Ice Rink #3

Today the rink was tested with skates for the first time, and it passed the kid test. Shaeleigh put on skates and hit the ice. Granted, it was very bumpy, lumpy, hilly ice - but still ice, nonetheless. She is very proud of the fact that she was out there for two hours. We did an hour of many bum bumps, to the point where she started crying. I was a little late, but eventually I figured out to get the knee pads to help her out. (Bruce said we needed to figure out how to tie a pillow to her bum.) I tried to use the wrist guards, too, but somehow they got wet. They are being dried out and will be used tomorrow. After the first hour outside, we came in and took a hot chocolate break before heading out to the ice for the second half. She still took quite a few falls, one on her nose which almost ended her ice time. But after we stopped the crying and the bleeding, we asked her if she wanted to go inside and the answer was "NO!" The only way we got her back in was because we had to leave to go to the church this evening, and I wanted to flood the ice to try to even out some of the rough spots.
You'll notice that she's actually heading uphill. The ice rink still has a hill, and going up is harder than going down. Except Shaeleigh fell more coming down than going up.

Brendan wasn't out there today because he was playing with a friend. That was a blessing because we don't have skates that fit him. That's what we'll do tomorrow for Family Day. If we happen to find skates for Bruce and I, we may even brave the ice ourselves. Seeing as neither of us has skated since we were kids, and my last skating experience ended in tears (I was 5), it should be interesting.

So, the stubbornness paid off.