Ice Skating!

When we went to see Santa, we waited outside in line for about 45 minutes. December in Boise is pretty cold (I think around 20 that day), but we didn't mind very much because Amber and I chatted in line while the dads watched all the kids at the playground. We had the opportunity to let a family with a terminally ill child who couldn't wait outside go in to Santa before us, which we were all too happy to do. The security at the Village was grateful to us, and gave us vouchers for free Ice Skating! So a couple days later we met again (in just as cold weather) to go ice skating. Carter was too little, and Kenzie was just 3 weeks old, so Alex and I actually watched while Olivia went with her cousins. That left 2 adults skating with 5 kids that had never ice skated before, including a 3 and a 4 year old. It was a blast to watch, and everyone skating had a great time as well. I was a little concerned about the kid-to-adult ratio, but the kids did very well, all of them took a turn skating by themselves before the time was up.

I love Dan's strategy for getting kids around the ice :)

Kade always has great excited faces...and falls!

Elli, Olivia, and Teagen took turns skating with Dan and Amber. This was one of Olivia's times waiting, and she decided she could get around by herself...a totally independent girl.

Oh look! I was here too! My appearance in pictures is very rare, so I'll put it up here despite the 'lovely' face I am making. Actually here I am feeding Kenzie. In retrospect, it was WAY too cold to be feeding a newborn outside, but I had her bundled up in 2 blankets and 2 layers of clothing. She slept almost the whole time, just waking up to be fed before she went back to sleep. I guess that's the difference between your first and third child.

A sweet fall by Maely,

And Kade trying to prevent himself from falling on his face :). Both of the older kids got very daring by the end of our time, racing and trying to skate backwards and/or spin. They also had plenty of falls between them.

This picture was harder than it looks to get. All 7 people upright and skating at the same time, and Maely helping Amber keep Olivia upright. It was a fun adventure!

After ice skating, we benefitted from the older kids good grades with some free donuts from Krispy Kreme! We definitely spoiled our dinner, but it was the perfect end to a fun evening.