thin ice

with the blog title "thin ice," one may be considering the state of the WEATHER in this state. not so. it's been an unseasonably warm winter, over which i am rejoicing because of insane propane prices. in actuality, we've had a couple days of "wintry mix" (thank you, weather channel, for that apt description), and girlfriend (left) is demonstrating appropriate fashion attire for just such a day.

yesterday was our afore-mentioned hooky day, which started with a lazy morning. we then went to lunch at wendy's, where they are currently (is this in the carolinas only?) serving their special "carolina classic" burger. for those uninformed individuals, a typical carolina style burger is served with a dollop of chili and a dollop of cole slaw. it was pretty good, but nothing compared to the now-defunct eddie's that once dwelled at university mall in chapel hill. the kids got their curious george toys, ate their chicken, and we were off to the rink.

for their first time on the ice, i was really surprised. i figured we'd be there 15 minutes and they'd be sick of it. we lasted the whole session-- over 2 hours-- and they were sad to go! wet knees and bumped heads were no deterrent. h man looked much like the tin man when scarecrow and dorothy are attempting to oil him back to full range of motion. he clung to the wall, fell, and when i tried to give him pointers he declared that he already knew everything there was to know about ice skating. fine. so i just left him alone with his expertise and his two equally comical friends. we called them the three stooges, and i could just hear the stooge theme song playing in my head.

girl child, on the other hand, really went to town. she kept her feet under her rather well, took instruction, and cackled when i skated backwards and pulled her around the rink. she was attempting dance-y moves like spins and arabesques to the music. ever since we left, she's been bugging to go again. i'd love to! i am sorry to say that the camera ran out of batteries before someone could snap a shot of me going down hard on my boo-tay after a particularly hilarious attempt to re-claim my balance.

after the rink, we met daddy at the movie theater since h has been dying to see "8 below. " it was a hard movie to watch-- 8 sled dogs left behind in antarctica for almost 6 months. the poor boy just sat there with tears pouring down his face most of the movie. i felt like crying, too! so our icy adventure continued (a poor substitute for a proper winter, i know) through the movie, but abruptly came to a halt when real life came barging back at a tired little boy in the form of homework. he just couldn't manage it; he was too tired. i drove him to school this morning so he could finish it after a good nights' sleep.