Ice Skating and Bethlehem

After our regular morning of gymnastics and schoolwork, we headed up to Truckee, California for some ice skating and Christmas celebrating.  We met our homeschool friends Kelley R. and her kids for ice skating at Northstar ski resort. It was actually pretty warm, until it got dark and then I was kind of wishing I brought a warmer coat. But overall, it was okay.

 

I was not that thrilled about ice skating myself, but I really wanted all of my kids to experience it and I couldn't slough it off on Rinar, because he was not there. I strapped on the ice skates and got out there.  It was pretty dicey at the beginning. I really didn't want to fall, and it was compounded by the fact that neither did Harry or Julia. They desperately clung to the railings or me for a while. But they kept going out there and after a while we all got a lot more comfortable, especially with Kelley there to help me.

 

 

 

Later in the afternoon, more homeschool friends started arriving and the skating rink got busy and more enjoyable. It was also nice that we could get warm by the many fires around the rink. Unlike Harry, Zach and Raef did not want to leave.  They really got a lot better skating.  Zach informed me that it was so fun and he rated it an 8.5 out of 10. I think Raef gave it a 9.5 out of 10.

 

Once it was dark and quite cold, we headed over to Sierra Bible Church in Truckee for a night in Bethlehem. The church went all out recreating Bethlehem. The kids were given Bethlehem costumes to wear as they went through the marketplace. The church really thought everything out and it was a blast. None of my little ones wanted to leave.

 

 

It was a fun day.