Let's Go Skating!!!

It was a beautiful day today! Our snow is long gone, but it makes it easier to part with when the temperature gets up in the 50's. 

So, I was knee deep in cleaning and organizing my enormous pantry when Nick decides he wants to take the kids to go roller skating at the skate rink just a few miles from our house.  McKenzie had spent the night at a friend's house so he called her up and asked if she and her friend wanted to go with us.  [Surprisingly, her answer was no.] 

So I got the kids dressed, and left my kitchen and pantry a mess and we walked out the door to go skating.

The kids had never been before and Nick and I calculated that it had been about 7 years since we last put on some skates. [A bunch of us went out in Pensacola, FL for McKenzie's 6th birthday and had a blast at the skate rink that night]

Anyways, Addison needed a size 7, but they started at size 8... but the smallest size they had available when we got there was an 11!   Thank goodness we brought an extra pair of socks for her! We needed them.  Trevor was so excited to try skating, and was ready to go once I got his skates on him.

I offered to stay back with Tyler the first round, so Nick (sporting some old style skates himself) took Trevor in his left hand and Addison in his right...
 

It wasn't long (and I mean a few seconds) before Trevor was down...

 He immediately turned my way and continued to fall at least a half dozen times before making the 15 foot trip back to me... arms and legs and skates flying, and the screaming getting louder with each fall.

Addison was quite a trooper, continuing on with the lap.   That is, until a long white bearded 80 year old ish man came fancy skatin' past Nick yelling "18 and older skate time".... apparently we missed that announcement, so he turned around and lead Addison back to our seats. She then wiped out as she was stepping up onto the carpted area and bonked her head on the edge.  More screaming.

Nick went on a few solo laps, so I stayed with our happy screaming children crying, "I wanna go home, I don't want to skate anymore!"

What, you want proof?

 (Trevor screaming extra loud when he realized I was trying to take a picture of him crying on the sidelines)

 

Do those look like the faces of happy roller skating children????

Wait, here... let's pretend she is zooming past me on some fancy in line skates and smiling for a quick photo as I wave and blow her kisses as she passes by. Whoosh!

(actually she had a rapid mood change and posed quick for me before going back to looking like the previous photo)

That move had the lady next to me in stitches!

After a few minutes, I convinced Trevor and Addison to go a round with me.  It was now my turn to have a kid clinging desperately for life on each arm... we started off pretty good. Addison pretty much had it down, and let me pull her while I tried instructing Trevor to 'march' a little to decrease the frantic moments of losing his balance.  He kept rolling his feet front to back, each time moving farther and farther away from each other, causing his arms to make some sort of attempt to compensate, making the whole situation that much worse, for EVERYONE nearby.  So between me catching Addison in a mid spinning fall and pulling her back up to her feet, while trying to downsize the flailing arms and legs of a mess on my left (Trevor), I can only thank the good Lord above for helping me to NOT make a complete fool of myself as well and keeping me upright.

At the halfway point, Trevor had all but given up, and we were at the point where I am forcing him to continue to skate around the rest of the lap.  (Yes, all this time, we have only made it halfway around) But to prevent people from thinking I am a terrible mother, I let him stop at the 3/4 mark and join Nick (on skates) chasing Tyler around the outside.  And of course, Addison wanted to quit too.

The skates came off, the shoes went back on, and they went to play on the indoor jungle gym.

Meanwhile, there was one person who went that had a blast!!!!! That would be my sweet little Tyler.  He walked up and down the sidelines of the rink flirting with the ladies, and keeping us on our toes as he would take any opportunity to hop onto the wood floor that was the skate rink... If they had skates small enough for him I guarantee you he would be out struttin' his stuff on the rink!

But instead, he hung out with Mom and Dad...

And when a good song came on... he'd do his thang...

"Great Idea, Nick."  <---- Sarcasm.