Ty's "new brand" bike

Our neighbor cleaned our her garage and gifted Ty with a bike. This bike had issues with the chain, but not being one to buy new if used will do, I decided to see what was wrong with the chain. Seemed to me that it had only come off of the gears. Why was she throwing it out, then? I got it working and Ty was able to go up and down the side walk 2-3 times and then the chain came off again. Hmmmm. Seems the bearings between the pedals, the real heart of the bike, were messed up and this was a project for Danny. Ty was so excited about this bike and really showed control (for a 3 1/2 year old) to wait for his Daddy to get home to fix his "new brand" bike (as he still calls it).

Hmmmm. Danny couldn't fix it. Now what do we do with a bike that is not fixable and a toddler that is thrilled beyond the moon about it? You go to Target and get a new one. Danny got the only bike for Ty's size and brought it home like a Proud Papa! Now mind you, this is not the bike in the picture. The story continues. So Ty's excitement about his "new brand" bike is over-the-top when Danny walks through the door with this huge box on his shoulder! This really is as close to 3-year-old heaven as Ty has ever come. Danny begins the construction process and lays out all of the parts.

Ty: "Daddy, what's this?"
Danny: "That's the seat."

T: "Daddy, what's this?"
D: "the handlebars"

T: "Daddy, what's this?"
D: "the pedals"

I'm sure you can imagine how long this actually happened.

Ty's excitement soon turned to misery. The frame of his "new brand" bike was bent and Danny was not able to correct it. Ugh. A tired (it's 7:30pm) and frustrated toddler. Fun, fun. Danny packs the bike back up and I attempt to reason with Ty that his Daddy will do his best to get him another new bike. Both Danny and myself were praying that another store had a bike fit for a king in stock. Jackpot at store #2!

By this time, it's 8pm and there's no way in the world that Ty is going to bed soon because his Daddy is about to walk through the door with a huge box on his shoulder! Now THIS is as close to 3-year-old heaven that Ty has ever come. Danny begins the construction process and lays out all of the parts for bike #2.

Ty: "Daddy, what's this?"
Danny: "That's the seat."

T: "Daddy, what's this?"
D: "the handlebars"

T: "Daddy, what's this?"
D: "the pedals"

I'm sure you can imagine how long this actually happened, despite the fact that Ty knows exactly what part it is and despite the fact that we just went through all of this with bike #1! The end of the story is that Ty is thrilled with his "new brand" bike and has already put several miles on it.



After only a few hours, he's a pro! This is my new favorite picture of Ty!