Ice Skating With the Crott's Family

We had one final day to squeak in some fun before school was back in session so we coordinated with the Crott's family for an ice skating date.  We love to spend time with this awesome crew.  It's so fun when our good friends have kids who are compatible with our kids. It's a win win situation.

The kids patiently waited for a table to open up at the Blue Plate Diner.  It was worth the wait.  After a delicious breakfast it was time to ice skate at the Gallivan Center.

Is there anything cuter than little baby ice skates?

I think not.  Poor Sam has a hard enough time running around and not falling with normal shoes on, let alone ice skates.  Ice skating is hard.

Gina to the rescue!  The fact he would even allow her to get this close is a bit of a miracle.

As long as I was in his view he was fine.

He had fun holding on to us or being carried around the rink.  It's exhausting work for the person carrying him though.  He had fun and that's all that matters.

Ice skating is the best sport in the world if you want your older kids to hold your hand.

You'll have to ignore the poor quality of the above picture.  Evie and Hank held onto me for countless laps around the rink.  They were so cute, "accidentally" running into each other.  Save this for the wedding video!

And then there's my darling Max.  After his first failed attempt around the rink he was done.  Max doesn't like it when there is something he can't do.  He took some pretty nasty falls so I couldn't blame him for sitting out.  Randy and I couldn't convince him to get out and try again.  He was beyond pissed that we had even brought him to such a stupid activity.  Next thing I know, Gina was patiently teaching him how to skate.

She reached out to him when I couldn't and it was awesome to see.  Slowly but surely he got his confidence back and ended the day on a high note.

Of course he was the one who didn't want to leave at the end of the day.  That's classic Max for you.  I'm so glad our day ended on a happy note.  These kids are pretty damn adorable together.  It was the perfect end to our Christmas Break.  Is it bad to say I'm ready for the kids to be back in school?  I think they're ready too.  Time to get back to our routine.  We had a fabulous break.