Changping Ice Fun
We had made plans to meet up with Myles' friend to go ice skating at Changping Park. There are many parks throughout Beijing that groom their lakes and ponds for winter ice skating. Most well-known and popular of these is Houhai. However that, like EVERYTHING ELSE popular in Beijing is really far away from us. It was a surprise for us to learn that Changping also has skating (we missed the skating season last year because we were in the US for most of it).
When we arrived, though, we were surprised that there would actually be no skating. Myles had been looking forward to actual ice skating, but his friend was not too keen on renting skates. Instead we paid a flat-rate ticket to go on the ice and play.
Provided for our entertainment were folding chairs, retired coin-op rides, and disabled kiddie cars, all attached to sled rails, meant to be pushed or pulled. At first I was nervous, not sure how we would walk on the ice. I mean, ice is slippery, isn't it? When I was nine years old I broke my arm on a patch of ice. However, watching Myles' friends' parents confidently walk across the ice with my kids and pull them around, I figured I could give it a try as well.
That probably sounds like a set-up, and that the next paragraph I write would be about some minor yet hilarious disaster. There weren't any, though. We had a good time, the kids did not want to go home, and that was it.
But here are some pictures. We'll go back, certainly, until the rink is closed. Myles still wants to try ice skating here. I had been afraid of taking him by myself, trying to help him skate and keep Brigid happy. But now I know that I can go on the ice with my boots, pull Brigid on one of the toys, and let Myles support himself with a chair while he remembers how ice skating works. It's been too long.
When we arrived, though, we were surprised that there would actually be no skating. Myles had been looking forward to actual ice skating, but his friend was not too keen on renting skates. Instead we paid a flat-rate ticket to go on the ice and play.
Provided for our entertainment were folding chairs, retired coin-op rides, and disabled kiddie cars, all attached to sled rails, meant to be pushed or pulled. At first I was nervous, not sure how we would walk on the ice. I mean, ice is slippery, isn't it? When I was nine years old I broke my arm on a patch of ice. However, watching Myles' friends' parents confidently walk across the ice with my kids and pull them around, I figured I could give it a try as well.
That probably sounds like a set-up, and that the next paragraph I write would be about some minor yet hilarious disaster. There weren't any, though. We had a good time, the kids did not want to go home, and that was it.
But here are some pictures. We'll go back, certainly, until the rink is closed. Myles still wants to try ice skating here. I had been afraid of taking him by myself, trying to help him skate and keep Brigid happy. But now I know that I can go on the ice with my boots, pull Brigid on one of the toys, and let Myles support himself with a chair while he remembers how ice skating works. It's been too long.
Comments