Swimming! A new bike!

We FINALLY took Rachel to get her new bike, a big-girl Trek, from Grandma and Grandpa for Rachel's 7th birthday (thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!). The bike is a little big and it has grown-up gears, so it took quite a while for her to get the hang of it, and at one point, after the bike had fallen on her, she started sobbing and said, "I'll NEVER be able to do this!" I had to lift her up in my arms and remind her that she said the same thing, too, when we took the training wheels off and when she was learning how to swim. She seemed only slightly comforted. It really is a big bike, heavier than her current one, and she'll have to figure out how to brake gently and hop off in one fluid motion. I promised her that she'd be able to do it, it'll just take practice, and so the next few Fridays we're in town, I'll pick her up early from camp and we'll practice on the trail near our house. If it isn't too bloody hot and humid.

Afterward, we headed to Charon's country club; she invited us for a swim today, and we arrived before she did and immediately jumped in, Rachel and I. Rachel is getting quite brave; she jumped off the diving board a couple of times and made me do the same;  I had forgotten how fun that was. She and I horsed around for a while; then she and Cameron went and played in the water while Charon and I ordered drinks and talked; then I went back in with Rachel to play in the water and Charon joined us; then I got in a half-mile of swimming in the lap portion of the pool while Drew took Rachel for a hot dog. All in all, it was a great afternoon.

Then we went to FDB for dinner and frozen custard. I've decided their food is pretty awful but the custard is GREAT. Rachel insisted that she wasn't going to eat my ice cream (she just wanted a chocolate waffle cone), but I kept offering her some and she kept saying, "thank you, Mom," and took a few bites before ultimately refusing. She was also reluctant to let our waitress know that she brought her the wrong type of waffle cone ("I don't want to be picky," Rachel said, embarrassed, and Drew reassured her it was okay to let them know that they didn't bring what she wanted; she still looked a bit chagrined. Reassuring to know that she shows no signs of being a restaurant prima donna). Finally she got the right cone, shared my ice cream, and Drew got a chocolate malt, so all turned out well. Really, it was a lovely day.