Astrid goes ice skating in Pershing Square

Astrid went ice skating for the first time today with Mommy.

I started rollerskating when I was 3, (which is similar to ice skating), so I knew Astrid could do it with my help.I was fully prepared to be turned away at the skate rental booth if they didn't have a small enough sized ice skate for Astrid, but it turned out they have even smaller sizes, so we didn't have any problems.

Here she is standing up on the ice.Holding onto the side of the rink.

For her first time she did surprisingly well. There were much older kids (and adults) there who could not skate at all. In fact, a few people were pawing and clutching at me and my clothes as they tried to go around me. I had to protect Astrid from people falling around us, but we still had fun. She would stand between my legs and we'd skate around the ice together. When she was standing on her own two feet it made it a lot easier.After a while my back was sore (from holding Astrid up) and it was time to hang up our skates.It's always a weird feeling when you take off your skates and walk again.You can make out the downtown skyscrapers in the background. It's surreal ice skating in the middle of downtown LA especially at night. The Los Angeles Kings sponsor the event each year around the holidays. U. and I had gone a couple years in a row, but this is the first I've been back since Astrid was born.Happy Happy.Pershing Square is all decked out for Christmas. They were also serving food to the homeless.Checking out the fountain.On the way back to the car, we stopped and used the restroom in the parking structure. The security guard keeps the key so the restroom stays clean.This was the first time I parked in the Pershing Square parking structure. I went in the evening so it was only $5 (and worth every penny for the clean restroom). The last couple times we went we found street parking, but with baby in tow in the evening I didn't want to take any chances. The underground parking is surprisingly convenient with an escalator that takes you right up to Pershing Square.