Flashback

Audra was invited to a Birthday party at The Edge Ice Arena. Both of the girls have been begging to go ice skating, so I called the mom- who I am very good friends with- to see if Claire could come, too. She was more than happy to have Claire come, so we got Ben's parents to watch Camille and we all  headed to the ice rink (Ben and I figured we needed to be one-on-one with the girls for such a potentially disastrous activity. We were right- we both needed to be there!)

Audra absolutely LOVED ice skating! She really took to it and had a blast. She had enough fun, in fact, that she didn't even notice the huge blister she got on her ankle until later that night. I am actually thinking of signing her up for lessons (which are surprisingly cheap for group lessons) because she had such a great time.

Claire...struggled. I think it really scared her to be on ice. She fell once, and so then her hands got cold and she never recovered. There were a few tears. She went all the way around once, and then was done. She did, however, enjoy watching the hockey game going on the other rink for a few minutes. And, I have to admit, she IS more of a hockey girl than a figure skating girl.

 I have some video of Audra skating at the end of this post, but here's a funny story about The Edge: Almost exactly 10 years ago this month, Ben and I met at a church activity at this very rink (though, as Ben likes to remind me, that isn't entirely sure. We met 6 months earlier in Sunday School when he tried to talk to me but he says I gave him the "not a chance, boy" vibe. But, in all fairness, I had just broken up with a boyfriend and was not giving anybody a chance. After Ben reminded me of our first real meeting, I do have a vague recollection of that conversation). Ben remembers me getting a foot massage from another boy there at the rink, but literally the ONLY thing I remember from that night was Ben. He was wearing a yellow hoodie and we skated around the rink a few times together. He was with his sister, and I later told my roommate about him and how I thought he might have a girlfriend, but she told me she thought the girl was his sister. I am glad my roommate was right! I invited a group over to my house after the activity because we only lived a few blocks away. I asked Ben to come, and he said he would. But then he never showed up (he later said he got lost). It wasn't until a few months later that we finally got a chance to meet up again- when I had him assigned to be on my ward camp-out committee.

 And here we are- 10 years later:

And now here's some video: