It was going to be an exciting day.  Karen invited us to go watch the Copper Country Skating Academy ice show at MacInnes and we gladly said yes.  Well, not Israel.  He’s too manly to enjoy the art of figure skating.  He agreed to stay home with Ty.  Our friend Tammy and the two older kids wanted to come as well so it was official.  We were going to see our first figure skating show!  None of us, save Karen, had ever seen figure skating in real-life so we were in for a treat.  My boys had never even seen an ice arena so I knew they would be thrilled.  There was a little confusion because the boys thought they were going to ice skate.  Once that was cleared up, they seemed enthusiastic about the idea of watching other kids skate.  Yes, it was going to be an exciting day.

I decide to squeeze in a run before the show so I go to the SDC early and hit the “dreadmill” as Lynda DuPreez likes to call it.  🙂  I have about 5 more minutes to run when I get a phone call from the IR.  The car won’t start.  Israel seems to always have this sort of luck…particularly when he is with the boys.  He is supposed to meet up with Karen and Tammy at the church at 1:30pm and then drive together over to the ice rink and drop them off.  For 30 minutes he’s unable to get the car started.  Finally at 1:25 it somehow starts and they are on their way.  Because of the delay, I decide to purchase all of the tickets so we could just go in and find a seat. 

At the ticket counter, I realize that kids ages 5 and under are free.  What a STEAL!  I think to myself.  Both of my boys can watch for free!  They all arrive and we head over to find seats.  We sit down towards the front and then we anxiously wait for the program to begin. 

After about the third act, Micah begins to get antsy.  There are a total of 31 acts.  From this moment, I knew we were doomed.  For the duration of the program, I ended up doing the following:

– taking the boys to the bathroom twice during the show
– picking up Micah’s gloves that kept falling down (-or more like was being dropped)
– literally saving Micah from toppling down over the seats in front of us
– running up and down the hallway with the kids during intermission         
– bumming candy off of my pregnant friend, Tammy, to give to them
– asking them to sit down over and over
– sitting Micah on my lap
– and shushing him nearly a hundred times

All the while, Micah kept asking loudly, “Why are they skating so long?  Can we go home?  I want to go home.  I want to go to Daddy!  I’m hungry.  I have to go to the bathroom.”  Not in that particular order, but you get the idea.  I was foolish enough to threaten him by saying, “Micah, if you continue to act this way, we won’t ever come to shows like this again.”  To which Micah honestly replied, “Okay.  Can we go home now?”  It was at this point when two things dawned on me.  Now I know why kids ages 5 and under are free.  If they charged them, parents would be upset demanding that they get their money back!  The second revelation was that maybe my boys aren’t and won’t be as into watching figure skating as I am.

And so, it would have been an anti-exciting day save one thing.  There was one thing that caused my boys to sit still for about 7 minutes and for their eyes to really light up.  The Zamboni.  I guess it’s something I should have known but never guessed.  So, here’s to our first and last figure skating outing.  It was nice for the first couple of acts.  I’m beginning to feel my first twinge of loneliness being the only Ramos girl.