Brave little Noah!

Noah is an odd kid. He is afraid of dumb things like little dogs, Dumbo Elephant ride at Disneyland (almost every ride there!), the dark, and I dunno, weird dumb things.

But he isn't afraid of shedding the training wheels on his bike, jumping off the diving board and swimming across the pool on his own with NO floatation device! OR going to the Dollar Store by HIMSELF.

That's right. Noah the brave, decided since I wasn't going to take him RIGHT THEN (he earned a "prize" for doing chores), he would ride his bike and go alone. Partly my fault, I suggested it- in Joke of course!

When he told me that he was going to actually do it, I laughed and said, "OK, see ya later". He went out to open the garage and get his bike out. Then he came in and paced around a little bit. You could tell he was thinking it all through.

Then he tells me, "well mom, I don't think I know how to get there". "oh, sure you do, go out the gate, down the big street and turn at the church. Go clear to Walgreens and then turn up over the freeway. Remember? It's right by the hospital." He gives me a nervous smile and says ok.

He had 2 quarters he put in his pocket and was about to leave when he came back in to tell me he thought he needed more money. He said, "I could just call you when I get there and you can come pay for me..?" "What's your number? I'll take your phone and call you" (yes I know, if he has MY phone it will do him no good to call it. LOL) My number isn't so basic so he decided to sneak Jonathan's phone away while he was napping on the couch. I told him Jonathan's number and he was convinced he could remember it. He slipped the phone down into his pocket and again, walked out. Moments later he's back, still stalling- I think.

Noah is now worried about the gate to get out of the community. He wanted my "keys" to open it. I told him he needed the remote and let him believe the garage remote would work. So he slipped that into his other pocket and smiled with satisfaction. This time, he was really going. BUT then he came back in the house and looked a little nervous. He wanted to leave Jonathan's phone (I'm guessing, due to he & Carlaya loosing it the other night at the park- don't worry, we found it) So he laid the phone right next to me and nervously said, "Mom just look at the time on it and when you think I'll be there, just come!" I agreed, and off he went.

A few minutes went by and I figured he'd be back in at any time. It was blazing hot outside and the kids hate to ride their bikes in this weather. After about 5 minutes I woke Jonathan up to tell him the funny story. He was a little concerned that Noah might get too far away. I stepped outside to check and figured he'd still be in the street or down distracted by the park. :) We decided to jump in the van and try to follow him. #1 for safety reasons, #2 to see this with our own two eyes! We were going to sneak up on him and drive slow to see how far he'd take this whole thing, but we didn't want him to know we were there.

Down the street, and past the park....No Noah. Around the corner and the next, nearing the gate out....no Noah!! A little panic, but we knew he couldn't be out the gate yet, it hadn't been very long. As I drive through the gate, Jonathan spots him just across the street (behind us) passing a parked car. He had missed it, darn it and now he'd see us!

Just then, a neighbor from our ward, was pulling out of their home right at the gate and was a little concerned. She saw Noah riding alone and questioned him if he was alone, where in the world his parents were and what he was doing! She noticed him heading for the gate and just knew she couldn't let him keep going!!! LOL Luckily we got there just then and informed her of Noah's "little plan." She laughed and probably was still a little surprised at our irresponsibility, but drove off.

Noah pulled up to the car to see what we were doing and to ask if we would follow him cause he was a little nervous about cars. We agreed and again, he rode off- through the gate and out onto sidewalk of a long road. It is downhill and I was worried, he didn't have his helmet on and could go too fast, but he kept his brakes applied and Jonathan insisted at this point we see how far he'll actually ride. Here he is just determined as could be!

At the bottom of the road is our church. From there you turn onto a pretty busy street! Sidewalk or not, I didn't really want him to keep riding alone. Jonathan agreed but also thought that IF Noah had gone this far, we needed to take him to the darn $ Store! So Jonathan got out to walk along side Noah and I raced home to get my wallet, Carlaya & Cherise.

Driving back I wasn't sure how far Noah would keep riding. Keep in mind, this kid is 4 years old and has never rode a distance like this with no training wheels- or ever for that matter! Plus is was 108* outside! That's determination!!

Carlaya and I were completely shocked to see that he had made it almost to the next major cross street before stopping for a break. Jonathan said that Noah finally asked, "Dad, can we stop for just a minute, I'm getting really hot!" When I pulled up to pick them up, Noah was so red in the face, the poor kid was almost purple! He was thrilled to put his bike in the back of the van and ride with us the rest of the way.

Side note: in 108*, Noah rode 1.1 miles on his own!! So hilarious!

(when we got to the $ Store, all he wanted was a PEZ dispenser!)