The days have been getting progressively warmer since we got to So Cal – and from our first day here it’s been a lot warmer than in Morro Bay and especially in Santa Cruz. So what did we choose to do with this abundance of sunshine and warmth? Our favorite Orange County activity, of course – ice skating!
Last Christmas in Santa Fe, we took Jordan for her second ice skating experience, and Sawyer his first. For Sawyer, it was definitely a bit on the too soon given as he never even remotely achieved a self-stable moment on the ice. Jordan did well, though there were a significant number of falls. (Though we managed never to squash her.) Two New Years ago we were at this ice rink in Cerritos. I had a broken foot and Sawyer was all of 15 months, so we both sat it out. This year was a blast.
All the cousins and aunts and uncles came, and Mary took pictures while Dave prepped dinner back at home. We were all amazed at how well everyone did. (Julia who is nearly four was beyond exhausted and slept after three minutes total on the ice but was lovely after her nap.) Jackson and Sawyer had huge grins on their faces the whole time and were remarkable. Sawyer was calm and relaxed and probably has double jointed shoulders, but never cried when he fell and never asked for a break until two minutes before the session ended.
Jordan enjoyed a sleepover with her cousins the night before and although when we left just before eight she was in jammies and ready for sleep, apparently when they got to Aunt Jen’s, she decided that going to bed before ten on a sleepover was just no fun. Consequently, when we showed up at 10:30 the next morning, she was dressed in a beautiful pink princess gown with Medusa hair and Medusa manners. After throwing the pieces of the Candyland game at her brother as her launch into a meltdown, we gave her the choice of a bath, a nap, or going back to the campground without participating in the day’s activities. Her tears were no match for the overwhelming soothing warmth and comfort of the water. Given that it had been a good three or four days since her last shower, she was pretty well due for a drenching and it came to me that being it water and being able to immerse herself would have the usual calming and elevating experience – and it did. She emerged a new and well behaved girl, ready for another park session (the new trick: eyes-closed forward and backward monkey bars).
She was a superstar at the ice rink, still tired but not enough to want any breaks f=or to get upset at her falls. She stripped down to her t-shirt after the first lap, a polar bear in her element, and Tom and I both had so much fun switching back and forth between the kids, and even enjoying a few date laps, reminiscing about our pre-teen days at our own roller rinks – all too easy to remember with the fashions of the 80’s unfortunately making a comeback. I don’t remember our jeans being quite so tight, however, although I did enjoy the coltish look it gave the girls, like newborn foals taking their first wobble ankled steps. We also didn’t have cell phones with which to text and call the boys at the other end of the rink. But the Journey and Cyndi Lauper tunes were the same. It was so nice to have all the kids meltdown free and enthusiastic the whole time. The grownups, too, for that matter.
Some of the adults were hitting the “Vitamin M” (Motrin) pretty hard before dinner, and there was more talking from the kids’ table than the adults. I think we hit our 6:45 departure time pretty much on time, with Sawyer for the second night being in jammies and pull-up for the easy transition into his bunk. Despite Jordan’s late night, she didn’t fall asleep, but I think it didn’t take long once she was snugged up in her bed. Tom and I borrowed The Sixth Sense from the Nakamuras and he watched while I played games on my iPod and watched, way too much of a wuss to watch it all directly. Even still, I had ghost dreams and had to take a deep breath before leaving the trailer to go to the adjacent potty at 1:45 am. In my defense, the light outside was flickering eerily (but I convinced myself pragmatically that it was due to a faulty bulb). Once back in bed I attempted to ignore than light knocking on the side of the trailer, blaming Austin for the noise. It was nice to not have to walk down our hallway to check on the children, I could just glance at their bunks. In the movie, when ghosts are nearby the temperatures drop. In our trailer, the temperatures seemed to go up through most of the night. And I slept like a newborn foal.
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