The wee beasts were scheduled to be home with me yesterday so I looked up some activities we could do together to get out of the house. (Big thanks to the calendar on KCparent.com!)
I found two adventures with potential: bowling and rollerskating. The boys unanimously (small miracle) chose rollerskating. So off we went.
They were so excited. They actually ate breakfast in a hurry, helped clean up, got dressed and were ready to go an hour early. When was the last time that ever happened? Oh, never. Right. This clearly was a big deal to them.
On the way, I gave the required Mommy lecture/pep talk. “Ok, boys. Skating is hard. It’s take a LOT of practice and you are going to fall down a lot today. A LOT. Can I say that to you again? You are going to fall down a lot. But just like learning to use a spoon, to button your shirts, or to brush your teeth, you have to keep trying and practice. Then you’ll get better and be skating like a champ. Ok? Everyone ready to fall down and then get up and try again?!”
They said they understood. Uh huh.
Ready to roll!
Standing, let me repeat…standing…on carpet. Not so bad. The beasts are all smiles. I repeat my lecture/pep talk.
After a little practice on the carpet, it was time to hit the big white, shiny, slick floor. But they were BIG and didn’t want to hold my hand.
Uh Oh.
And Big A is down!
Little A following in big brother's skate steps
Big A was a little miffed that everyone else was staying on their feet. But he was a champ and must have actually paid attention to the lecture/pep talk.
You can do it, Big A!
But Little A is a bit more melodramatic.
"My legs don't work, Mommy."
Big A was trying so hard. And one of the skating rink employees noticed. He decided to give Big A a little tutorial right there on the spot.
Big A took his lesson very seriously
And before long…
Big A on the move!
I couldn’t even get him in focus because he was skating so well and wouldn’t slow down. (Of course, none of these pics are great because they were from my phone and the beasts wouldn’t stay still.)
Little A started to do a little better, but he was determined not to show it. When he was looking down…
"Don't tell anyone I'm having fun."
He had a little smile. But when I would ask him to look up for a picture…
"No, I'm not having fun."
The lip came out. What lip? Can’t see it in the blur?
Don’t worry. He wore it for about 20 minutes to be sure I had a chance to notice it.
"Can you see my lip now?"
In the end, neither wanted to go home. Big A announced that he wanted to live at the skating rink from now on so he would never have to leave. Little A didn’t want to leave either, but he only said it in a whisper so as to not completely shatter his woeful persona.
I, however, was happy to have the 90 minute workout session over. You see, I only took pictures for about 5 minutes. For the first hour — that’s 60 loooooooooong minutes, people! — I was in between them holding their hands (after the first “Leave me alone, Mommy” spills) and trying to hold them up. My biceps were burning! Seriously.
This is what I looked like before yesterday morning.
Not too shabby
This is today.
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No steroids needed. Just Tots on Wheels.