Skating on Ice (what else would we skate on in the winter?!)

Guess what? I just went skating for the first time in a year or more! Anyway, Shawn and Gretchen were on duty, and they decided (with an invitation of course) to take the bibleschool over to my cousins' to skate on their pond. So. . . I asked if they had room for me, and with a little juggling (leaving little Jamie behind with Aunt Sharon) they did, and away we went!

 

The time was great, and the ice was fun, although it was a little bumpy for me who used to be spoiled with a skating rink, and they said the ice wasn't in the greatest condition, but that was okay with me. Hey, it was ice, and I got to actually skate on it! It's amazing how skating comes back to you, like riding a bike. But I found that I can't really skate too well and play hockey at the same time, which I guess makes me a hopeless cause in that game. Actually, we never really played hockey, but just passed it off to each other and tried to hit a board that Aaron or Ryan would be guarding. It was enjoyable to see Michael getting into it--and he was probably hitting it better than me.:) Speaking of Michael, one time he came sledding down the hill straight at me! I should have moved a little more quickly as I watched him come closer, but luckily I did have enough sense to move at all, and his sled only managed to briefly dislodge one of my skates from the ice. But thankfully, I didn't even trip, or at least I didn't fall.

 

 After a little while some people took a break and we stood around munching or toasting hot dogs and marshmallows, visiting all the while. Some people went inside, but I stuck around for awhile more until it began to get dark. Vanlora was quite determined to stay until the end though, claiming that she was a "die hard," even when she went flying on top of the ice on her stomach (quite by accident). The spot where she slid cleared some of the dusty snow off, which of course gave Andrew B. the idea to go flying across the ice on his stomach (which was not quite by accident). Except he would do it for twenty feet or so, little caring that this whole flying on your stomach thing was the same way that he managed to split open his chin on the gym floor (I think that was by accident). Anyway, eventually I went inside to thaw a little bit, and we sat around chatting and sipping hot chocolate, which I quite gorged myself on. Then it was about six o'clock, and time to pack up and head home in time for study hour.

 

On the return trip, however, we held a sort of singing party. It started (and ended) with choruses, but had a lot of other things in between. So we sang King of Kings, Behold What Manner, Happy Am I, As the Deer, Winnie the Pooh, Row Row Row Your Boat (at Michael's request), Knick Knack Paddy Wack (also at Michael's request), Chitty Bang Bang, Rejoice in the Lord, Praise Ye the Lord, Jesus Loves Me, I'Nama Tov (I have no idea how to spell Hebrew!), By the Waters of Babylon, and How Great Thou Art, which were but a few of the many songs that we sang sporadically the entire trip home. Also there were attempts at songs from the Lion King, and I even tried to teach them a song I learned in Australia ("Cast Your Burdens," sung with an Australian accent), but everyone laughed and got confused when I came to the "higher higher" (or "higha higha") part, and Andrew was half convinced that I was pulling another joke on them like when I told him that Australians set their table places upside down. Anyway, we arrived home happy and content, and I came right home to thaw my feet and write this brief summary of my afternoon.

 

Now you're in the "know."