Hitting The Roller Rink...

On Saturday, Matt and I decided to do something different with the kids. Ft. Lewis is large enough that it has its own skating rink. We thought it would be a fun experience (for the kids, of course) to give this new sport a whirl...

We gathered up our two bundles of energy and headed out the door for a "surprise". M instantly asked if we were going to Chuck E. Cheese's again (that was our last surprise, almost two months ago). Nooooope! He bounced up and down in his booster seat and kept trying to out guess where we were headed. Each time he'd make a guess, we'd say "Noooope" and the cycle of guesses would start all over again. C kept signing "Where we go?" I kept signing back, "It's a surprise... You will need to wait and watch."

As we pulled into the parking lot Matt turned to the kids and told them we were going into the building where we would put on skates so we could roller skate around a floor. When M asked "What's roller skate?" Matt replied... "It's similar to skateboarding but instead of the wheels being on the bottom of a board the wheels are on your feet."

We walked into the building, which was quite warm (sadly, there was no air conditioning), paid (it was very inexpensive at $10 for all four of us... Guess that's why there was no a/c), and grabbed our skates before selecting a bench to sit on. I helped C put her skates on while Matt helped M. Then we each put our own shoes on. I finished first and began to guide C to the rink; thankgoodness for the carpeting, otherwise I would have been in trouble trying to re-learn how to maneuver my nicely rounded bottom around on wheels. Just as we got the the edge of the rink, ready to step out onto the slick surface that makes gliding so smooth, Matt and M came up behind us.

I wish we had thought to bring our camera because the entire population practically stopped to watch Matt and I slip and slide while trying desperately to hold the kids in an upright position. M could barely get his feet underneath himself and instantly decided he hated roller skating. Matt drug him around the rink so painfully slow that it made the other skaters look as if they were Speedy Gonzales. Matt was hoping to get M to relax enough to begin enjoying the new sport. And poor C looked just like one of those cartoon characters whose feet are whirling so fast that all you see is the blur of their legs as they slip and slide across an icy lake. It was almost comical if it weren't for the fact that Matt and I were desperately trying not to tumble to the floor with the kids.

You make have noticed the title of this little post, "Hitting The Roller Rink"... This title was selected on purpose because Matt, M, and C, quite litterally, hit the roller rink (floor). I'm surprised they don't have bruised bottoms from the sheer number of times they each hit the floor. I must admit, though... Matt only fell once, though he instantly blamed that on C (we had to switch kids)!!! And though I did not fall, there were numerous times I was so nearly there that I'm amazed at the feat of staying upright.

After our first attempt at traversing the rink with two inexperienced skaters, one of the fabulous employees suggested we get one skate as a "walker" (this is a skate that's wheels do not move). We tried this with a much nicer effect, though the kids still weren't stable enough to "skate" on their own. M definitely got better by his third round, though after that he chose to sit on the sidelines and watch C attempt two more trips (very reluctantly). The only way we were able to get her to go with us two more times was to place her in between Matt and I. We were able to gain much more speed and had C giggling by the time we were through. We coaxed M out for a final trip but I had to skate backwards while holding onto both of M's hands as I had done for his and C's previous single journeys around the rink (for having not skated in more than 20 years, skating backwards was quite a feat, if I do say so myself). He emphatically REFUSED to allow his daddy to touch him and grumpily went around the rink with me one more time, but only so he could play a computer game when we arrived home.

Though we were allotted two hours, by the end of one hour we were pooped... Matt and I were drenched with sweat. My muscles were so weak by that time that just walking to the van became an experience in walking on jello. After we collapsed safely into the van, we asked if the kids enjoyed themselves. Neither M nor C claimed to have had any fun. Both of them decided they didn't like roller skating one iota and I wouldn't be surprised if they never wanted to go again... Darn, because Matt & I had a blast!!!