The Yard of Dreams / The Kids Have a Skating Rink.

    Friday seemed like a normal enough day.  The kids had a snow day which pleased them immensely. I had promised to take Riley shopping for a birthday gift for a birthday party she would be attending on Saturday.  The roads by noon were fine, and so I decided that Riley and I would head out early.  When we were shopping I received a phone call from Grace, again not out of the ordinary.  "Can we make a skating rink in the back yard with Nana and Popa?"  It was an exceptionally mild day, the snow was all melting, our road was flooded when I had left.  "Sure" I said. To me it was pretty easy.  The kids would spend the day outside in the fresh air, having fun with their grandparents.  I could imagine them keeping up an interest.

    Two days later the weather became normal February temperature again... a.k.a. frigidly cold.  Mom and Dad came over dressed for warmth.  The kids all bundled up and ran out with them.  Together they hooked up the hose to the laundry room taps (the outside tap was drained and turned off for the winter).  For a few hours they were out "flooding" the rink.  I watched from the warmth of the bathroom window.  Still I was unconvinced.  I just didn't think that the kids would stick with it.  Again my thoughts were at least they are out in the fresh air, having fun with their grandparents.

    Mom and Dad came back later that night to flood the rink again, again the kids bundled up and went outside, again I watched from the warmth of the bathroom window.  All of their faces were glowing, not just with the cold, but with joy.  When I say "all" I mean children and grandparents alike.  They had a vision.

    At least twice a day every single day my parents or just my Dad have come over to flood and maintain the "rink".  The activity that I truly thought would be a short lived fad is not, and I am truly delighted to have been proven wrong.

    Every spare minute that there is daylight the kids have their skates on and are out on the rink.  They are delighting in it.  They have to be dragged in.  Their cheeks are that healthy pink, their faces alight with pure joy.  Their toes are frozen, but they seem to be willing to endure it for the joy of skating.  It's beautiful.

Riley and Rowan are pretending to bite gold metals, don't
ask me why. Apparently they saw the Olympians doing it.

    Usually I dislike being proven wrong, it makes me feel inferior.  In this case I am delighted to be proven wrong.  This is not a fleeting idea.  My parents are taking great joy in maintaining the rink and watching the kids enjoy it.  The kids are delighting in skating every single spare moment.

    I always feel blessed that my children have the opportunity to "know", truly know my parents.  I don't take this for granted.  In an age where families are often separated, I know what a gift I have.  People have to move where there is work for them, there is no choice in that if they are to prosper finacially.  Families are often separated by thousands of miles.  Children know their grandparents through the new and wonderful invention that is Skype, and through fleeting visits.  I know that I am one of the lucky ones.  More than the fact that I am the lucky one, my children are the luckiest of all.  They will grow up with a cherished childhood that has been filled with memories provided by their grandparents, Nana and Popa.

    Yes, I am very happy to have been proven wrong on the ice rink.