Ice Skating

We went ice skating on Christmas Eve with our friends, John and Jorjann (we found the one and only ice skating rink on this island). It was soooo exciting! We haven't been since Evelyn was a baby and so we were all looking forward to it. The kids complained about having to bring their warmest jackets ("It's too hot outside, Mom!"), but once we got inside the rink, they were quite glad Mom made them bring them. :) Ryan stubbornly refused to bring his and paid for it dearly (his ears were quite frozen). But we loved every minute of the cold--it finally felt like winter to us!

Anyway, about the last time we went skating--Jacob was in hockey shoes and he could barely keep his balance. The rink provided buckets for the kids to turn upside down and they could hold onto them to skate that way. Well, look how it's evolved now! Dude, they have WALKERS! Where were these things when I was a kid?!

There was this small area roped off for small kids/or regular beginners who needed to walkers. It was looped like a regular raceway so that everyone was going the same direction. It didn't take long for Evelyn to get the hang of it and want to try out the rest of the rink. If you're wondering where the pix of Julia are at--she was too fast. She already knows how to skate and she was off as soon as we hit the ice.

Look in the background of the video below (I know, it's kinda fuzzy). A young girl in a white jacket with a stripe across the front is going by--that's Julia. She's good, eh? Jacob is in a black jacket and he takes off in the very beginning (before Ry points).

Seriously, nothing like ice skating and hot chocolate! I've promised the kids that I'm going to take them again next year during the winter (Marcus will be 4 then and be able to handle a walker--this year he stayed home with my Mom). It's our way of experiencing a bit of winter (but as soon as we got outside, off went the jackets--too hot!).