Loving Lake Placid!

Ella and Jason taking in the view of Lake Placid
from the lobby of the 1932 rink.

If we weren't already feeling the holiday spirit, we do now after a wonderful weekend in Lake Placid. A Union hockey game was a good excuse for us to load up the car and head north for a little get-away. 

Pa and Ella enjoying some fun in front
of the hotel fireplace.

My parents joined us, making the weekend extra special. I have such wonderful memories of summers in Lake Placid at skating competitions. It was a blast to be back after nearly 20 years to share the magic of this beautiful little town with Ella.



Ella thought "hiding" behind the curtain in
the hotel room was hilarious!

 It was chilly, but the scenery was beautiful. There was just enough snow on the ground to look festive and not be a nuisance. There were all kinds of holiday events happening all around town. We saw Santa, there was Christmas music everywhere, and lots of good shopping! Our stay at the Golden Arrow Inn was Ella's first hotel experience. Who knew that one room could provide sooo much entertainment!

We packed a lot into our short stay. Ella wasn't a huge fan of being all bundled up in the stroller, but we did manage to make it a little fun for her too. She thought the bobsleds that were outside of many of the shops on Main St. were pretty cool!



Posing in one of the bobsleds on Main Street.


 By the time we got to the hockey game, she was loving that stroller. My mom was able to do laps around the 1980 rink and keep her away from the dreaded noise of the Union fans cheering on the team to a 5-2 victory (she is still not a fan of hockey games :-/)

Our big goal of the weekend though was to be able to take Ella skating for the first time. Unfortunately we missed the public skating session and a youth hockey tournament was consuming all the ice. It isn't quite cold enough for many of the outdoor skating areas in Lake Placid, so it looks like Ella's skating experience will have to wait a little longer. She is ready though. We finally found some little skates and of course she has a brand new skating dress! She has been practicing just walking on our carpet and has done surprisingly well. Hopefully we'll be able to try the real deal soon!

All ready for the rink!

Go Union!

Another hockey season is upon us. This is Ella's "3rd" season and last night was Union's home opener (Jason is the assistant coach). She has a brand new Union jersey and we painted U's on her cheeks to celebrate the night. I may be a little biased, but she was the cutest little cheerleader at the rink.

Pre-game....all smiles in Daddy's office.

 You may recall that I have written in the past about Ella's love-hate relationship with hockey games...more specifically the national anthem. She has a history of crying, freaking out actually as soon as the anthem starts. I went into Friday's game with a new attitude....renewed optimism that this season will be different. Ella is an independent toddler. She's walking and starting to talk. She is ready to take on the games!

Another hockey season, same result: TEARS!

HA HA HA...I may have over-estimated things a bit. The meltdown started with the introductions, reached a fever pitch by the national anthem, and by the time the first puck dropped, the U's on her cheeks were partly washed away by tears. The crying (freaking out) lasted pretty much the entire first period. We regrouped in the coach's office and I thought we could redeem ourselves for the second period.....NOPE! More tears, and complete misery ensued. We didn't even make it ten minutes into the second period when I raised the white flag. Less than halfway through game 1 and we were done!

There's another game tonight. Call me crazy, but we are going to try again. Since hockey games will likely be a part of Ella's life for a very long time, I have to TRY to at least get her to cope. Wish me luck!

Ice, Ice Baby



Ella and my mom watching me skate.

 Ella has spent her fair share of time in an ice rink over the past two years. Her first trip was when she was just two months old to watch the first practice for the first team Jason coached here in New York. Until now, all of her rink experiences have been hockey related. Last night she got a taste of my sport, figure skating. I was asked to take part in a media challenge with a local synchro team. My mom and Ella came along to watch. I figured my mom would spend most of her time chasing Ella around the lobby...boy was I wrong!



Ella "skating" with Jason when she was
about 4 months old.

 It is hard to explain the look on her face as she watched me skate around the rink. She was all smiles and I could hear her laughing and cheering. She stood at the glass for the entire hour...watching in amazement. When the learn to skate kids took the ice at the end of my session she was pointing to their skates. I think I have a future figure skater :-)

If she loves to skate, that would be great. If she decides the rink is not for her, that is just fine too. I can only hope Ella finds something that brings her as much joy as skating did for me. I sadly haven't been on the ice for a long time. Yesterday was lots of fun and was made even better since I was able to share the experience with my daughter and my mother. My mom says Ella's excitement reminded her of another little girl she knew. It was my mom who would bring me to public skating sessions when I was younger. She wanted to get us out of the house and the rink was close by. I remember the excitement I had every time she said we were going skating. I BEGGED her to skate more and take private lessons. My parents said yes and the rest was history!

Now the search is on for teeny tiny skates for this winter. Jason and I are looking forward to sharing the ice with Ella. She's still pretty young so I'm sure it will be a lot of effort for a short spin around the rink. I have no doubt it will be worth it! Hard to believe that a few months ago we were hoping she would walk and now we are thinking about skating. Time flies!