Visitors

As I mentioned in my last post, we had some special visitors last week. My brother, Tom, his wife, Krystle, and their kids, Nolan and Abby, were here for a few days! I always love when people come to visit, especially these guys and my parents; they are always so hospitable when we go to Acton, so it's nice to be able to host them every so often.

They arrived on Monday afternoon, hung out with us until Wednesday morning and then went to spend a few days in Ottawa. They returned on Friday afternoon, spent the night with us and then left for home on Saturday morning. So we had lots of time to visit.

During the first few days of their visit, we were at the mall doing some shopping, and we made an exciting purchase for Nolan :) I had heard that he received some hand-me-down skates from a friend - however, the type of skates he received are every skating coaches nightmare! Plastic and buckles do not make good skates.


They probably looked something like these.

So, while we were in the mall, and Tom and Krystle were busy looking for kids clothes, Nolan and I went off to Sportchek to look at 'real' skates. Together with a sales guy, we tried a few pairs on. We found a great little pair that fit Nolan well, and he was able to stand up and walk around in them. When Tom and Krystle arrived at Sportchek, and Nolan had them on his feet, I thought I might have been in trouble :) But, Nolan's birthday is coming up, so when I told them that Curt and I would split the cost - as a birthday present - I redeemed myself ;)


And, these are the awesome little skates we left the store with!

Now, I probably would have rather picked out skates like this for him...


But, I knew not to push my luck! This kid is ALL boy, and already a huge hockey fan...I'm just glad that he's going to learn how to skate properly before trying to play hockey.

When the Robertson's were back in town on Friday night, I actually had the chance to take Nolan on the ice! For sure a highlight for me...I was so glad that I was the first one to have him on the ice. Is that weird?

He was great on the ice! Not 'great' as in he could stand up and skate all by himself or anything, actually, it was the exact opposite...but, he had the right attitude about it and just had fun.

We stepped on the ice, I grabbed hold of him under his armpits to keep him on his feet, and pretty much pushed him ahead 10 or 12 feet. Then I picked him up (so we could get to the other side of the ice, closer to Tom, Krystle and Curt), and when I picked him up, he said 'I'm a good skater, Auntie Boo' Ha! I had done all the work...but he was proud of himself, and that made me happy.

After being on the ice with him for about 20 minutes, I can say that it is a good thing I am not going to be his coach! Probably the most obvious reason for this, I would totally favor him if he were in my group. But also because I don't think he would listen very well, he often just laughed at me when I tried to give him instructions! Oh well, that's understandable.

The following Monday, Nolan actually started the Learn-to-Skate Program with the Acton Figure Skating Club...my home club! And, from what I've heard, his little private lesson with me, gave him an advantage over the other kids ;)

Anyway, the skating portion of the visit was obviously a highlight...but, the whole visit was great, and I'm really thankful that Tom and Krystle chose to spend some of their vacation time with us!

*Note: I'm still waiting for Tom to send me some pictures of us skating, so I'll have to add those later (hint, hint)*