Thursday, March 04, 2010

Ice Skates

I'm working on an essay right now.  It's not complete and it's already 200 words too long, but I'm really excited about how it's coming together.  I think I will be proud of this one when it's done.  And that will be soon, because the call for submissions closes on Sunday!

Moving right along to Friday Photoblogging.



After making the girls suffer through two weeks of the Olympics on television, we decided to let them try one of the sports.  Last weekend we took our daughters ice skating for the first time. 

They loved it.

And we loved that they loved it.  But Paul and I were sore for days after the outing.  His back hurt worse than mine because he took more trips around the ice hunched over to hold each daughter.  I "lucked out" that my feet cramped up so badly I had to rip off my hockey skates and press my soles flat to the icy ground.  Stupid plantar faciitis.  I missed a few days of workouts waiting for the pain to subside.  All better now, but not getting near blades any time soon.

Back to thinking about Olympic sports: why isn't sled dragging one? I mean, there's two-man luge and four-man bobsled, neither of which I get. I think having an event where a parent-type person drags a sleigh full of small athletes around some snowy ground makes much more sense.

5 comments:

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Rob Monroe said...

Looks (and sounds) like you all had a blast - I'm jealous! I don't think Abby is quite there yet, but we will definitely get her on ice sometime in the fall.

Sled Dragging would be a great sport - you could do summer (wagons) and winter (sleds) and then bring the two different Olympics to some sort of symbiosis.

Sarahlynn said...

Rob, Abby could do what Ellie and Ada did! They stood and walked just fine on skates as long as they were on carpet. But on the ice? spaghetti legs! We held them up as we skated and they just laughed their heads off the entire time.

Our motivation was that Ivan and Jessica have been taking Arria SKIING this winter!!! We can't afford that, so ice skating it is. :-)

I think you could train for winter sled dragging in summer. After pulling on grass, snow will seem like a breeze. I can imagine the gold-spiked snowshoes and other specialized equipment now.

Barrie said...

And maybe an event with a double stroller? :)

Did you happen to mention bobskates (is that what they're called?) in your story? Those learner skates with two blades on the bottom?? Just a little trip down memory lane for me.

Sarahlynn said...

Bobskates sound like a BRILLIANT idea. I've seen pictures of a walker-like contraption for little ones, too, but we went to an old-fashioned outdoor rink that offered nothing but antique blades. A nice first outing, but not my back wishes to repeat soon!

I tried a "Hot Mamas in Training" exercise boot camp once. I lasted (almost) a single session. I was pushing one child in a jogging stroller and nearly died. The woman at the head of the pack of hot mamas had two in a double stroller PLUS one on her chest in a bjorn. I was humbled. A true Olympian, she! (We jogged and sprinted and did all manner of calisthenics. Can you imagine doing push-ups wearing a newborn in a baby carrier?)