike, the trainer wheels, or any of that.  Two wheels and done.  Do or die time.  I tweaked my back and had some soreness and spasms for a few days, so the first two days of biking fell to J.  She found a little path near us with bushes on both sides so if Kiddo fell, it was into bushes instead of straight to the pavement.  They were out for an hour that first day and by the time they got back, I was shown vids of Kiddo biking all by herself.  Day 2 was a larger success.  Day three I got out with her and we learned even more tricks; nothing major, but I was able to get her to reverse her course.  Before that, she would stop, get off the bike, turn it around, and restart.  I worked with her on just doing a figure eight and reversing course.  She was thrilled and needed to try it out about 60000000 times.  Sadly, I didn’t get video of that.

One of the biggest takeaways for both J and I is how quickly she took to it.  The other is, both of us, while out with her, gave her a time and a clear and straight path with no car traffic to take off and bike as quick and fast as she wanted.  Both of us got a cry of “WhooooHOOOOOO!  I’m freeeeeeeeee!!!!!”  She is going to explore the heck out of Shanghai this summer, especially since I’m lobbying J for us to either get a family bike to share that her and I can ride and take her out, or both J and I get bikes and we can do family outings instead of one parent at a time on the shared bike.  Either way, one or the other will happen and I think Kiddo is gonna bike about a zillion KM this summer.


Other weekend fun included some sand pit play.  If only she liked to get her hands dirty.  LOL



Lastly, before I go today, I got some new shirts.  First is a Starwars and this shirt cracks me up on so many levels.  I love it.

Second, J is a hobby mycologist and so we, as a family, kind of had it rub off on us a bit.  Plus, all the different mushrooms in Asian culture and cuisine… I found these shirts.  I got Kiddo the dark red/maroon (it was that or plain white), I got myself a fire engine red (it was that or a dark blue and I’ve got enough blue shirts), and I got J a yellow because (in her size) all colours were available, but it seemed the most fun.


Let’s go, Kiddo…. we’ve got a bike now and a world to explore.  Plus, 6 more weeks of school and a plan to get to the mountains this summer.  Let’s keep exploring and keep having a bunch of adventures.  You can lead! 

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