Ben Goes Skating for the 1st Time!!!

As promised, we went skating today to help Ben check out his new hockey skates...because the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival has just begun, we were not able to get in for open skating inside the civic center in town, but there is an oval of ice laid down just outside the center for just such an occasion...we had a great time skating out in the open, and then went over to watch a hockey tournament people by little people for a while...

Ben's new skates are the coolest things ever...they are made up of comfy slipper-like booties that hug his feet encased in a rigid plastic case secured by one easy-to-operate buckle...Mommy took a bit longer to get her skates on, but we waited {mostly} patiently in the gently falling snow...

I walked with Ben a bit wile he got used to the feel of the skates, and difference between walking on blades and rubber soles...

Gail skated with Ben and talked about how to push off and use the blade-edges...

Ben fell a bunch of times, but was a good sport about it, and liked lounging (and even rolling) on the ice once he got used to it...


When we were done with skating for the day, Ben had me harvest a few ripe icicles from the roof-line of the skate-shack {you can really taste the roofing shingles!} before we headed inside to warmup and watch little kids play hockey for a while...all in all, a nice outing and introduction to another winter sport for Ben...