Wheels

Last night we had a very serious discussion: What activity we would be doing as a family this weekend. 

We gave the kids a few different options (bowling, miniature gold, or roller skating/blading) and had them close their eyes to give their vote. Where we thought we were headed to bowling, we ended up going skating. The truth came out: they only said bowling because Caden wanted bowling. When they couldn't disappoint with their truthful vote, it came out that we were pretty evenly divided on what we truly wanted to do. There were a few closed-eye votes that ended up with us having a good start to our day. 

Caden and Keilie got on their blades and took off. They have been here before, so they were pretty much professionals. This was the first instant that Shelby, Brennon and Tyson had wheels on their tiny feet. 

See the little Rocky on the left? That is my Brennon. He conquered a move and felt pure excitement.

Randy and I each took one of the little boys first. I felt bad for Shelby, since this was her first time too, but she was showing just a bit more optimism than Brennon and Tyson, so we let her try it on her own for about 10 minutes. 

I caught Tyson mid-fall and captured a weird arm. He called it is his "lucky wing."  

Keilie, seeing Shelby struggling, came to her rescue. She was so helpful and confident, it was such a wonderful sight to see her reach out to Shelby. Keilie was a hero, in that moment. 

Fall after fall, with more and more discouraged, almost-cry faces, had us renting the walkers. They practiced for more than an hour with them. Shelby, still showing more optimism than the boys, was ok not getting one of her own. Maybe she should have gotten one. A few minutes after, she tumbled hard and hurt her wrist. Shoot! 

Tyson. He was doing ok, but had a few too many tumbles and ended up like this...

Trying to get him to smile (he was bawling pretty hard) I tried to make it funny. In the end, I had to pull out some bribes. He kept at it after promises that the next family activity would be bowling with the kid ramps and bumpers. Done!

Brennon ended up being the roller-rockstar of the day. He was the one that worked the hardest to become good at it. By the end, he was the only one that didn't want to go home. He even gave up on the walker and went around the rink multiple times without any aid. He may not have been the fastest, or the most sure on his wheels, but he worked his skates off, and succeeded in his attempts. I am most proud of that little determined sweetheart. 

There can't be a Dirks family outing with some sort of challenge. We breed competitive. 

The race was intense. Caden won. However, he's convinced that Randy let him win. We have promises of another race to see who was the true winner. 

After the promised bowling outing, I want to continue trying the adventure of skating. It has been YEARS since I laced any up, so I was a bit nervous, but it turned out to be quite fun. Maybe, one day, we'll be a family of skating fiends.