This weekend, Brian surprised me with a trip to the skating rink. My initial reaction when he said we were going out was, “I have mad laundry and yard work that needs to be done and the weather is great but okay.” When we pulled up to the skating rink, I got all the feels. I cannot honestly tell you the last time I went roller skating. Back in 2010 I bought these sweet, white roller skates with pink wheels for my roller disco Halloween costume. I’ve rolled around in them a bit over the years but today was their first time on the rink. Wild.

My folks were there along with my good friend Erika and her daughter who is Lincoln’s age. Her and the boys are well acquainted, and they look forward to any time we meet up with Tía Erika and Eva.  The kids ran around for a bit while we settled in and laced up before getting into the rink. Parker was not a fan of it his first go around. What was surprising was how well Lincoln took to it. He skated so well and wanted to stay out there the entire time. I think the other skaters were impressed with his little body out there pushing those skate rails by himself. Parker eventually came around and was doing spins with his rails by the end of our time there. There was a moment when all four of us were in the rink and Brian and I were skating slowly behind the boys. They were both skating side-by-side with assistance only from the skate rails. Talk about a proud mama moment. I started skating when I was just a bit older than Parker and to see him and Lincoln pick it up so quick made me emotional. I was proud of them. To see the look of confidence on both of their little faces made me warm inside. To see them smile and wave at Grandma and Grandaddy (my parents) from the rink just…ugh…emotions.

While the boys took a break to play at the indoor soft-foam playground, under Grandma’s supervision, Brian and I did some skating together.  It was great. We’d never been skating together before, but I knew he could. It was nice to see him back up his talk of skating glory. It’s also nice that we are still doing new things together.  

You would think that after four hours the boys would be tuckered out and ready to go home but they wanted more! We broke down and allowed them a couple more laps around the rink before packing up. After that they spent the rest of their tokens at the arcade machines before cashing them in for some dinky prizes. .

Today was a perfect day for the rink since it’d been raining all day. I am grateful for every day I have with my family, but I am most grateful for today. As I turn 37, I feel so blessed to have had another day to watch my boys grow and learn something new and to experience something new with Brian. I know it meant a lot for my folks to be there as well. Now I’m ready to shower, put on my weekend pajamas, take these contacts out and put on my bonnet to kick back and relax.