When we were in Montana Nani and Grumpa offered to pay for the girls to take some classes with the local recreation district. As we marveled over the selection available in our area, one class in particular caught my eye. There were ice skating lessons for preschoolers held at Paul's school on the weekends. The price was less monthly than the group ballet lessons she'd been in back in Naples and included a ice skating recital in December (we're all waiting amusedly to see what that's going to be like for the tots class).
I was especially impressed that each class included 1/2 an hour of instruction, skates for Sadie, skates for a parent, 1/2 an hour of practice time on the ice after class and a treat following class.
And of course, I had to photograph her first class from the stands:
We arrived at the rink a little bit early. It seemed huge!
It seemed even bigger when we discovered that there would only be two kids in Sadie's class (including Sadie) and two instructors:
Mae and I watched from the stands. And Mae was surprisingly interested in what was going on:
It took Sadie a few minutes to get her balance (which made me very grateful for the one on one ratio!):
They got used to being on the ice:
And pretty soon Sadie was standing up on her own:
And gaining confidence with every minute:
They skated around collecting stuffed animals and spent a lot of time working on standing up after falling down:
Sadie was surprisingly focused the entire class... although she was certainly getting tired towards the end!
Mae thought the whole thing was pretty hilarious:
Daddy came on the ice for practice time:
And the princess had her first fall. She was pretty brave and finished what she was doing though... and she didn't want to get off the ice despite her ouchie!
You know those ouchies when you know a bad bruise is going to form?
This was one of those:
After class we visited Nani and Grumpa's hotel room where Mae played with the (disconnected) phone:
And Sadie spent quite a bit of time peering in the mirror at her bruise!
And when you add her eye to my arms, which currently look like this, post-hospital trip:
You have quite a few people certain that we're being abused... especially since the 77 degree weather has us in short sleeves this week (when did 77 become hot?).
Poor Paul. I'm surprised he's even agreeing to go out in public with us this week...
How fun! I loved ice skating, growing up in Massachusetts, and skated quite a lot. I never took lessons, though, which explains why I never was very good. I tried again when I was in my 30s and realized that my ice skating window had definitely closed.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping all your bruises heal quickly (just in time for you to get back to the hospital!)
Marie
I love to ice skate, it is so much fun. It looks like a great class.
ReplyDeleteI took lessons last year, but I am not very good. I think it's a lot easier to learn to skate as a child, as an adult I would calculate my insurance deducatble and available sick days before trying a new move. (Never had to use them, tho).
Wasn't Paul cold only wearing a tee-shirt?
~Jenny
LOL! I can so relate about the bruises. I took a rather insane fall into the bin where I'd set up the parts to my new steel work bench and so have these huge horrid bruises that have kept me out of my exercise class for the past week, and are, a week after, still spectacular, like the one on my arm that looks rather like the one in your picture!
ReplyDeleteAnd I KNOW that some people are likely assuming that my darling hubby is at fault. After all, he has strong opinions, is very much a staunch defending of the Bill of Rights, and never backs down in a discussion, so of course, he must be violent too (sarcasm there, just in case a reader missed it).