Finally, ice skates!

So, we finally broke down and bought the punks some ice skates of their very own.  YEP!  It was long overdue!  They are ice skating weekly and taking lessons and those old, clunky, brown rental skates were just not doing them any favors.  They decided to go with the basic Riedell figure skating skates.  They have a lot of padding inside for comfort. We also picked up a pair of blade protectors for the blades.  A10 chose purple and C12 chose black.  C12 is very practical that way.  The skates are very sleek-looking.

The box is even pretty.

A10's skates.

C12's skates.

I am very happy that they were finally able to get their own skates and so are they! 

Skating with Alexander Aiken!

Our adventure in ice skating has lead us to some really cool events and people.  My girls are now taking lessons with Alexander Aiken  when he is in town.

Here are a few shots of the girls and Alex.  He has a great personality and likes to clown around.  My girls really like him.

Alex is currently being coached by Paul Wylie a silver medalist in the 1992 Olympics.  We had the chance to meet him at the Atlanta Open.  COOL!  He is a really nice guy!  He seemed a little shy.

I wonder if we could score some 2014 Olympic tickets from our new friends. Hmmmm.......... Probably NOT! but we can always dream.

My kids love to ice skate!

My kiddos have discovered that they love to ice skate.  They have only been ice skating a few times and even though it is a hard activity to do, they kept requesting to go so we started going every Friday.  Our local ice skating rink has a special for homeschoolers on Fridays mornings.  We noticed that there were a few kids getting lessons and my kids thought that would be fun so we talked to the instructor and signed up.  It just so happens that the instructor is a homeschool graduate herself.  Nice!  She is a very sweet girl.  

Here they are with their instructor.

Learning to skate backwards already?

Practicing skating backwards.

A10 looks very cold.

C11 is practicing her leg lifts.

A10 is sick of being photographed.

Skating time was over and everyone but these 2 left the ice skating rink.   They are in their own little world of ice skating.

They may never become Olympic contenders but they are really enjoying their time ice skating and that is all that matters.  

A new tradition on birthdays.

We have started a new birthday tradition which includes ice skating.

 

The birthday girl is all smiles as she starts out.

Ice skating

Future Olympic ice skaters!

Birthdays

A is 9!!!! I cannot believe how fast time goes by!

This is A's cake. It is a cookie cake with a big horse head on it. It was delicious!
All in all, it was a great day! We started off with ice skating. It was my kids second time to try ice skating. They are doing really well for beginners. After that we hit the mall for lunch, The American Girl Doll store, and Build-A-Bear.