Another weekend, another Saturday and time for bikes and chocolate. Easter is officially over, however my five year old, ate the ears and nose of Alfie bunny for her breakfast. Yes, now a sad looking chocolate rabbit. It’s amazing that she still has him to eat. My seven year old, consumed most of his the day he was given it. The kids do love their chocolate.

It has been a dry but chilly day here, no gardening achieved but the children have been outside playing on their bikes. Today I bought my short nearly 8 year old a 24 inch wheeled Ridgeback bike. I didn’t think he would be able to touch the floor. He can, and he can control it well too. It is a lightweight bike but I had in mind that it would need to be stored away for Christmas. So, be warned, if your child is turning eight and needs a new bike, have a look at the 24 inch before you buy a 20 inch.

Now watching my short five year old, nearly six on her 16 inch wheeled bike, the wheels look so small. She can ride my son’s heavy 20 inch bike, however, I’m sure she would much rather have a girls bike when the time comes. Looking on eBay and Facebook for a lightweight bike in the local area, I’m telling myself she can wait because her current bike is lovely and her seat is still right down. Plenty of growing room yet.

One disadvantage of having a boy and a girl, it is not as easy to hand down bikes. I’m grateful for Facebook and eBay.

Also, to bear in mind, if you are buying your child a new bike. The 24 inch bike I bought today weighs about 12.5kg, it has an aluminium frame. There is a nice looking 24 inch bike, half the price in Argos, but it weighs over 15kg. His 20 inch wheeled bike, weighs 14.1kg and that’s heavy! I was surprised that my daughter can handle it. A lighter bike will be more expensive, but weight is something to bear in mind over a Halfords or Argos bike. Many people will promote Islabikes as they are very light. They have a good resell value, but they are very expensive.

After a long busy week, I have achieved very little. I’m trying to do camp Nano, aiming for 20000 words this month, I’m very nearly there.
Being tired and busy is not helping my creativity this week. Trying to write about time travel is proving confusing. I’m starting to doubt myself. The urge to get a roll of wallpaper and plan the novel properly does seem like a good idea. Trying to work from the dinosaurs to the end of time. Then trying to decide how many years my story will allow and make some sort of sense.

So, tomorrow I was thinking about taking the kids for a bike ride. Now I’ve remembered that I’ve got school uniform to iron. My seven year old still has to finish describing a picture of a rainforest. We still have to decide what my five year old is doing. Tomorrow is going to be a fight between their homework and their bikes and chocolate.

How has your week been? Did or do your children love their bikes and chocolate? Mine can spend hours riding around the garden in circles. I can remember as a child also riding around the garden. I have not told my children, but we used to line up blocks of wood and create obstacle courses. We would then ride over and around them. I think my parents gave up on stopping us and I’m guessing we probably left them to tidy up after us. It’s a shame that I have no photos of our garden fun. The fun of being a child on a bike.

For more see, Easter and time in the garden