Well, since Annie loved ice skating so much, everyone wanted to try it. Since additional children were 20% off, I said SURE! Emily had a blast. She is extremely cautious on the ice and loves to have the teachers help her.
She is very sure and focused with each task she is asked to do.
Annie's class was extremely
disappointing. I even went and complained during one class
because I was so frustrated; that turned into a private 10 minute lesson for Annie, which was awesome! She had come to the the point that class wasn't even fun anymore. That would be because they didn't learn ANYTHING. I'm pretty positive she regressed through this class. 3 teachers and 7 kids - would make sense to break the kids up a little bit according to ability. Instead, the teachers spent 25-30 minutes of each class helping the 3
children that could not balance and walk across the ice. Annie spent most of her time skating back and forth between Ben's class and Emily's class. I tried to get her moved to the next class up, but she wasn't able to do all the skills for that class (lacking one of them). Shockingly (insert large amounts of sarcasm here), they didn't once go over that skill in the rest of her time in her class!
GRRR!!! Talking the last day to some of the other parents, several were very frustrated with this one class. However, I will stop complaining here because Annie did come off the ice each time with a smile on her face. That is the important part!!!
Ben thinks ice skating is about who can skate the fastest. Those 'other things they teach you' aren't as important as SPEED (things like stopping and turning). He had a few kids in his class from school and had a great time racing with the other boys. The second to last week in class, they taught them a hockey stop, which he thought was pretty cool. Everything was great until the last week, after testing, when he found that he doesn't get to move on to the next level. It was pretty traumatic for this little 7 year old. We talked a lot about making sure we practice all the different skills. He passed everything except the forward and backward v things. I told him I would be shocked if he had come out and skated for 6 classes and was able to master all of the skills - that just isn't reasonable. Yesterday, he asked if ice skating was tonight. I told him classes were over. With a smile on my face, I reminded him of his previous statement that he was NEVER going to ice skate again!!! He laughed and said he'd like to try again.
So, maybe next January will find us again at the rink each Wednesday afternoon...
We had a fun baby shower...for me! I, of course, had no make up on and started tearing up a bit (welcome to pregnant world).
After make up - before food. I have to say, I think this was the most fun playgroup we had yet! Angie emailed everyone and got it all set up. (After having to reschedule it from the week before because I went on the field trip with Annie's class. Oops!) A bunch of people came that don't always make it out. We just had a great time chatting and eating while the kids ran around. It was a beautiful day, so a bunch of the boys played outside. 
Very very fun!!! Thanks for planning and organizing! Baby will love all the treasures! I love all the friends!!!
