Lola's 1st Skate

A very special full-circle moment happened this morning--for the first time in her little life, Lola had blades on her feet and ice under them on which to skate upon.

My childhood is filled with memories of ice skating, a sport I picked up after falling in love with watching the 1988 Winter Olympics. I just had to get out on the ice and try it myself. My father obliged, as he had loved the sport growing up, too (speed skating--no foo-foo figure skating for him--until today!) Thus begun years of lessons, costumes and early morning trips to the rink on Saturday mornings (thanks Mom). Before long, Dad had to drop a chunk of change on some professional boots & blades for his girl--I am still using the blades, 20 years later and know I will be able to pass them on to Lola one day, which is pretty awesome.

Lola's first skates are special ones, picked out by Mimi yesterday for her. She was so excited about them--and of course, safety first. And one cannot skate without an awesome Princess helmet!

Lola headed right onto the rink with Papa on her new double-runners. She held onto our hands for a few trips around. I held her hand and thrilled her with some spins we did together. When we took breaks to warm up in the main house, she was the one pulling us back out on to the rink. Eventually, she was letting go and taking her skating steps all by herself.

Another thanks to Mimi for capturing these moments. These are the times I have to leave my camera behind--but then there's Sue with her fancy D40 :)