A Norman Rockwell winter break

Halfway through the first week of our break - at this rate it will be over in the blink of an eye. We've spent the last few days wrapping things up so that we can settle in and enjoy ourselves for the next week and a half. We've had haircuts and doctor's appointments and year end reviews at the office... lots of errand-running and last-minute shopping (never again, I swear!)... and now it's time for some R&R. After the deep freeze last week, we had a good thick layer of ice on the creek. There is not really enough snow on the ground to make the sledding good, but the ice was beckoning. We took a shovel, a broom and our skates down to the creek, and set about clearing ourselves off a rink.Liam brought his hockey stick and puck, too, and we played some impromptu one-on-one. He killed me, of course. I got smoked by a five year old. In my defense, though - this is the first time I have played hockey. Like, ever. And despite the fact that I did terribly, it was a lot of fun.I think Chad did better than I did, skill-wise; I think he gave a few goals away to Liam. He did, however, complain the entire time about how much his skates hurt his feet. No wonder Chad didn't grow up as a hockey player.Mallory had a ball too, and really surprised me. The ice surface was a bit bumpy but she had no problem staying on her feet. Not only that... she said she was going to practice her figure skating, and practice she did. Look at this move:And then she wanted to play hockey, too, and she fired the puck down the ice enough times to prove that the first time she made contact was more than a fluke.She says that she wants to play ringette AND hockey AND figure skate when she gets older. And after seeing her like this... I believe every word she says.