Skating!

A couple of months back, I was signing up for a race at the rec center, and had Dax and Cora with me.  While I was waiting in line, they wandered over and looked at the skating rink.  There were a couple of REALLY good skaters on the ice, and Cora was transfixed.  "I wanna do that, Mom!" she said.  I am by NO MEANS an ice skater, so I told her I would sign her up for some lessons.  Dax never likes to be left behind, so he quickly expressed his interest in joining Corbie on her little ice skating adventures.  

The lessons finally started last week (after a few thousand "Do I get to go ice skating today?" questions from Cora).  I was a little worried that my sweet little girl might have her expectations a little bit high when on the drive over, she asked me "What if I start dancing when I get on the ice?"  I reminded her that she had never been on ice skates before, and she should probably try standing before she tries dancing.  She smiled at me.  But it was one of those "Dear mother, you have no idea what you are talking about, bless your heart" kind of smiles.  I reminded her that the most important thing she could do at the lesson was to get up each time she feel and keep trying.  

Here they are, skates on and ready to go!

Cora was giggling as she walked in her skates across the floor to the rink.  Once she got out to the ice, her smile disappeared as she realized, that hey, this ice is really, really REALLY slippery!  

They both had a helper to themselves for a bit.  Cora walked slowly along on her skates, but Dax's mouth was moving much faster than his feet.  He was talking and talking to the cute young woman who was helping him.  "Hi there, what's your name?"

 "You want me to do what?  How about YOU come over here...closer to ME."

"Ah, that's better."

While Dax was enjoying his one-on-one attention (he was smiling HUGELY the entire time), Cora was over with the other little girls, skating along.  She fell quite a few times, but every time she got back up again and kept trying!

Dax was still concentrating more on his coach than anything else.  That's my boy.

 After a lot of negotiating, she finally got him to let go of her hands.  He of course was more than willing to chase her around the rink:

Dax actually is pretty good, and can skate faster than Cora.  Who sees hockey in his future?

They have now had three lessons so far, and the falls are getting fewer and farther between.  Dax is still a lot faster than Cora, and tries to "help" her by pulling her along (and making her fall), but she giggles every time.

I am so proud of how my little skaters both keep getting up and trying again each time they fall down.

If they can just keep that up in everything they do, I can't ask for anything more out of life, can I?