First Snow and Ice Skating

We woke up this morning to this…

What do you say to that? When people ask me about Vancouver weather in the winter, I always say it’s mostly rainy, with maybe 2-3 days of snow for the entire season with barely any accumulation (maybe 1-2 inches). And really, that’s what I’ve heard, and it hasn’t been that far off. But today’s first day of snow really threw people off. And it’s not officially the winter yet.

We were planning to let the kids use their scooters to the ice rink today, but not with this snow. Instead, I got the kids to put on their snow clothing (water-proof snow pants in particular) and enjoy their first day of snow this winter. They were pretty excited to head out.

As you can see from the video, they didn’t spend very much time outside. Arman has better winter clothing than Melur, so Melur was in first. I think she needs better shoes, and maybe better gloves that are waterproof. What she has now is okay for cold weather, but definitely not suitable for snow fights and making snowmen.

Before heading out to the UBC Ice Skating Rink (which we’ve never been to before. We usually go to the Kitsilano Ice Rink), we had some baked breaded fish fillets for lunch. Not all that great, but does the job. We walked to ice rink through the thick snow. The ice rink is just behind the bus stop we’d usually take to Oakridge Mall. When we arrived, we quickly rented our gear, and made our way to the rink. There are actually several rinks, 3 in total I think. We saw one was being used for hockey practice. Oh, admission and rentals for the 4 of us was CAD $20. Not sure if that’s cheap or pricey. It’s been so long since we last skated, I think it’s been over a year, maybe 2. But this rink is so much closer, and it doesn’t require a bus ride.

This facility also provides better training equipment than Kitsilano. We were expecting little orange cones for Arman, but instead he got to use a metal frame thingy he can use to support his weight while on the ice. He was extremely excited to be able to skate for the first time. I remember his last attempt to skate at Kitsilano wasn’t so rewarding.

I tried to get Mommy to skate with us, but she gave up. I guess it’s just not her thing. She’ll come along for more trips to the rink, but will most likely just watch from the sidelines. Melur as you might have guessed is already quite the expert on the ice. Sorry, I wasn’t able to take many pictures or videos. Arman likes to play with the camera while I’m not around, and by the time I started taking pictures and videos here at the rink, the battery was running out.

Well, this was our day at the rink, and also the first day of snow this December in 2008. After the ice-skating, we made our way one block east to the zip car to do some grocery shopping. Hopefully, we’ll be able to go ice-skating again soon.

Family Skate