Belated holiday pictures

I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures from last month. The good news is that now I not only know how to use the new camera (more or less) but I also know how to rotate pictures from my laptop. We'll all hope this means more consistent blogs.

Right before Christmas, we went downtown with our friends Javier and Sonia and tried out the ice skating rink. We picked a great night. The outside temp was in the low 50s, and we didn't freeze waiting in line for our skates! Here we are with the giant tree.

Chris figured out the timer on the camera! Group shot!

Javi and Chris put on their skates...

While Timothy waits, semi-patiently.

So here's where the score stood: Gabe and I are experienced ice skaters. Chris admits to having skated a few times in childhood, and later recalled that he stopped because he wasn't very good at it. Javier, Sonia and Timothy had never skated before.

Here are the boys, ready for action.

Javier and Sonia, on the ice. They look like pros, don't they?

Timothy wasn't doing so well skating with Chris. It turned out he needed a little direction. Once I told him to move his feet one at a time and not at the same time, he did a very good job skating. It was still exhausting, trying to keep him upright.

Gabe was much easier to skate with. We had an arrangement. If he fell, I was letting go of his hand to avoid going down with him. If I fell, I was going to try to land on him to cushion my fall. Luckily, we didn't have to test this arrangement.

Everyone but Gabe and me gave up before too long. It was pretty crowded and I didn't blame them.

The lights were really pretty.

Downtown lights and Christmas lights!

One last shot of the pretty blue trees

And of course, the giant Nutcracker!

We had a really good time and will probably go again next year, if they set up the rink again. But if we do, I think I'll make Chris bring a few pillows to strap on him for padding!