Emma’s had a bicycle for quite some time now and is really quite good at riding. She spends at least 30 minutes every day riding up and down the street out in front of the house. I wanted to expand her range a bit so one afternoon while Marla was a yoga class we headed across the street into the canyon to let her ride on a wide open path.

Despite her initial reluctance (recall that we’ve seen tarantulas and rattlesnakes over there), Emma ended up having a great time. She rode about a mile or so all-told and couldn’t wait to head back over the next day for more.

The next day arrived and Emma pushed for a change in plans. This time she wanted to ride her scooter instead of the bike. Against my better judgment I gave in and let her take the scooter.

Emma went tearing down the hill and onto the windy path, screaming with glee… which quickly morphed to screams of terror as she hit a sandy patch near the bottom of the hill and the scooter slid out from under her. She hit pretty hard and was in tears as I carried her and the scooter back across the street.

Despite the nasty scrape on her knee, ragged palms and the tears in her formerly-lovely Catch The Moon shirt she was no worse for wear in a few minutes and was happy to pose for me. Henry even go into the act and showed of his “scrape.”

A warm bath and a little mac and cheese for supper that night and she was really no worse for wear. God bless children and their short memories!