Ice Skating

On Saturday evening Matt and I took the girls ice skating for the first time.  Last year Kirsten asked to go, but we never fit it in.  Honestly, I was a little nervous about how our girls would do on the ice, especially one year old Reagan.  This year, however, I set those concerns aside, and we took them ice skating.

In preparation for our ice skating adventure, I showed the girls several Youtube videos of toddlers ice skating.  Apparently, two year olds can ice skate if given the opportunity.  I also showed them videos of Nancy Kerrigan figure skating.  They were both very impressed by all of these videos, but I could tell that Reagan was particularly interested. 

On Saturday morning, I told them that we would be ice skating in the evening.  They flipped out!  Reagan told me how she was going to be the fastest ice skater.  She would skate in circles, jump in the air, and never fall down.  For about twenty minutes, both girls informed me of how good they would be at ice skating, and then I started feeling nervous.  What if they hated ice skating because they couldn't do it as well as they expected?  Feeling it was my duty to give them a somewhat realistic expectation of their ice skating abilities, I carefully said, "I'm glad you're so excited about going ice skating, but I don't want you to be disappointed when we go tonight.  Learning to ice skate can take time.  You might fall a few times, but that's okay.  You just get right back up and keep practicing."  Kirsten seemed to accept what I said and spoke positively about how much she would practice, but Reagan was entirely undaunted.  She said, "Don't worry, Mommy.  I will be the best ice skater.  I won't have to get back up because I won't fall.  I will never fall down!"  I couldn't bear to dampen her enthusiasm.  So I let both girls tell me about their amazing ice skating skills for the rest of the day.

When we actually went skating, they both went right out on the ice, and they did a great job!  They might not have been skating circles around us, but they did do much better than I expected. 

Kirsten held Matt's hand and found her legs pretty quickly.  By the end, she could skate quite a distance all by herself.  She didn't like it when we let go of her hands, but she could do it.  Of course, she fell down several times, but she did get right back up and keep practicing.

Reagan held my hand at first, but after struggling for almost an entire rotation around the rink, I asked Matt to try teaching her.  Then we decided that she needed a walker or else she wasn't going to be able to get anywhere.  After we got her the walker, she held on, and Matt and I took turns pushing her around.  At one point, Matt offered to take pictures of Kirsten and me, and he left Reagan in the middle while he followed us around the rink a bit.  Glancing to the center, I saw that Reagan was skating away from her walker--ALL BY HERSELF!  Matt rushed over to her to congratulate her on her skating ability.  Apparently, she could skate by herself, albeit slowly, if we didn't hold her hand.

Everyone had a great time.  That night I even dreamed about ice skating!  We are ready to go ice skating again as soon as possible.

Getting ready to go out on the ice.

Reagan with her walker.

Matt and Kirsten skating.

Me and Kirsten skating.

Reagan skating away from Matt.

Kirsten and Reagan giggling about using the walker together.