Skating into the New Year

When we were kids, my father would always tease us after we tripped or stumbled by saying, "First day on a new pair of legs?"  Well, that would really have applied in Anna's case this past weekend when we threw her out on a rink with her cousins for her first ever attempt at skating.   

That floppiness about her that we so adore was out in full strength. It took the girl quite awhile to get her footing.  Took her a whole new pair of skates (trainers) and a Skate Mate frame, in fact.

 

I kid you not, she felt sick to her stomach after half a lap and had to get off the floor for a bathroom break, but after that she gave it another try and met sweet roller success ... ever so carefully.  Isn't it precious how she's hanging on for dear life? ♥

One or two of those stiff and wobbly rounds and Anna was off to the races all by herself!

Look at her go!

 

Brooklyn, who is quite the skater and was the leader of the pack in terms of skill and experience, was stunned at how fast Anna was.  Ha!

Eventually she wanted to try a lap without the help.  That went ... ok ... for a couple laps.  But in the end she stuck with the Skate Mate for the most part.

By the day's end I was convinced that I could take Anna skating again and not have a heart attack after all.  Then again, I might still, since our rink here at home doesn't have anything of the Skate Mate variety for our wee wobbly ones. :S Here's a fun, "Look Ma, no hands" moment.

 

Noah, who's been skating a couple times before, was a little unsure of himself at first because it has been almost a year since he last tried. 

 He did a number of laps with his own Skate Mate and concentrated reeeeeeeally hard to remember how to work the wheels underneath him.  Ha!

 

Then he was ready to go it alone, however stiff and choppy and slow it had to be.  Adorable!

Natalie stuck close to Noah the whole time and before they knew it, he was able to skate without watching the floor. These two held hands until they wiped out and decided it was better to keep those hands free for balance.  Ha!

What fun to spend the afternoon on wheels burning mucho energy with the cousins.  Emily and I marveled at how relaxing even this activity could be ... which was saying a lot because I was sure someone would break their face when we first got there.

Beyond the skating, the kiddos kept super active the whole GA visit long with chalk and bikes and chatter outside.

And timed cup stacking, 

and all manner of electronic device sharing,

and, duh, LEGOS, Legos,

and more Legos.

And Nerf fights and swings and getting silly in the rain.

 

Blessed to share these days with my sister and her family!

Oh yeah, we grownups were there too and did grownupy things like talk theology, church, family, football, and ran a round or two of Risk.  We really just relaxed from start to finish. :}  And, bonus, we already planned our next visit to a cabin in the mountains in a couple months.  Hurry up, Spring Break!