Ride On

As many of you know, Orrin is kinda in love with dirt bikes.  He's had just a few of them.

Well, OP fixed up a lil' bike for the kiddos.  He even added some training wheels.  It's a little small for the girls, but it is just right for Porter and Adi and Piper can still ride it.

It just so happens that we have a huge open dirt area in our neighborhood (one good thing about overpriced home sites) where Orrin takes the Mini-Merrills out to work on their riding skills.

Now, I'm not as keen on motorcycles as my hubby.  In fact, watching my babies riding around on this motorized death machine scares me nearly to death.  But, I also want my kids to learn how to enjoy life and not be afraid of everything like their old mom, so I bite a hole in my tongue and let them have fun.

Porter loves it.  I'm not sure if it's the actual riding he enjoys, or the fact that he is just like Dad when he's out there.  Either way, he begs to go riding everyday.

PG is going as fast as the bike will go here.  Luckily, Orrin made it so the bike only goes a few miles per hour, so it saves me from having a panic attack.

Next up was Adi-Baby.  Now, Adi may or may not have ridden this motorcycle straight into a brick wall last year, so she is a little afraid of it.

Notice the extremely worried look on her face here?  She is so much like her mother.

Orrin had to keep running out to her and talk her through it.

In the end, OP had to run along side of her to get her to actually ride the bike.

And my little Piper pulled the weeds in the empty lot while waiting for her turn.

Such a strange, strange child.

Pipes sat on the bike and was ready to go.  Dad made her wait while they reviewed how to stop and go.  And stop again.  She was a little impatient.

And then she was off.

Miss Pips reminds me the most of Orrin.  She has the same fearless attitude as him.  Adi and Porter worry a lot like me, but this girl just goes and assumes that she'll just figure out how to open the parachute as she's falling.

Seriously, it worries me sometimes.

She asked Orrin why the bike wouldn't go faster.

Porter refused to be out done by his sister, so he hopped back on and got a bit more daring.

And Adi?  She curled up on Orrin's lap and he tried to convince her that the more she rides, the less scary it will be.  I told her that she can't just give up on things that scare her.

Adi wanted to know why Mom didn't have to ride a motorcycle to get over her fear of them.

I told her that leaving the house terrifies me.  Thus I was a beating a fear as we spoke.

She looked at me like I was crazy.  She's probably right.

Wyatt's turn?

Maybe not for a few years...