Ice Skating

Yesterday we celebrated the holiday season with some ice skating with friends!

We were so excited!  Jason and I figured that it would be a lot like the time we took the girls last year--a lot of hand-holding, and two parents with sore backs.  We knew they would have buckets for kids at this rink.  Viv had never tried one, but Elena had.  It was terribly unsuccessful, b/c she was on her toes so much in her skates while leaning on a bucket that the skate's toe picks kept her from going anywhere.  Still, the kids had fun.

So we had high hopes this year.  They started to fade a bit when Elena got on the ice and had a terrible time with her footing--sliding everywhere (of course!  it's ice!) while her peers managed to stay upright (at least part of the time).  Elena had a very hard time being upright, no matter how many hands/arms/torso we held (it was a little better with one adult holding one hand on each side).  She started to get a little frustrated.

The Wall was tough

I put her on the buckets and pushed her around for a while.  In the beginning, every child was just focused on staying upright they couldn't notice what was going on around them.  Elena relaxed when she noticed she wasn't the only one having a difficult time skating.  I also had her see how other kids were using the buckets--their feet further away from the bucket, with their legs pretty straight and them bending at the waist to lean on the buckets.  E was ready to try again.

Try Again

Ride and Observe

Viv is enjoying herself

Dad Lets Go

And again and again and again.

YES YOU CAN

Bonus Vivian:  Viv tries to help her classmate T after he falls.  Precious!!!

Everyone LOVED skating--she got to enjoy time with her friends, neighbors, classmates--as did Vivian, who is apparently a natural on skates.  It was a great time, with wonderful people, to celebrate the season, and we're so happy we got the chance to enjoy skating with friends.