Afternoon with Auntie

There's a snowstorm expected overnight and it did us the favor of holding off to let me take the kiddos skating this afternoon. It's been great to go ice skating earlier in the winter this year, but the ice on the pond has been ravaged by winds and snows. Dedicated skaters (including my brother and niece) have been clearing off a little rink out towards the best section of the pond but there's no telling what the conditions will be like after tonight, so we went while the going was good.

The cleared "ice rink" is a popular spot for hockey players of all abilities to do some stick-handling.

Auntie didn't just bring hot cocoa, but there were marshmallows too!

Proving sharing works.

I guess I didn't do a bad job with the hot cocoa!

Hey, you can't exactly explore the island in the middle of the pond in the summer -

there are no boats on this pond!

We stayed late and even skated in the dark! Then it was off to the Sunset Diner because we skated till after sunset (and it is the appropriately named conveniently located diner to the pond). Sharing still comes in handy when it comes to Auntie's colored pens. Thank goodness for paper advertisement placemats for handy coloring!

Sharing means Auntie gets to sit with Luke from the time we order till the food comes.
It also means Sarah gets to take a picture with Auntie's camera first.

And then Auntie got to sit with Sarah, and Luke gets to take a picture.

Here's a short video of the kids skating as the sun set. In a few weeks, I'll be moving to a new blog forum that will allow me flexibility with posting pictures and movies. By then, I'll have a movie of the kids ice skating ready. I'll be able to post it and the movie of our afternoon sleigh riding on that site - so stayed tuned to hear about those details when they are ready!