Afternoon on the Rink

The weather today was a bit warmer and it wasn't snowing, so Daddy, Leah and Cameron headed out to do some skating on the rink.

Daddy and Leah on the ice

Playing some hockey

Leah is practicing her skating using the chair for balance

Silly girl picking up the chair!

One-on-one Daddy and Cameron

More skating

They had fun out there!!

Family Skate on the Rink

Tonight was the perfect night for a skate on the rink - cold but clear with no snow.  We invited everyone over to go for a skate and bundled up the kids so we could all go out there.  It was a blast!

Aaron was snuggled up.  He was so sweet in his little sled papoose of warmth.

We all got our skates on and headed out to the ice.  Leah pulled Aaron around the ice in his sled (with help from Nana).

I think Cameron would stay on the ice all night if we let him, skating and hitting the puck around.

Cutie in a sled

Family skating fun!

Poppa passing with Leah

Another shot of Aaron, safety tucked into the corner of the rink.  We had chairs and other things blocking him so that no errant pucks would come his way.

Leah practicing her figure skating with Mama

Time for some hockey - face off!

Leah did awesome with her skating, we were so proud of her!

Three amazing kiddos

Family picture on our rink!

Tim and his zamboni, clearing off the ice.

Cam's Last Day of Hockey

Cameron did the Initiation Program (IP) through Midstate Hockey again this year.  It is the same thing he did last year - kids of all ages that are learning to play hockey.  This year Cam spent the entire season in the "good skaters" end of the ice where they ran drills, played mini-games and learned the fundamentals of skating.  Overall he really liked it, although there were a few days when we had to talk to him about finishing something you started.  His main issue was that he really wanted to play games, not just practice and run drills the whole time.  I think, by the end, we'd managed to convince him that practice was a good thing and that he always liked it when it was over.

Despite being a year older this year, Cam was still one of the littlest guys on the ice.

What a cute hockey player!

At the start of practice, they skate in a circle to warm up.  Cam has jersey number 1.

After being reminded about 5 million times, Cam finally remembers to keep both hands on his stick most of the time.

A goon already - goofing around with his buddy Noah

After a while, the coaches have them stop, do some stretching and then go back around in the other direction.

After warm up, they play a game of sharks and minnows.  Cam loves this game and is usually pretty good at dodging around people and getting to the other side.  Most times, he makes it to a round where there are three times as many sharks as minnows, before he is caught.

Waiting for his turn in a drill (white helmet with red tape)

I can't remember what this specific drill was - maybe stopping.

Since this was Cam's last practice, they had a party afterwards.  There was pizza, snacks and desserts. Every player got a nice plaque.  Here is Cam getting his from a Midstate board member.

Another great season!  We are hoping that next year Cam can play on an actual team where they have games and learn positions.  There are supposed to be some spring clinics that he can do to try it out, so we'll be waiting for that.

Winterlude and the Cottage - Sunday Morning

On Sunday morning we got up and ate breakfast, then headed out of Ottawa.  The day before, we emailed the Gows to ask how the ice at the cottage was.  The reply back was "perfect," so we knew that we had to stop on our way home. 

Poppa and Daddy went to get the cars while the rest of us brought all of the luggage down to the lobby.  Cameron and Leah played in the big lobby chairs while we waited for them to pull the cars up.

Cutie Leah!

I was trying to get them to sit in a chair together and look at me at the same time.  This is the best I got - not very good.  :-P

They were pretending to play checkers on the table.

We arrived to the Old Cottage to find about an inch of snow on the ice, but a very nice oval of a rink plowed right in front of the cottage.  Mr. Gow has a little plow that he uses on the ice in front of their house, so he plowed some of the ice off for us when he found out that we'd be stopping by.

The Old Cottage, all closed up for the winter.

Looking around the bay at the Tullis' and the Smith's houses

Out towards Conlon Island

The rocks on the shore worked out well as seats to put skates on

Everyone getting skates on and heading out

Uncle Matt and Leah

Matt and Gina headed out to skate around Conlon Island

Cameron skates are on, and he is off!

He loved skating at the cottage, being able to go where ever he wanted

Uncle Matt showing off his ice spraying skills

The "rink" that Mr. Gow plowed

Cameron and Uncle Matt doing some skating (and Daddy flashing through the middle of the movie!)

Mrs. Gow came out on the ice to say hi, so we took advantage of it to take a great group picture

This is just about where the raft will be in about four months

Goofing around with Daddy

And a nice picture of Daddy and Cam

Family picture!

Hanging out on the rock wall across the bay

Leah got to ride around in the sled again

Nana took her for a spin

Then it was Cam's turn again

Daddy showing off his jumping abilities

A fun ride, courtesy of Poppa

Uncle Matt can jump too

Leah taking a break

Aunt Gina decides to join her

Poppa, Daddy, Uncle Matt and Cameron, on their way back from a skate around Conlon Island

Goofing around

A very nice picture of Nana and Poppa

Leah decided she wanted to try skating again.  Her skates went on and up she went.  First with just Poppa.

Then with Nana and Poppa... a little unsteady on her feet.

Once she got her balance, she was able to stand on her own.  And is that, maybe, a hint of a smile??

Yep, she is realizing that maybe she CAN do this.  At least the standing part.

Skating on her own to Daddy

She did it!

And then some more skating with Daddy and Nana

Here is a video of Leah skating.  We always watch it without the sound on, so she doesn't hear herself saying "Nooo, Daddy" and crying.  She actually skated first without crying and was super proud of herself, but we weren't taping it.  This video was the result of us making her do it again, when she really didn't want to.  Leah loves watching it now though (never with the sound on!) and talking about what a great skater she is!

Uncle Matt and Cameron were fooling around on the sled - Uncle Matt pulling Cam and flinging him all over the place.  About two seconds after this picture was taken, the sled ran into the side of the rink and flipped over, and Cam got a face (helmet) full of snow.  After that, he did not want to play with Uncle Matt in the sled anymore!

Nana tries out some figure skating moves

One final sled ride around the lake

And one last picture of most of us

The Gows invited us over to their house to use the bathroom and warm up a bit.  Mrs. Gow also made muffins, so we got a fresh baked good snack, a warm house and a flushing toilet before we headed home - what more could we ask for??

It was great to stop at the cottage, probably one of the most fun things we did all weekend.  It isn't often that the ice is so perfect either, which made it extra fun.

Another great Winterlude weekend!!!