Mallory's turn

(Don’t rub your eyes… that is indeed mist rising off the surface of the ice, which I suppose is what happens when you go skating when it’s 30C outside!)

Last night it was finally time for Mallory’s first skating lesson. She has been very excited about this for several weeks now. Each morning she wakes up and asks if it’s her skating day. Yesterday we were finally able to say… YES!
In the car on the way over to the rink, she regaled us with stories of the on-ice twirls and one-legged manoeuvres that she was going to perform. I didn’t want to crush her so we toned it down for her just a bit, but didn’t tell her that she would probably be spending most of the first month or two on the ice on her bum. She did seem to enjoy herself though, falls and all, and gave us a few waves when she was able to find our faces in the crowd.Here she is all decked out in Liam’s hand-me-down hockey skates and helmet. Our next door neighbour was at the rink last night too, and when he saw Mallory, he began trying to sell me his daughter’s hand-me-down figure skates. She skates at the provincial level and he wants $100 a pair for her old figure skates, which I have no doubt are top-of-the-line. I tried explaining to him that with Mallory’s track record of quitting activities, we need to keep our startup costs low, and his gear is a little beyond us right now. When she's ready for those twirls and one-legged manoeuvres, then I might reconsider.