Skating Party

The children's school (they are signed up with a correspondence school which gives us funds to buy curriculum) hosted a skating party on Wednesday for all their students. The party was at the Dimond Center which is where I and the trio went skating last spring. We hadn't been on the ice in months, so the children were very eager to go.

The party was from 3:30-5:30 and we arrived close to the start. There were already quite a few families in attendance. I collected the rental skates (one size larger than last spring!) and proceeded to help the trio get them on and laced. It's a long process when you have four pairs of feet to deal with. The guy at the rink remembered us from last spring which rather surprised me. We can't be the only skating enthusiasts in town.

After swapping out Bentley's skates twice (we were given a different brand and we just could not get his foot inside), I finally had the trio ready to hit the ice. They sallied forth and I worked on putting on my skates. I think I got the wrong size. The rink only has men's sizes and I couldn't remember what size I chose last spring (my foot has not grown!). The skates were very uncomfortable which they weren't last spring. I didn't skate very much. The children don't need my help. It's not that they are expert skaters, but they like to skate on their own.

Viva took a number of falls, but she never complained. She likes to skate in the middle of the rink, but she had to settle for the inner outer edges because there were a number of instructors giving lessons in the middle of the rink. When that happens the middle of the rink is off limits to other skaters. Bentley told me he fell four times which wasn't surprising given our long absence from the ice. He was doing great though when I checked him out--whizzing around the rink on his own. I didn't see Jake take any spills and maybe he didn't because he hung on the sides of the rink most of the time. Each to their own style.

Raven had rented the party room and in there they had two tables: one filled with Christmas cookies and one set up to make felt and candy cane ornaments. When we arrived and added our cookies to the table, I urged the children to grab a cookie. Jake and Viva did so. Bentley was too eager to get on the ice. After skating for a while, Viva was ready to quit the ice and sample more cookies and do the craft. Bentley and Jake could not be lured off the ice. Other than a bathroom break for Jake, the boys skated until they were kicked off the ice at 5:30. I knew Bentley was a very dedicated skater, but I was surprised that Jake was as focused. I grabbed a couple of cookies each for the boys as the party was breaking up. We watched the Zamboni re-ice the rink and then we headed home.

It was a fun event for the children. I talked briefly with two or three homeschooling moms. I had met two of them at the field trip to the bread store a couple of months back. The children didn't connect with any of the other children there. The boys were too busy skating and Viva doesn't like to talk to people she doesn't know. (We're working on that, but it's slow going.)

I didn't take any photos of the children at the rink because I don't take my camera or phone with me when we go skating. I'd have to rent a locker or keep the camera in my jean's back pocket where it would in grave danger if I fell on the ice which is always a possibility when skating.