Not Just Lip Service

Today's agenda initially included ice skating and The Butterfly House, but after the skating session, Alexa was pretty wiped out and opted not to go to The Butterfly House.  Thankfully, she has been there before, so she can still check that item off the "Goodnight St. Louis" bucket list.  

The skating lesson did not go according to Alexa's Olympic script, as she truly thought she would be doing jumps and spins on the ice today.  However, I think Alexa was more proud of herself when we left the rink than she would have been if she mastered a triple sow cow.  I have never been more impressed with her - she demonstrated a toughness and determination that exceeded all of my expectation.

When we arrived at the ice rink, we found that it was essentially empty - - just one man and a figure skater and her coach were on the ice.  I could not have asked for a more perfect scenario to teach Alexa to skate...no worries of other skaters and smooth, unblemished ice.  I am a pretty decent ice skater, but I am entirely self-taught, so I lack the formal 'how-to-skate' instructions to impart upon Alexa.  Despite this, she was doing a pretty good job for only her second time on skates and was getting the hang of things.  As one would expect, she did take a few tumbles onto the ice, so I'm sure her bottom will be a little sore tomorrow. 

A couple of Alexa's falls were attributed to her being distracted by the figure skater.  Alexa had a tough time concentrating when the figure skater was practicing her routine, even asking me, "Is that Gracie Gold?", a question that made the figure skater's day.  We were on the far end of the ice when the figure skater swooshed by, and Alexa completely lost focus and fell forward onto her face instead of the normal bottom drop.  I was skating backwards but ahead of her, so there was nothing I could do except watch as the side of her face banged against the ice, and she sat up covered in blood.  Uh oh.  I used my glove to wipe her face and figure out the source of the blood...thankfully it was just attributed to a split lip.  Naturally she was wailing as I guided her across the ice (with my glove stuffed in her mouth to catch the blood) and into the women's restroom to clean up; I figured our skating session was probably complete for the day.  Once I cleaned her up - the resulting war wounds were a huge open bump on her lip and bruise on the side of her face - I took her to the bench and prepared to take off her skates.  Just to be sure, I asked her if she wanted to try it again.

Before Alexa could answer, the figure skater, who had just wrapped for the day, apprached her and asked Alexa if she wanted to come out onto the ice and skate with her.  Without hesitation, Alexa immediately said "Yes", and she grabbed the figure skater's hand and went back onto the ice.  They skated together for about five minutes, as both the skater and coach were giving her pointers (I was taking mental notes for future sessions with Alexa and eventually Ani).  Both commented how impressed they were at Alexa's bravery to try skating again, and I saw Alexa's face beaming with pride.  The coach and skater left, but Alexa wanted to continue skating, and the two of us skated for another 45-minutes with the ice entirely to ourselves.  She was incorporating the tips that had been bestowed upon her, and coupled with her new found sense of confidence and determination, she was a skating machine.  She had a few more falls, but each time she simply declared, "I'm not going to quit; I just have to try again and practice." and got right back up on her skates.  I was so impressed; I truly (and understandably so) expected her to throw in the towel, but instead she tried harder than ever.  Atta girl!

When she recounted the skating experience for Damon, my parents and her Auntie Karen, she didn't talk too much about her actual skating.  Rather it became a story of "I busted my lip but I kept trying."...a huge accomplishment for girl with typical oldest child perfectionism.  She has already mentioned that she wants to go skating agiain.

I would not have expected that the one activity not on the "Goodnight St. Louis" bucket list would provide the most memorable experience of the trip.  However, the resulting grit, determination and perseverance (hmmm....very familiar qualities of her younger brother) could provide valuable reference for her lifetime.  Let's hope the emergence of black and blue bruises tomorrow don't change that! :)

Still smiling despite a busted lip!

One focused skater...practicing the newly taught, "March, March, Glide"