We are having a three-day weekend. And you'll never guess what we did. Just try. Don't peek.
Okay, I'll tell you. Friday night, we took the boys skating with their school friend, S-kun and his parents. Their school is having a skating party on the 14th, and S-kun's mom thought we should introduce the boys to the whole scene beforehand. She is a genius.
We knew we'd have a good time when Alek said he didn't want to go. At first they looked like this a lot:
But before long, they got the hang of it. I was proud of my boys--taking a chance on a new activity. They hung right in there, even as they accumulated a few dozen bruises. Max had an admirer for a while on the ice, too (a cute girl in a silver jacket). Darrin says he always had good luck with girls at the North Park skating rink, too. [Edit. Darrin informs me he was only chasing girls at North Park rink. He does not claim to have had any success doing so.]
And yes....Alek already said he wants to go again.
Here you can see Max prep for his triple salchow.
"Great landing, Max!"
Then tonight, Darrin's friend C-san from Japanese class invited us and some other friends to watch his Capoeria class (a Brazilian martial art). He ended up teaching the kids a few moves. Even cartwheels.
Then the class sits in a circle, clapping and singing while a pair of dancers/artists work in the center. 
Ok.
ReplyDeleteIce-skating.
In St.Lous, Mo (my home town) there is (was?) this great outdoor skating rink called Steinberg's. All my high school buddies (and my girl, Marilyn) went there all the time during the winter. We just skated aimlessly around (clockwise/counterclockwis...) having such a good, sweet, time. They played (here comes something that will date me, but maybe not with all the readers of your blog) Ray Coniff music, and it was PERFECT. "I can't show my face. Can't go any place. People talk and stare. It's so hard to bare...." (forgot the rest of the lyrics) but it was just so perfect. dah dah dah da dah.....stroke stroke glide...repeat. Well, maybe those boys of yours will have such great dates in their future, especially with some tips from their dad. And when their special girl asks "where did you learn to skate so well..." they can say, "why, in Japan of course! Where else?" Not that I could skate all that well. But, I sure could keep up with the Ray Coniff music. Maybe if I had learned in Nihon......maybe skating backwards. Never could do that.
Then.....martial arts after skating? That's just too much. We just went out for a coke.