Webkinz Extravaganza

Webkinz Extravaganza is here! This day has been anticipated all month long! The kids have been preparing for this day by coloring pictures for a contest, and making plans about how to make the best use of this weekend at the local Webkinz retailer in town. Laura fell asleep earlier in the afternoon while checking out the web site for bargains and surprises. After a rainy yucky day at school, we all piled into the car with the neighbors with big dreams of this special day.

The small store had one tiny corner section dedicated to this special Webkinz event. There were special games and contests to enter to try to win a new Webkinz. The girls were proud to see their drawings on display. But the most excitement was drawn to the cash register as each person got one free Webkinz (from a selected assortment)with a $10 in store purchase! That meant a 2 for 1 deal since the kids had each planned on a new one anyhow. What a bargain! After entering the contests, the kids were itching to get out of the store and back home to register their new pets online. I didn't see another kid until I forced them to come to the table for dinner.

At the dinner table, we hemmed and hawed about whether or not to go to open skate this evening. Melissa's new skates arrived late this afternoon, and I really wanted to get her back out there. We learned that Erica (who had spent the day with us) used to be a competitive figure skater up until 1-1/2 years ago when she had to give it up due to problems with the bones in her feet (which had most likely been damaged from figure skating). She had started skating when she was only 2 years old! I tried to convince Alex to give it a try, to do it for Erica, so that all of us could go together. No luck. Erica's dad came to pick her up, and the rest of us decided to be lazy for the night. But boredom got the best of me, so at 7:30, I decided we would go to open skate even though it would mean only about 30 minutes of ice time for us. As we left, lo and behold, Alex wanted to come along, too!

After lacing everyone's skates, we ended up with only about 20 minutes on the ice. But it was a very successful 20 minutes.....Melissa realized that yes, she can still skate now that she has decent skates. She was so proud to push the skate helper out of reach and then slowing waddle to it. She exclaimed that we should come to open skate EVERY Friday night. This was the turn I was looking for from her after her disappointment last week with those other horrible skates. Alex realized skating was not as difficult as he thought it would be, and is now ready to skate with Erica next time. Crispy....well, like always, I spent most of my time telling him to get out of the penalty boxes and get out on the ice to practice skating. Though he loved hockey, he is always resistant to these open skate sessions. Probably not enough action for him. All in all, we spent more time getting our skates on and off than we did skating tonight. But I am so glad we went!