Classic Skating

Back in my glory days of the early teen years my sister Lauren and our friends used to go roller skating all the time. We loved getting dropped off at the 49th Street Galleria and spending the day cruising. Our prowess at rollerskating began even earlier, when we had awesome strap-on-to-your-shoes metal skates that we'd roam our neighborhood in, while listening to cassette tapes on our boom box (or 8-tracks if our friend Michelle was involved) of Rick Springfield, Michael Jackson, or the Police. We rocked it.

Olivia's school won a party at Classic Skating, so we went as a family, and I have to say, I'm not so good anymore. Coleman and Olivia were so excited and I didn't have the heart to remind them of the last time we tried roller skating (not a pretty sight for their bums or my shins!). But, in an effort to support the school and give the kids a fun experience, we went anyway. We all survived without broken bones and most of our dignity intact. I am proud to say that I stayed upright the entire night (even though upright might need to be defined a little more loosely for my benefit).

Ryan helped both kids around the rink several times--he has a lot more patience for teaching than I do. He first tried taking them with his skates on--that didn't work too well, so he switched to his shoes.

Olivia wanted so badly to learn to skate--and she did pretty well, despite the fact that she flopped around like a noodle most of the night.

Ryan and I even managed to even hold hands a couple of times while going around the rink during the couples skate. It brought me back to the days of a seminary activity in 10th grade when the boy I liked held my hand at the skating rink. How sweet.

Too bad we didn't have a couples skating outfit, right?

Coleman and I hung out on the bench while we waited for Ryan to come around for Coleman's turn.

Coleman's self-portrait. I asked him if skating was fun, and he said, "No! It's just HARD!"

Our last time around the rink Liv and I tried to do it without holding onto each other. When we told her it was time to go she cried... and we don't know if it's because her backside hurt so much or because she didn't want to leave (probably some of both).

**Where did you roller skate in your glory days?
**Have you roller skated lately?

Once There Was A Snowman

We had our first real snowfall of the year last Saturday--a fitting way to bring in December! The kids were so excited to go out and play in it and were successful in convincing Ryan that he needed to go out and shovel. The guilty look on his mug is just after he chucked a shovel-full of snow at me, the innocent photographer. Olivia and Coleman loved being in the snow and had a good time building this snowman. Today, in the sun he melted, small, small, small. Goodbye Mr. Snowman!