Ice Skating: Fun times or Forget it!

Paulo (wearing A Dog's Life polar fleece from le•top's 2009 Fall/Winter Collection) isn't a fan of ice skating.

Ice skaters make it look so easy! Watching them glide across the ice makes me want to try the sport and dream of dancing and swaying gracefully on the ice, looking like a beautiful ballerina. STOP! One can dream, right? Well, I’m not too bad. Wobbly, yes. But I can skate a lap or two.

Miranda wants to glide as well. This is her 2nd time on the ice. The first time was when she was 3-years old. We went to Lake Tahoe and gave it a go. It was such a horrible experience for her. She slipped and fell so many times and vowed never to ice skate again! Well, that was then. This time was more pleasurable. She took a stack of buckets, held on, then push… push… PUSHED herself across the ice. Of course, she slipped and fell more than once, but she picked herself back up and tried again—until she made one lap around. Success!

Now she wants to skate again tomorrow. We can’t. You have ballet. Then we can skate the day after that! No, you have swim class. How about the next day? (I’ve run out of excuses.) We’ll see.

Miranda is wearing a Pink Leopard Faux Fur jacket from the 2008 Winter Collection.

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A Dad’s Pointe

…submitted by a Dad in the Midwest

It was the annual spring recital featuring the students of the teacher. Most of the sketches are by girls in the upper grades, but every year, there is a short segment for the “juniors.” No pointes yet (on their toes) for their level, but still a graceful and complex routine for that age. Some of my daughter’s friends came to watch with their respective moms (who might sign their daughters up), and she really enjoyed the spotlight, I think, even though she was on stage just for a few moments. My wife had seen the preformance twice before (the Saturday night and Sunday matinee) plus rehearsals, but it was my first time, since I’d been away on business. I was very anxious and nearly breathless before she came out — afraid for her, hoping that she wouldn’t fall or slip, knowing how “big” this was for her. When she went through her routine, I had my hand over my mouth and was nearly in tears . . .

Editor’s Note: We hope everyone had a wonderful Father’s Day weekend!!

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Seeing Spots at the Nutcracker Suite

Getting into the holiday spirit. (With her Auntie Christine)

As a holiday treat for all of us, adults and kids alike, we went to see the Nutcracker Suite. It’s been raining off and on these days here in Northern California, but luckily on the evening of the ballet, the skies were clear with no sign of rain. Woohoo! Instead of a raincoat, it gave my daughter the opportunity to wear her stylishly new le•top Pink Leopard Faux Fur Jacket with matching le•top Pink Leopard Faux Fur Purse from Bestdressedkids.com (they carry le•top in larger sizes: 5, 6 and 6x). And what did she put in her leopard purse? Lip gloss and a candy cane, of course! (too cute)!

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