Ice Skating

As a child, my all time favorite winter activity was ice skating.  I dreamed of becoming a professional figure skater like Kristi Yamaguchi.  I'd attempt cartwheels on the ice and spend hours trying to improve my technique on our choppy awful public outdoor ice rink that thankfully was right next to my house.  I then grew up to realize living in Sturgis, that dream is not going to happen, even if I was blessed with the talent (which by the way, I wasn't).  Our ice rink, the same I used as a child is rarely ever even filled with water anymore.  It has an asphalt underlayment that attracts the heat and never allows it to freeze properly.  So for years now the youth in Sturgis have not been able to experience the joy of ice skating.  After public demand this year, the city decided to put up a temporary ice rink in the downtown area.  It just opened up a week or two ago.  Esther was gracious enough to find used ice skates for the girls and take them for their first time.  So the girls first ice skating experience was last Saturday, January 26th.  Nana and Papa took them down there, but I had to be the meddling mom and eventually make my way down there for some photo opportunities. 

Olivia up on two skates.  She loved it, but just kept pushing off with one foot.
 

Mia had just removed her skates when we arrived and was not willing to put them back on.
 

Olivia ready to fall down.  This happened frequently, but she always got back up and had a smile on her face.
 

Daddy spinning Mia around for a bit.
 

Another fall.  I'm sure Kristi Yamaguchi had a few of these in her younger years too.
 

Mia just being cute.

They've got their next ice skating date scheduled with Nana and Papa for tomorrow.  Now mommy and daddy need to find their old ice skates and dust them off and enjoy some ice skating as a family in the near future.

Oh, and still no name for my new niece!