Skating Show

Lucy joined Central Iowa Figure Skating this past January. She's not learning to skate, she's mentally preparing to be the next Gracie Gold. She's taking private lessons with a coach who was on the Russian Olympic team (!) and is making great progress.

May 9th was her spring show, the recital of the ice skating world. I bought her a skating dress on ebay and decorated it with some crystals. Because, you know, that's what skate moms do. And because it's of absolute necessity that a skater sparkle as much as possible on the ice.

She was ready for the show! It was held at Buccaneer's Arena in Des Moines.

Lucy Figure Skating from Kristin York on Vimeo.

After the show, we had the opportunity to skate on the rink. Jamie and I went out. This will come as a shock, but figure skating is not among Daddy's many talents. I, on the other hand, was so good that my friend Inna who coaches with CIFS told me I should get my coaching license so I could help with the learn to skate program. Either that or they're desperate, not sure.

Lucy had made some fast friends at the show, Zoe and Lillianna, who both skate in Des Moines, not in Ames so they didn't know each other before that weekend. The girls got a little silly.

I'm thinking she probably won't be the next Gracie Gold but you never know, right? Way to go Lucy!

Cy Fever

The city with Iowa State has peppered our town with 30 decorated Cy sculptures. We saw every single one today.

 Ok, the one to the right is where it started to get a little hairy. Jamie did NOT want to take a photo with Cy at the mall, he wanted to sit in the boat that if I put a dollar's worth of quarters into would shake around for about 45 seconds. And he wanted me to carry him. It was #26, ok?

 This last picture was #30 on the list and I had a hard time finding it. While we were trekking around town, we saw a number of other people jumping out at the Cy statues to take pictures too, and there was a heated debate about the legitimacy of this statue. It's bronze, not the composite the other statues are, and apparently has been in this location for years, didn't just crop up this past spring. I say if it's on the list, it's legit.

And yes, I do know that we only have 29 photos. I have 30 in my iphoto and can't figure out which one I'm missing. Loved ones, please let me know if you'd like a photo book this Christmas with our Cy trip. I promise all 30 will be there.

Como Goodbye

This was a while back but we went to Minneapolis for one last goodbye with Uncle Ryan and Aunt Grace. We spent one day at the Mall of America (our best pics are already on facebook) and another at the Como Zoo. It was a whirlwind of excitement for the kids.

These are the lily pads outside. I swear they are real and about three feet across. The kids wanted to jump on them like frogs.

 Ryan and Grace. Hahaha! Sorry Grace, I meant Ryan and a statue of a gorilla.

 The wonder.

 The zoo also has an amazing indoor botanical garden. I think I have a picture of me and the kids on this fountain from a couple of years back.

 Not ready for goodbye.

 And the best part was we got to ride the carousel!

It was a lovely visit, bittersweet and unexpected as I didn't think we'd ever go back to their place after Ryan went to basic. I remember very clearly thinking at one point while living in Old Town that I really didn't appreciate enough that we lived about 3 minutes away from my brother, and less than 10 away from Eric's sister. I knew it was a time in my life that wouldn't last. Now I'm lamenting Ryan and Grace not being about 200 miles away. And so it goes.