I cannot complain about the 55 degree days we had last week. My kids had so much fun outside with fewer layers on. We saw our neighbor girls for the first time in forever.
But there's something about the freeze/thaw of the Iowa winter that makes it a little more miserable than that of a just-plain-cold Minnesota winter. People mostly stay inside in Iowa, whereas in Minnesota, people make the most of the frozen tundra. Usually people snowmobile, ski, snowshoe, play hockey or ice skate. And even some sit on a frozen lake and stare at a hole waiting for a fish to bite their line. Whatever it may be, people have some sort of hobby to make winter special.
So, one of my goals in parenting is to instill a love of winter in my children. Mostly I want my kids to be proficient ice skaters. I learned to walk and ice skate about the same time growing up. By the time kids are in elementary school in Minnesota, they can skate well. In Iowa, it is hilarious to watch the teenage and adult novice ice skaters.
My friend Sarah, a fellow Minnesota native, and I talked about taking our girls on an ice skating date. There is a skating rink that opened on the river across from downtown a few years ago, and it's actually the only outdoor ice I know of in Central Iowa. I was so excited about this because Penelope and I haven't done anything just the two of us since August was born.
We started the date with lunch at Scenic Drive Bakery, a hip new place in the East Village.
Did I mention that Penelope and Lainey have literally been friends forever? They are three weeks apart, and Sarah and I spent a lot of time together while we were pregnant, so they practically knew each other in the womb.
After lunch, we went skating.
Penelope was so brave.
These little walker things are great. At first she was moving her feet trying the get the skating down, but then we realized that if she just held on to the front and kept her feet in position, I could push her and we could go really fast. (Note the Iowa ice skaters holding hands in the background. That's what I'm talking about.)
She loved going fast.
Lainey was a little more cautious than Penelope. But eventually, she got on the ice. And then got off.
I was nervous that it would be hard to get out of there. Penelope was having so much fun. But it had started raining, and there were quite a few people skating and the ice was turning to slush. Penelope had become dissatisfied with the speed of our skating. She wanted to go faster, but it was impossible.
When we got home, she told Tim all about the fun. She told him how everyone else kept falling, but she didn't fall. She was really impressed with herself, not recognizing the power of the blue walker.
To complete our winter weekend, there is little snow storm that is dumping 10 inches on Des Moines right now. Ice skating and snow? A perfect combination. We will be outside again tomorrow.
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