![\"Zaydie2\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Zaydie2-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nThe folks at FirstBIKE<\/a> wrote to tell us that they were offering a 25% discount to their “balance bikes” for military personnel and asked me if I wanted to try one out, since my great-grand daughter’s 4th birthday is coming up, I said “Sure!”. My family has always been bicycle-centric, and I know my son-in-law had bought a balance bike for my grandson a few years back and as he approaches 6 year old, he’s already riding a two-wheel bike. So they shipped me a bike.<\/p>\n I had to assemble the thing (like everything else we buy these days) and it took me about 15 minutes. The instructions were clear and well-organized, even the part about putting the stickers on. So, Zaydie, my great grand daughter arrived yesterday. I gave her the bike and her eyes got wide and she got the biggest smile I’d ever seen and she took off with the bike across the driveway;<\/p>\n Now a balance bike doesn’t have pedals so it’s really a tall “Big Wheel” that kids push with their feet and it has hand brakes to help them control their ride. I couldn’t get her off of the bike even when it started to rain. I also got big “grampa points”. So here is First BIKE’s message;<\/p>\n The team at FirstBIKE, a leading designer of balance bikes (http:\/\/www.firstbike.com), would like to send its sincerest ‘thank you’ to the men and women who have served this country. FirstBIKE gladly announces military families will receive 25% off of FirstBIKE purchases.<\/p>\n The FirstBIKE’s unique design allows for children as young as 2 years old to enjoy and learn how to ride a bike without training wheels. The bike is comfortable, lightweight and provides children with a no-stress method of learning how to ride. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n I always thought training wheels for teaching kids to ride was kind of a crutch, and this balance bike option is a good alternative and helps kids learn to balance themselves at an earlier age than waiting for them to get big enough for a bike with training wheels. And anything that gets them away from the TV and the video games has to be a good idea. And it looks like a good way to score some “cool points”.<\/p>\n A parting shot of Zaydie and her mother;<\/p>\n![\"Zaydie1\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Zaydie1-300x267.jpg\")
<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n![\"Zaydie\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Zaydie-300x257.jpg\")
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