Ice Dancing

Today the kids got out of school at noon. We first drove to Todd's office to have lunch and trick or treat with his co-workers. Our kids were the only ones there. They loved all the attention!

We had a couple of free hours before dinner, and Carson had been begging to go ice-skating. He had just gone the previous weekend for a friend's birthday party. Emilia had also recently gone to the Olympic Oval in Kearns and felt confident she could do it.

My friend Sally and her daughter Claire joined us, which was a life saver because it meant I had another adult to help Stella while I skated with Andrew.

The kids took to ice skating pretty quickly. I grabbed Andrew by his arms and helped him balance while I skated alongside him. He liked the idea that skates felt like princess high heels, but the moment the blade hit the ice he freaked out and wanted out.

I convinced him there was not going back and that we had to complete a circuit around the ice-rink. It was slow going, but about half way around he decided that 'ice dancing' was fun and then there was no way to get him off the ice.

Skating with Andrew is quite a workout. It requires squatting and carrying 40 lbs of shifting weight while balancing on the skates. My lower back could only handle so much of it. Whenever I skated with him I was warm even without my coat.  As soon as I helped Stella or went around with the older two I would get cold again and put on my jacket.

Emilia felt confident enough to let go of the side wall for periods of time. Carson was skating in the center of the rink without a problem. He even decided that he wants to hold his own birthday party here in a month.

This was Stella's first time. By the time we left she was skating without help from an adult but still needed to hold on to the side. It was all a matter of confidence, because I know she can skate unassisted. I am sure that with a couple of more times she would be able to be confident enough to go on her own.

The kids were fascinated by the skaters training in the center of the ice rink. The girls all had coaches and were practicing all kinds of jumps and other turns. It was impressive to see preschool-age kids skate on the ice with better skill than me.