Idon'tbelieveyou.

As most of you know, Will loves, loves, LOVES his dirt bike. He got his first shiny new dirt bike on his 7th birthday. I remember being a little nervous with the whole thing, especially when he hopped on it and literally took off 10 seconds after receiving it... but over time, as he gained more experience, I became more relaxed with the idea of him riding. He actually is a good, responsible little rider. or was. little that is.

First Day with the new dirt bike 2007

Since then, Will has continued to grow, while his dirt bike has not. Our first thought was to have Will start saving for a new one. He liked the idea, and began by putting all the money he had (which wasn't much) in a huge glass jar, and eagerly started jumping at the chance to do extra chores to make money. The money didn't pile up as quickly as Will had hoped, and as we got busier with school and sports, opportunities for money-making became less frequent. He got discouraged and started to think he was never going to earn enough for a bigger bike.

Will's been saving for almost a year now, and while he doesn't have near enough to pay for a bigger bike, we decided to 'help' him out with the rest after finding a nice used dirt bike for sale. I found the bike on-line, had my brother in WI pick it up, and my dad brought it back to his cabin about 2 hours from our house. What a great find! Since the kids didn't have school yesterday, we told them we were taking a last-minute trip to Grandma and Grandpa's, and oh-by-the-way we're stopping at Grandpa Larry's cabin too. Sounded good.

After visiting with my Dad for about a half hour, he asked the kids if they wanted to see his *new boat* in the shed. Of course they did! My Dad put on a good show talking about the features of his (NOT NEW) boat - and since Will was only half listening, he didn't catch on. He was too busy admiring the yellow dirtbike parked to the side of the NOT NEW boat. The conversation went something like this:

Will: "Wow, Grandpa Larry, you have a dirtbike? I didn't know you liked dirtbikes."
GL: "Oh sure, I ride it around here every once in a while - it's fun."
Will: " WOW. This bike is AWESOME. I wish I had one like this."
Ben: "Oh yeah? You like this one?"
Will: "Yes, this bike is so cool. I wish it was mine."
Ben: "Well guess what... That bike IS yours."
Will: *huge smile* "WHAT??? *serious face* Idon'tbelieveyou."
Ben: "Yup! Happy Birthday early. It's yours!"
Will: *huge smile* "WHOA. This bike is AWESOME!!! *serious face* Idon'tbelieveyou."
Ben: "For real! It really is!"
Will: *huge smile* "Cool. *unsure smile* Idon'tbelieveyou."

It went on like this for a bit. Elation, a big smile and then reality check where he can't believe it's really true. It was SO CUTE.

HAPPY EARLY 10TH BIRTHDAY WILL!