Yesterday Cam, Charlie and I were outside waiting for Cara to get home from school. The kids were riding their bikes around.....when I say "riding their bikes"....I mean Cami (5) riding a little red trike and Charlie (6) riding this little Thomas bike that he has had for years. We let the kids ride with their training wheels...I never seemed to care.....as long as they were having fun, doesn't bother me any. So I was sitting there in my chair watching them having fun. Then Cara got home and she grabbed her bike....again, still has training wheels....she is 7.....she is in second grade. I suddenly began to think about when I was in second grade and how my sister and I were always riding around the neighborhood on our bikes(without training wheels). Bikes were our life line, our transportation....bikes took us everywhere. We wanted candy......hop on your bike and ride to town.....we wanted to play a video game......hop on your bike and ride to town.......we had a softball game to get to.....hop on our bike and ride to the park.......need to see some friends......hop on a bike and peddle over to their house!!! I was a pro....could ride around without holding on, ya know, "Look ma, no hands!" 
Suddenly, I cared.....I thought to myself, "This is ridiculous! Look at these kids!!! " Charlie's bike is so small, he looks like an adult trying to ride a kiddie bike.....sort of like THIS.....
Well, if I could ride a bike at their age...... then THEY can ride a bike without training wheels.
I totally got a bee in my bonnet and had Mannie (who had just gotten home from work, most likely the last thing he wanted to do) but I got him to take the training wheels off and we started the process..now if you see the pictures....you may notice a few things......yes, we are sort of lacking in the bike safety accessories......batting helmet for a bike helmet......we only have a certain amount of knee and elbow pads and what we do have doesn't necessarily match....princesses, Dora, Thomas, and we do have one set black pads. 
But anyway, we finally did it!! They finally did it!! Now we just have to practice, practice, practice!!
Hopefully Santa will bring the kids some bike upgrades and accessories!!!
After all the bike excitement, we got ready for Gia's birthday dinner.
The kids got dressed in the clothes Gia and Gramps bought the kids from their summer trip to Barcelona. Then Gia and Gramps arrived and we ( and by "we" I mean the kids) had the usual argument over who gets to ride in Gia's car....well....they ALL got to.....problem solved!!!
Then we headed over to Picante for a Spanish meal........oh, wait, one little issue here!!! PICANTE is gone.....gone, gone,gone!!!!!! How did this happen? I shop in the same complex and am there at least 3 times a week!!! How did I never notice that they left/went out of business!!??? Mannie and I were just there a month ago on a date!!! But yes, typical me!!!! We get there for our special dinner and there is no restaurant!!! Is anyone else SO sick of this crappy economy???
But that is okay....we are all flexible and resourceful!!! We just got back in our cars and drove to another restaurant!!!! Yes, we are genius aren't we????
In all.....dinner was great and Gia got to see the grandkids in their special outfits...a good night.
Today, Charlie has his big ANGLERFISH presentation!!!!! I hope he can relax and feel comfortable. I suffer from the same nightmare of a big fear of public speaking so I know how he feels. Hopefully he can overcome it and of course starting at an early age helps!! I can hear him in the kitchen practicing as I type this....what a sweetie!
That is all for today......have a TERRIFIC DAY!!
