Ice Princess

Ella declared one day in January that she wanted to learn how to ice skate. She asked several times. I'm not sure where she got this in her head. But we live in Minnesota, it seems like a natural thing to learn to do. :-) Unfortunately, there is one time in my life I can remember being on ice skates and I'd say it was when I was 11 or 12 or so. I had visions of putting on those skates and just gliding around the ice. Easy, right? Not so much. My ankles caved in and I just had no idea what I was doing nor the determination to try again.

Andrew's from Wisconsin, you'd think he would be an ice or hockey skater. Hmm...not really. I guess he played hockey for a few games when he was 14. So, at least he's been on the ice a few times. Lucky for me, he won the contest for "Who is going to teach our kids to ice skate?"

The community center here offers skate rental and indoor rinks. They also have a tot open skate for beginners where no one else is on the ice. And an instructor is available to give you tips.

Ella was so great! I couldn't believe how determined she was and how hard she worked. It was much more difficult for her than I think she thought it would be, but she stuck with it and really worked at it. I'm so proud of her for not giving up. Athletic ability comes pretty easy to Ella. She's naturally good at throwing, swinging and kicking. So it was fun to see how she handled not being good at something the first time she tried it.

She's gone a few more times and seems to still enjoy it. The pictures are from the first time we went. We brought Lily just in case she wanted to try too, but no go on that one. She and I sat on the sidelines and watched. Hee hee...Lily is so much like me when I was little (a big chicken!).



Ella with the instructor Chris. He's helped her a few times. She always comes home and gives me a full report of her new "lesson". :-)

Random photos of Lily watching Ella.


And of course, you just HAVE to get hot chocolate after you're done ice skating. So what if a little gets on your shirt. :-)

Hope you all are enjoying some winter fun activities as well!