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Today Ingrid told us that she felt ready to take off the training wheels. Like I said, she’s been practising A LOT here at the KOA. She had been outside playing happily with the bow and arrow she and daddy made this morning. But then I saw her sitting on the picnic table just watching all the kids ride by on their bikes and scooters and skateboards. I asked her if she wanted to ride her bike and she told me “no” pretty crossly. I misunderstood and thought she was too shy to join the other kids.

Now I think she was just wishing she could do it too. So about an hour after she told us she wanted the wheels off, she got cold feet and told me she’d changed her mind. We told her no problem, but would you like to take them off just for one test ride with daddy holding your shoulders? She said yes and once she started she immediately realized she didn’t need those crazy training wheels and she’s been riding without them for several hours now! She came in once and said her legs were hurting but then she went back out again!

I’m especially proud of the way she has been listening to daddy’s instructions and then going out on her own and practising them. Today she is working on braking smoothly and making tight turns. So far so good!

We’re heading to Ben & Jerry’s in the city tonight to celebrate Ingrid’s achievement. It’s really not necessary, you can see it clearly on her face that she is proud of what she has accomplished, but we want to make it an extra special memory for her.

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We finally wrapped up our many many projects and hit the road again! Our first stop was Morgan Hill, where we had a peaceful few days at a sleepy little RV park nestled in the green rolling hills, while our RV satellite was being repaired. I really liked this place, and wish this could be our new home base for Bay Area stays, but it’s pretty far from everything… an hour to Oracle, 35 minutes to poker and Los Gatos where my mom and sister live, 45-50 minutes to dance class in Palo Alto. This park was no-frills, just the basics in a pretty setting, well manicured and scenic. There’s a small creek and some trails into the mountains, and I’ll always remember this place because it’s where something very special happened: Ingrid learned to really ride her bike:  by this I mean balancing and not relying on those training wheels!

Yes it’s true! Andrew and I were standing outside watching her ride around our site, leaning on the training wheels the entire time. Andrew went over and said something to her, then she rode away and he held on to her shoulders running alongside. He’d done this before at the crappy Redwood City trailer park, but I guess she wasn’t ready, or maybe the potholes were too scary… this time she did it, she learned how to balance and from that day she’s been getting better and better at it. At the first park down here, in Santee, she even rode on a rocky dirt trail all by herself. It’s very exciting for me, I can still remember when I first began riding a bike and that wonderful feeling of freedom!

Santee is about 20 minutes from San Diego, so we haven’t explored the city yet. This RV park has 7 lakes. We rented pedal boats a couple of times which Ingrid loved, and I loved too because it helps to get her comfortable in a boat again. There were tons of different birds and ducks. It was hilarious what a huge flock of ducks were following in our wake as Ingrid tossed some duck food. This park is huge and we rode our bikes a lot. We played at the playground and really just enjoyed the sunny warm weather. Ingrid and I finally started making the Waldorf doll kit that I bought her for Christmas.

Now we’ve moved closer to the city and we’re at a cute little KOA park with a pool, climbing wall, playgrounds, and even a doggie obstacle courses! The weather has taken a turn for the worse but daddy and Ingrid are having a marvelous time working on their Lego project. Ingrid came up with the idea of making a movie with Legos, a Wizard of Oz using Star Wars characters. I think it’s going to be fabulous and who better than a former Lego champion to help her create it?

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