Sunday, March 6, 2011

mission impossible: ice skating

I think I've told you you obsessed our little man is with hockey. Well, his new favorite thing is sliding around on the kitchen floor in his socks, playing "hockey." He'll say, "hockey player fall down!" or "hockey player goal!" and just re-enact the exciting things he's seen on the ice rink. (He's been to three games and has been thrilled at each one.)

Well, we thought, maybe it's time to take him ice skating! Let's see how it goes!

We found a local rink with a public skate from 3:45 to 5:15 Saturday afternoon. We got there around 4 and planned to enjoy ourselves the whole time.

From the moment we walk in, Wesley was captivated. All those people ice skating! He was in awe just wandering and staring at the rink full of people.




The little Wesley-sized skates were darling. However, we were moronic parents and put him in short socks. I remembered to bring extra big socks for me, but I spaced it in bringing better socks for my son. Sad. Anyway, we got him all laced up and ready to go.




He was good for about 15 minutes. We made it a quarter way around the rink. Shane is better on the ice than I am, so he was in charge of steadying Wesley. My help wasn't needed. It was exciting and fun and laughable. Then... Wesley lost it.




He wanted Shane to carry him at all times. Every time we'd put him down he'd cry and cry. It was so weird. We found some places to sit, and one of us would sit with him while the other went a lap or two, and when we came back we'd always smile big at Wesley and ask if he wanted to go skating. He always enthusiastically jumped up and onto the ice, wherein he promptly lost it and cried like a baby and demanded to be picked up.




Look at that cute smile. Wesley thought it was great when Shane took him around the rink. Poor Shane. The weather was nice yesterday so he went out for a run, then he carried an extra 30 pounds around the ice rink a half dozen times, and his legs hurt. He may not be able to walk today.

But, since the scenario wasn't sustainable, we left before 5. So sad we didn't even stay for the whole session! We're so bummed it was a failure. Shane thinks maybe it was the socks, how the skates but pressure on Wesley's ankles and feet and he wasn't comfortable. Maybe that's true. It would be better if Wesley communicated a bit more, so we could ask what was exactly bothering him. I did notice as he skated his feet were pointed out, so whenever he'd slide his legs would slide apart. And he also would try to walk (you know, pick up the skates), and that wasn't working either. I realize the whole process is a bit awkward, so maybe he just wasn't ready for it yet. We'll try again in a couple months, maybe after his birthday.

And as a post script, can I just express my awful dissatisfaction with my new camera? I took 24 photos at the ice rink, and only 10 were remotely close to being usable or printable or recognizable. This camera sucks. The delay in taking pictures it unacceptable, and the quality is not what I'd expect from the "more expensive" camera I bought. I'm really mad. I called the place I bought it, which is a local camera shop, and they said they'd give me a tutorial on how to use it, and I can keep trying to figure it out for a few more weeks (in case I'm using the camera wrong or the settings are all off). If I'm still not happy I can return it, but since they want to sell it again (and have to sell it as "used"), I can only get like 60% of what I paid for it back. I'm just so frustrated and unhappy with it. And it fails me time and time again. I mean, I have an adorable busy toddler and I want to capture pictures of him, dangit! If anyone has a tips on how to use a Nikon S6000 please let me know.

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