Peace on Earth 2009

Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday & happy new year!

(Photo taken at Pershing Square, Downtown LA holiday ice skating rink.)

Ice Skating in Pershing Square

Ice Skating with Mama & Papa

Today we went back to to Pershing Square for more ice skating, and this time U. was able to join us. Such a cute pic of us standing together on the ice. Too bad Astrid's eyes are closed.

This time around with U. there, it made it so much easier to ice skate around the rink with Astrid. He would hold her one hand and I'd hold the other, to keep her balanced and standing upright.Astrid helping Papa with his ice skate.

Astrid would get tired and wanted to get off the ice (only to return a few minutes later) so U. and I took turns leaving the rink with her so the other one could skate around. Eventually U. left with Astrid so that I could take advantage of the full hour we paid for, since I'm the better skater of the two of us."Skate at your own risk is right!" U. was holding Astrid when she started kicking - with her ice skates on - and the sharp end went right into his knee cap full force, like an ice pick. Note to self: never hold a child wearing ice skates.

I give him credit for not using any bad expletives. Not even under his breath. He just took it like a man and walked it off. After ice skating, again we walked around the Pershing Square fountain. (Astrid loves fountains.)It's a nice fountain, but there are many homeless people who like to sit around it and hang out. I used to go there sometimes on my lunch break (for their concerts in the park) when I worked downtown, but with a kid I feel much more protective. Especially after my coworker told me about how one homeless man with a large dirty blanket stood next to him at the corner, waiting for the light to turn so they could cross, and when the man opened his blanket a gust of wind blew right into his face carrying with it whatever was in the man's blanket. When he got back to the office my friend went to the restroom to wash up and noticed a single lice in his eyebrow. Good thing he was almost bald!
Whoa check out the fountain's water mommy!A beautiful, sunny LA winter day.Security approached us shortly after this photo was taken and told us we were not allowed to walk on the fountain's rocks. Um..okay. First time I've heard that, but maybe it was just because we got too close to the water.

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.