Surfing, Bike Riding, Swimming, Ice Skating 08/2012

Surfing and Bike Riding:

Anaïs has started surfing. In her words, "It's totally awesome!" It's great to see her in a little wet suit up on the surf board. She road waves the first day she tried it. I must say I am totally impressed. She is very, very athletic. Austin also had a go at surfing, but he fell a few times and doesn't really enjoy it. He literally just started to learn how to swim this summer. He also finally learned how to ride a bike (before it got run over by a car or something and is a little bent up now.) I guess Austin finally decided it was time to ride a bike, so he went out on his own, got on that bike and road it. Both Anaïs and Austin learned how to ride bikes by themselves. I always thought the parent is suppposed to help them, but they just make the decision one day, get on that bike, and go. Next thing you know, they come in the house and say, "I can ride a bike." And sure enough, they can!

It is just like when we took our vacation to Corsica last summer. Xavier and I were sweating it out on the beach, when we heard Austin suddenly yelling from the Mediterranean all excited, "I can swim! I can swim!" We looked down, and surely Austin was swimming!  We whooped and cheered him on.

Nicolas has swum for the first time this weekend. He just started putting his head underwater and actually starting swimming underwater. I'm totally amazed. They kind of come onto it on their own. He still remains in the shallow end, but it's starting.

 Adventure Land:

Took the kids to Adventure Land at the Mall after much badgering to eat at the Mall. I finally took the kids on a little outing to McDonalds. The restaurant overlooks Adventureland, so I was obligated to allow the kids to explore this place I've attempted to hide. They were totally excited! 

Made the mistake of wearing too short of a skirt to Adventureland that day. While I was attempting to understand how it works and how to buy the magic plastic card, Austin and Nicolas were fighting over grabbing onto my body like little bands of velcro. Then, Nicolas had the bright idea of trying to access my body from behind by lifting my skirt up way over his head.

I got very angry because I think I mooned everyone behind me and swatted him on the head before I yanked him out. He started to cry from this and I chewed him out a bit, couldn't help myself. Then, when I finished buying the card and was attempting to walk away, both boys went for a grab on either side of my legs, wrapped their arms around them and almost tackled me to the ground. I got upset again, stopped and had to physically peel each boy, one by one, off my body. 

We played games and went on rides. Kids loved it! Easy to blow a lot of money here. You receive a "credit card" with whatever amount you put on. Once the credit card runs dry, I explain to the kids the bank is closed, no more rides. The kids never seem to believe me and think that there is endless fun to be had and that this little plastic card has an infinite amount of cash on it. Sorry kids, that's not how it works. So, I had to drag the boys out of there.

Ice Skating:

Promised to take the badgering monkeys ice skating today at Morocco Mall, probably the only ice rink in Maroc. They are very excited. Nico is a little nervous, never been ice skating before. I made a point to say, "no we are NOT going to adventure land." The ice rink is inside Adventureland, so temptation is high, especially for Austin. They've been badgering me to ice skate since I promised them Tuesday. I know 2 days is so long to wait when you're 9, 7 and 4.

Mom's Mishap At The Ice Rink:

It was Nicolas's first time ice skating ever. He was terrified at first, then loved it. Holding both his hands almost broke my back since he's so short. I had to literally squat and skate the whole time. Broke out into a good sweat. Then decided to break free and skate a little on my own. Mind you, I was the ONLY adult skating. I decided to pick up a little speed. Went around a corner, the ice was REALLY cut up, but decided to do front cross-overs anyway, because I'm, you know, an arrogant, over confident show off.  Hit an edge, oops, lost balance for a split second, then.....TOE PICK. 

Next thing I know, I'm air born, an expletive more than likely flew out of my mouth as I landed palms down on the ice thinking "oh God, I'm going to slice up my hands."  I could almost see the ice turning red from the blood that was going to run from my palms.  So, I managed to rotate my body, hitting every part of it on the ice until I could make it onto my back, upon which I finished sliding across the ice.  Mind you, I'm wearing a tank top and jeans, but figured I'd rather slice up my shoulder and back than my palms. 

I managed to cut my elbow and bang up my hip. Was more embarrassed than injured. Have NEVER bit it that bad on the ice in my life. My palms were red and sore, but fine. However, I noticed ketchup on my jeans...I mean, oops, that's not ketchup. Only noticed my elbow much, much later. A pretty gash, but nothing to write home about. Still, had an awesome time ice skating with the kids.