Ice Skating Excursion

They finally flooded the park two blocks from our house so that we can ice skate! We were convinced we'd have to actually drive somewhere to ice skate this year, and just hadn't gotten around to it yet. We all went to play in the snow Thursday night. Elizabeth hadn't forgotten any of her ice skills since last winter, and we had a great time skating together.

She's getting pretty fast and can even spin a little bit before falling down. Now that she's able to stand up from a fall by herself, taking her skating is much easier on my back!

Amelie didn't understand why Elizabeth and I got to wear skates and she had to wear boots. She is fearless on the ice and runs just as fast as she does on dry ground. It's petrifying to watch. This is the Amelie bullet locked and loaded on a sled, ready to fly.

Isaac would race across the ice with her, then let go and send her soaring across the rink. She'd laugh when I would pretend to skate over her, and then yell for Isaac to go again.


After a while, the mountain of snow blocking us from a huge field and sledding hills became too tempting, and Amelie took off without us. Once we got our skates off and followed her, we got a taste of being Arctic explorers and forcing our way through thigh-high drifts. Oof-da!

I'm getting playing outside down to a science. Before we left, I spread out a plastic tarp to catch our wet, snowy things and stirred together cider on the stove to warm us up. Aah! Pop the kids in a warm bath, add some pajamas and Christmas cookies, and life is good.