Ice-Skating Fun (& Drama!)

We took the kids to see Christmas lights around town last night, and of course we had hot chocolate while doing so! They were just a wee bit excited :)

 We saw some gorgeously-decorated houses North of the River, but still, this one was my kids' favorite "because of all the colors!"

 Then it was time to ice skate! We went last Christmas - while in NC with my family - but this was our first time here in town. We were all excited, and Greg was pleased as punch to be the shoe holder & photographer. (The man does NOT ice skate well.)

 For the first lap, I took both kids at the same time, so we could get our "ice legs" back. It was a looooong lap :)

 I am hysterically laughing at Abby here b/c she was a trip! Giggled the whole.entire.time! Even when she would lose her balance or almost fall. She had a ball. (And, she picked it up a lot faster than Nate! My fearless girl.)

 Then I decided to take alternating laps with just one kid. My arm was dying, I was holding onto them so tight! :) Nate got brave by his 3rd lap and wanted to venture out to the middle, and JUMP! Yes I am serious. He did great and only fell one time I think.

 I had so much fun with Mrs. Gigglebox too. She loved going fast/having me pull her along, and every time she stumbled she'd yell "It's okay to fall!!" :) I love her skinny little chicken legs here. I have no idea how they even hold her up!

 One of the downsides to this ice-skating rink is that your tickets are only good for a one-hour session. And that session also includes the newly added Ice Slide!! So after each kid took 3 laps with me, we took off our skates and headed over to the slide. (Which I was happy to do b/c I had a BAD fall on our last lap; more on that later.)

In line for the slide; so excited!

 I asked if Abby could sit in my lap, but they said no. She was happy to go by herself though! The hardest part was getting the big tubes up the stairs, but I did it :) Click here to watch a video of all 3 of us taking turns on the slide. So fun!

 We each got in 3 turns before our session expired.

Daddy was more than happy to relinquish his role as photographer :)

 So....about that fall. On my last lap with Abby, we both lost our balance for a minute and I pushed her towards the railing so she could catch herself. B/c I was going down! She made it, luckily, but I did a face plant. I seriously thought I had knocked my teeth out. Once I got up and grabbed Abby and saw she was okay, she said "Eww Mommy, blood!" And then started - what else - giggling again. Thanks for the sympathy, Abby! I knew I had banged up my chin pretty bad, so after we finished our lap, I had Greg take a picture so I could see it.

Rough!

 When we got home, it started throbbing so Greg put the kids to bed while I went to bed with an ice pack. And a LOT of ibuprofen. I didn't sleep well last night, and then woke up to see this purple golf ball on my chin:

 So pretty, right!? It still hurts really bad, but obviously it's the purple bruising that looks the worst. Not great timing, considering I'm helping out with the play at Children's Mass tonight. Hope I don't scare the kids too bad! 

So....all in all, everyone had fun ice-skating.....actually, the kids had a ball! But I'm not sure I want to go back. Might have to cross this one off the Traditions List, ha!