We went on Saturday to Law Enforcement Appreciation Day where Emily would receive her bike, along with about 50 other kids. After she identified the bike she liked best, she found out that it was indeed the one assigned to her. Since it was windy and cold, we then went indoors until the bike parade began.

Unfortunately, in a rather odd bit of irony, when we came back, someone had swiped the bike. We ended up with a pink bicycle that was much less to her liking and a promise that we could trade it in at Wal-Mart on the bike of her choice. Of course, since we’ve never in our lives had a positive experience at Wal-Mart, when Kathy brought Emily in, they gave her all sorts of difficulty about trading the bike. Kathy finally got fed up with the whole thing, and Emily instead ended up with a Wal-Mart gift card worth the $76 the bike evidently would have cost, which she’s keeping in reserve for when she visits Kathy’s parents this summer.

So, to reiterate: a theft at Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, Wal-Mart is evil, and Emily is a fine artist.