Christmas Break Fun

 We had a lot of fun over Christmas Break!  Cubby was home for all but two of the days and that made a HUGE difference in the fun we were able to have!

 One day we all went ice skating!  The kiddos all had a great time and did really well!  Gma and Gpa came along too so I was able to cheer everyone on with Miss B.

Britta loved watching all of the action!

Ice Skating

Over break we also went ice skating!  A local ice arena had free skating through January!  SUCH a great deal!  Of course, the whole family wanted to go--Juliana does not like to be left out of anything these days :-).  The big kids got to try out their new ice skates and my mom had found some old strap-on ice skates that we used for Juliana.  She was so excited!

 Grandma was a popular skating partner!

Emily liked practicing her cross-overs

 Christian likes to ham it up!

 Family fun at it's finest!

Ice Skating 101 and 102

This month, Emily and Christian started ice skating lessons! It's been a big hit and both have really been improving.

Emily picked up right were she left off last year. When Christian originally had gone to open skate, he'd used a glider to help him balance. Not so when he started lessons! He's out there, flying solo, attempting to be the "fastest skater ever!"

These pictures are from their first day of lessons. Emily's learning her "swizzles;" Christian is watching his teacher closely and learning to balance on his blades!

They work so hard and so far, no complaints when it comes time for lessons! Way to go, kiddos!

Last Day of Skating Class

This past Saturday was Emily's last day of ice skating lessons. (Well, not for forever, but just until summer.) Now, it's only been 9 weeks, but her progress has been AMAZING. She has moved up a level and her confidence out on the ice has dramatically increased. And, she LOVES it. They have the kids out on the ice for an entire hour, practicing their skills, and you can tell that she takes it very seriously, but that she's having a great time. Way to go, Em!

Emily is working on her "swizzles" in this picture to the right. Here is Emily's cheering section! Christian says he wants to learn to skate this fall ("Me want to play hockey, Mommy!"--Oh boy, a SUPER CHEAP SPORT!). He enjoyed watching her...but may have enjoyed eating the popcorn even more!

Ice Skating Class

Emily has recently started ice skating classes! It's one hour on Saturday afternoon for 10 weeks and she is LOVING it! This was her second week and I got to go and watch her with Grandma Karen. It was so.darn.cute! When they first got out there, it was all about getting their "skating legs" warmed up. They practiced their "step-step-gliiiiiddddee" and also the proper way to fall down (an important thing for these newbies!)

After getting warmed up, Emily really took off! It was really amazing to see how quickly she got comfortable out there. Her teachers set up a little obstacle course and they also played some games and even did some "free skating" around the rink. Emily was so excited that she went around the whole rink two times!

I must say, I was really impressed with Emily. Not only for doing so well, but for going out of her comfort zone in so many ways. She is learning a new (and difficult) skill. She is out there for the whole time (an hour is a long time for little legs on the ice!). And, she goes out there without knowing anyone or having Mom, Dad, Grandma, a friend, etc...to do this with her. She's very brave! Great job, sweetie!