Today was another skating Sunday but instead of just watching people zoom around on the ice (at Skate America, today’s broadcast), we went to the rink ourselves, making our first trip (45 minutes on the freeway down the peninsula) to the Bremerton Ice Arena . Ted took turns teaching Abigail and Michaela while I stayed on the side, cheering, helping as I could, with Elisabeth in the backpack.
From the web site, I had imagined the Ice Arena would be larger – the soda fountain only has four bar stools – but it is still a nice place, the first official NHL rink I’ve seen. The Bremerton Ice Arena opened in May and nearly everything still seemed new (except for big scratches on the white railings by the rink). Lots of red, white and blue theme. I was glad the girls got helmets to wear with their brown ice skates. A foot chart on the floor helped them find the right sizes. We came at a quieter time and didn’t have to wait for anything.
On the ice this Sunday morning was a small group; only a handful had arrived before we did. During our time there, an older woman cutting an elegant figure in black sweater and pants worked on her edges, while an adolescent girl wearing Abercrombie rehearsed a cutesy “Santa Baby” routine. There was another little girl learning her way around the rink, couples holding hands, friends and a few clearly serious skaters doing spins and jumps. For a while I sat on the metal bleachers beside the rink, with Elisabeth and who ever wasn’t on the ice with Ted, but after a while we went back through the sliding doors to the warmer waiting area, with chairs, tables, even a fireplace and sofa.
The girls enjoyed their adventures on the ice, their first time on skates. Abigail exclaimed after her last trip around: “I’m going to tell Auntie Joy what a good time we had!” Ted had a good time too – as he wrote in his blog. I love watching him skate: it’s a joy to see someone you love doing something he loves. He’s good at it too, although a bit rusty at the moment 🙂 Ted even got his skates sharpened and learned about the adult classes. I got information about the home school Learn-To-Skate; probably not this year since it already started but maybe next year for the girls. And I’d like to go there sometime and skate again myself. I think we’ll be going back…..
