Ice Princess

This is off topic, but let me throw it out there before I start. I am a really good blog commenter. That does not mean I make really good comments, just that I comment often. I HATE the new please prove you are not a robot word verification screen. I didn't mind typing in one word, but now there are two words and I honestly CAN NOT read them cause they are all wonky. It usually takes me about 3 attempts to get the two words correct. It is annoying! I imagine I am not the only one who thinks so, so I have removed word verification from my comments. You're welcome. Please know that I will still comment either way but I would be so thankful if more of you would get rid of this obnoxious feature as well. Thanks.

Soapbox over.

Today Chloe started ice skating! She rocked it! She didn't even try to hold hands with the teacher or hang on to the wall. She learned to go forward, and backward and to bend and touch her toes and get back up. She only fell once, but she jumped back up before the teacher could even get over to help her.

The older kids did not have school today so as we sat there and watched I could see the slightest hint of envy in Alyssa's eyes. I have been trying to get Alyssa to at least try one sport. She almost signed up for TKD this session but then said she would rather skate and later decided she didn't want to do that either. Whatever, I tried.

So today I asked her if she wished she was in ice skating too and she nodded. I asked her why she didn't tell me sooner. The session started this week so she missed the boat. She told me that she didn't want to ask us to pay for anything else because she plays two instruments. I told her she would not be able to have 3 hobbies full time but that she could try a sport or two and then make some decisions. She looked happy and sad at the same time because she missed registration. I went to the front desk and asked if she could jump in next week and they agreed. She can even make up the one class she has already missed.

So Chloe will skate on Friday mornings and Alyssa will start next Monday afternoon. Of course they don't offer any classes on Tues, Thurs and Fri evenings, during the 6 hours we are already there for TKD. That would be way too convenient.

And of course Alex, who never hesitates to ask for things, asked if he could take class with Alyssa. How about no way buddy! He wants to learn to play hockey which is SCARY and he is already married to TKD for better or for worse. I told him to get his black belt and then we'll think about it. He agreed so that should put it out of his mind for a good few years at least.

For now, here is snow princess number one.

We opted to rent skates for $1 a lesson rather than spending $60 to buy them. It is only a 9 week session so this will work for now and if they stick with it, the RP sometimes has used skates for half off. I am usually grossed out by used stuff but they can't be any grosser than the rentals, right?

There were only 2 kids in Chloe's class. 4 boys and 1 Chloe were signed up but today it was just her and one little boy. There was a teacher and 3 older student helpers so she basically had a private lesson.

I was so excited to finally have an excuse to use my new camera. I decided that since I have the whole 9 week session to get a decent skating shot, I could try some of the manual settings and not worry if I botched up all the shots. However, my camera WOULD NOT let me take any pictures in any of the manual settings. Just a black screen would appear after the snap, no picture captured. What the heck!!! I switched to auto and then tried to figure out what was wrong once I got home. I double checked all my settings and everything was fine but still no pictures in the manual modes. I finally tweaked the brightness and then tweaked it immediately back to the default setting just to see if changing something would help and now it takes pictures? Same settings as earlier today? Camera geeks please help me. Why did that happen?

Anyway, we spent the rest of the kids' day off at The Lorax and now we are home where I am pretty sure I am getting a cold. Ugh!

I will be back with more skate shots on Monday and maybe I will even be able to make some progress with my camera?