Philly Expatriate

Friday, January 14, 2005

Ice Princess

The other day we had unseasonably warm weather - a record high of 62 degrees by late afternoon. Of course, having such freakish warmth in January generated not only the rapid melting of some 9 inches of snowpack, it also produced an unusual wintertime thunderstorm, complete with driving rains. By late evening our backyard looked like a small lake - although it was actually only low spots in the grass with a few inches of water.

Yesterday the temperatures dipped to "normal" and we even got more snow. And then I got an idea last night while walking the dog and sensing the declining thermometer readings.

I checked the news before bed and sure enough this weekend was predicted to be in the single digits; as I write this entry it is 7.

And as I suspected during my dog walk, the small "pond" in the yard turned into a smooth glaze of ice, just thick enough to support the weight of a certain 5-year old I know.

So I scurried up to the attic and produced a pair of those "kiddie skates" - the double blades set wide apart that strap on to shoes or boots.

I stated to my daughter over breakfast, "What would you think about bundling up and ice skating in the backyard?"

She was perplexed and asked a flurry of questions about the logistics of my proposed activity. But I guess I convinced her well enough to stuff her into a warm snowsuit, layering on a balaclava (ski mask type thing), fleece socks, double-padded mittens and then head outdoors.

Luckily for us, the sunny skies made the otherwise arctic atmosphere bearable, and we had a fun time stumbling about on the ice.

Here is the skater before:

and AFTER - note the ACTION shot - the skates are still in the air!!! (Don't worry, she was fine and giggled about it.)

Posted at 12:36 pm by brandy101

	Posted by Michelle @ 01/17/2005 08:45 PM PST
	Is there a child in that green suit? LOL you are a great mom to make such fun on such a cold day!

	Posted by Tex. @ 01/17/2005 07:44 PM PST
	Wow. 62 degrees is considered freezing where I live.

	Posted by RaeJane @ 01/16/2005 09:21 AM PST
	hehe. She's a lot more brave than I am!

	Posted by Nibs @ 01/15/2005 10:53 PM PST
	Wow - that brings back memories! I grew up in Northern IL and mom enrolled me in skating lessons. Your daughter is adorable!

	Posted by mrs.diamond @ 01/14/2005 10:44 PM PST
	Awww... all our kids got skates for Christmas...and my 5 year old son did about the same as yours. LOL...My girls, 7 and 10 were naturals (first time skating for all of them) But now it's tooo cold to even go skating. It's -45. We're waiting for it to warm up so we can try again.

	Posted by Lyly @ 01/14/2005 03:55 PM PST
	Ouch!

	Posted by chrysalis @ 01/14/2005 01:16 PM PST
	Wah-wah-wah-WAH! Glad she's okay! (ahem I almost did the same in our driveway this morning.) Snow then rain then ice then sunshine: your Chicagoland weather sounds just like our Motown stuff.

	Posted by princessdeirdre @ 01/14/2005 12:54 PM PST
	Aww... precious. :)

Leave a Comment: