A "relaxing" breath of spring

Sunday was an amazing day. The temperature topped out above 60, and the sun was out, so Peter said, "Let's take a walk." This often is a relaxing fun thing to do, provided the girls do not argue.
Then the girls wanted to take their bikes. They really could use the exercise, so we said okay. But they hadn't been used in months, so the tires were flat. Peter couldn't find the tire pumps, so I had to stop what I was doing to find them (in the place I told Peter they were). But of course, the tire pumps are not the easiest things to use and take a while. In the meantime, Charlotte had her helmet on backward and was complaining about not having knee pads. When her helmet was turned around, it was too loose, and she wouldn't keep her head still to get it in place. So 20 minutes later we start on our walk.
Sammy still has training wheels. We live in a somewhat hilly area, so anytime she pushes off with her foot, she runs into the wheel and can't get anywhere. Also, she leans her bike so that she is resting on one of the trainers while she rides, and to balance leans her head in the other direction. It looks terribly uncomfortable. We keep telling her to sit up straight. We try to hold the bike up straight. But she just "Can't". In the mean time, Charlotte is either lagging behind, or refusing to break before running into Sammy.
Finally we decide, we're in a flat area, so let's take off the training wheels so that Sammy can learn this. (Sammy is petrified!). Of course, we didn't bring tools, so we only manage to get one wheel off by hand. Peter takes over the lesson and manages to get Sammy to go pretty well with just one wheel, but she gets nervous and puts her feet down to stop. I remind her that she can break by pedaling backwards. Charlotte hears this and decides to break every 10 feet. Of course since she's smaller and we are now going uphill, this means she can't get going on her own. So every few minutes we repeat a cycle of "come on Charlotte, let's catch up with Sammy and Daddy." (break) (assisted start) "They're getting way ahead of us!" (break) (Assisted start) (break) "Mommy they're too far away!" "Then stop breaking" (assisted start)(pedal pedal pedal) "Charlie, don't run into Sammy... Charlie, watch out for Sammy... Charlie, pedal backwards... Charlie! Peter, watch out for Charlie!".
Eventually we make it back to our street. "Okay, let's go home now." Charlie--"I don't want to go home!" So Charlie and I turn down a side street. 30 feet and three stops later she notices some birds. She wants to watch the birds. She wants to cross the street, with her bike, to get close to the birds. Sigh. Finally I convince her (or so I thought!) to go up the hill one time and then go home. But when we get back to home, Daddy has taken Sammy's other training wheel off and is helping her ride up and down the sidewalk. Charlotte wants to stay out, and I am contemplating blood pressure medicine.
Peter has taken the little bag off the front of Sammy's bike so he has a place to grip. Charlotte has to have her bag off too. (Are you sure? yes) Her bag has her water bottle in it. (Are you sure? yes) We ride to where Sammy's bag is, and pick that up, and the next time I pass the house I take both bags inside so there is less to carry. When I come back, Charlotte wants to ride up the sidewalk again, and then wants to drink out of her water bottle. Which is now in the house. Argh!
In the meantime, Sammy can make it about 50 or 60 feet on a bike without training wheels. What the heck did we do with the kick-stand?