Joshua and Tanya hugging the rail.
Last night Ruslan and Anya invited us to go ice skating with them. Joshua and I accepted the challenge and met up with them and a few girls from their church and English Club. The ice rink is only about a ten minute walk from our place, but we had never gone before. I was impressed at how nice it was. It reminded me of Roller Towne in Visalia, where I often roller skated as a child with my friends to the tune of 70's and 80's music (because it actually was the 70's and 80's then). Surprisingly, the ice skating rink was playing the same music. Except for the addition of laser lighting effects and of course the cold ice below us, it was like being transported back in time to the days of my youth.
I was especially thankful for those ice skating lessons my mom insisted I take one year when I was about Joshua's age. Thanks Mom. Those lessons saved me from several potentially painful and surely embarrassing spills on the ice. I'm happy to say that the only thing to make contact with the ice were the blades on my skates. Some of my Ukrainian friends weren't as fortunate. That's not to say that I was tearing up the ice like they did in Blades of Glory, only that my fear of impacting the ice and having to actually be admitted to the hospital we passed on the way to the ice rink made me a cautious skater.
Joshua and Anya gaining confidence.
Joshua was more than a little nervous at first (he also had images of that hospital running through his head), but he made good progress for his first time on skates of any kind. He stayed close to the rail as he worked up his courage. By the time Edna called to let us know that it was time for dinner, Joshua was hooked. He didn't want to leave. I had to drag him off the ice. He had such a good time and can't wait to go back someday. Once the river freezes over maybe we can look into getting ice skates. I had a great time skating and laughing with everybody as they took more risks than I did, ending up more on the ice than on their skates sometimes.
Joshua was more than a little nervous at first (he also had images of that hospital running through his head), but he made good progress for his first time on skates of any kind. He stayed close to the rail as he worked up his courage. By the time Edna called to let us know that it was time for dinner, Joshua was hooked. He didn't want to leave. I had to drag him off the ice. He had such a good time and can't wait to go back someday. Once the river freezes over maybe we can look into getting ice skates. I had a great time skating and laughing with everybody as they took more risks than I did, ending up more on the ice than on their skates sometimes.
Anya and Ruslan on the ice.
"Look Mom! No Hands"
1 comment:
It's fun, no matter how many times fall! A pity it's not cold enough yet.
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