Roller Derby, er, party...
One of Avalon's friends had a skating birthday party Saturday, and the parents were kind enough to invite Angus and Gareth too. I went with, and since none of them had been skating before, I rented my own pair of skates too. It's been roughly 20 years since I've been skating, but the last time was at this same rink in Fountain Valley. Beth, Doug and I (and others) used to go every couple of weeks or so, although it sort of slowed down a bit after Doug and Beth collided on a turnand he landed on her ankle and nearly broke it. I don't think she'd even be able to now, the way her neck is.
Note for next time - the kid's skates run small. I asked for their shoes sizes and and all of them had their toes jamming up against the ends, needing the next bigger size. I tried to demonstrate on the carpet how to keep your front foot going straight and pushing off with your back foot, but really, it's something you have to do to figure out how to do it. Angus and I did a lap first; he wanted to cling bodily onto my arm, and his feet were going all over the place (imagine one of those cartoons where the character's arms or legs have speeded up into fans). We got around once and I needed to rest a bit before the next one. Whew! Avalon was easier to pull around, and Gareth seemed to be ok too, although were pretty wobbly. Angus kept going around next to the wall by himself; good for him! Seems like he's getting better at doing stuff by himself, and not freaking out so much when he can't see me.
Then the PA called the birthday girl's name, and pizza, cupcakes and ice cream were served in the snack bar, then everyone was off and skating again. Angus and Avalon gamely tried to do the Hokey-Pokey, making wobbly circles, but not doing much about the body parts, which was fine. Soon after that, the two youngest crashed and burned - Avalon on her butt a couple of times, and then Gareth fell down forward and did a face plant (well, he bumped his nose, anyway). They were done, and swore they would skate no more forever. Angus could have kept going, but they were all getting pretty tired and thirsty, and trying to get a drink of water from the fountain was an exercise in contortion. For some reason the damn thing was mounted about two feet from the floor and with skates on I think I was at least six feet tall. We'll have to be sure to bring a bottle of water if we come again.
Anyway, I'd forgotten how fun it was. Only thing is I thought I at least got a few pics of feet in skates, but all I have is the fry stuffing their faces with pizza. ;p
Note for next time - the kid's skates run small. I asked for their shoes sizes and and all of them had their toes jamming up against the ends, needing the next bigger size. I tried to demonstrate on the carpet how to keep your front foot going straight and pushing off with your back foot, but really, it's something you have to do to figure out how to do it. Angus and I did a lap first; he wanted to cling bodily onto my arm, and his feet were going all over the place (imagine one of those cartoons where the character's arms or legs have speeded up into fans). We got around once and I needed to rest a bit before the next one. Whew! Avalon was easier to pull around, and Gareth seemed to be ok too, although were pretty wobbly. Angus kept going around next to the wall by himself; good for him! Seems like he's getting better at doing stuff by himself, and not freaking out so much when he can't see me.
Then the PA called the birthday girl's name, and pizza, cupcakes and ice cream were served in the snack bar, then everyone was off and skating again. Angus and Avalon gamely tried to do the Hokey-Pokey, making wobbly circles, but not doing much about the body parts, which was fine. Soon after that, the two youngest crashed and burned - Avalon on her butt a couple of times, and then Gareth fell down forward and did a face plant (well, he bumped his nose, anyway). They were done, and swore they would skate no more forever. Angus could have kept going, but they were all getting pretty tired and thirsty, and trying to get a drink of water from the fountain was an exercise in contortion. For some reason the damn thing was mounted about two feet from the floor and with skates on I think I was at least six feet tall. We'll have to be sure to bring a bottle of water if we come again.
Anyway, I'd forgotten how fun it was. Only thing is I thought I at least got a few pics of feet in skates, but all I have is the fry stuffing their faces with pizza. ;p