Ice Skating and the Science Museum

Wednesday the Dutchies and I woke up early and headed to the Natural History Museum to go ice skating. We got to the museum around 11 and bought tickets for the 12 o'clock slot. We watched the people in the rink while the boys gave me pointers about skating. The dos and donts were a bit overwhelming and I felt more and more nervous about it the closer it got to actually going. At around 20 to 12 we went  into the skate rental room and strapped on our skates. The herded us towards to entrance to the ice, and one by one we stepped tentatively out onto the ice.

Patrick held my hand as we skated about half way around the rink. They kept telling me, "keep your knees bent" and "relax." It's easier said than done for me. Then Patrick let go of my hand and skated ahead. I was staring at the ice under my feet when I heard the loud thud and the gasps of the crowed. I was shocked to look up and see Patrick on the ice and Pepijn skating around him smiling. I think the video explains it pretty well. Sorry in advance for Patrick's potty mouth.

Once he'd shaken off the shame of falling first on the ice, Patrick, Pepijn and I started skating again. Pepijn took my hand and talked me through the logistics of skating. I learned it's all about balance. As Pepijn so eloquently put it, "you've gotta lean a bit forward and stick your ass out, like you're taking a dump". It's true, keeping your bum a bit out is key.  We skated around a few times, and I felt more and more comfortable and confident on the ice. I only fell once (resulting in an egg-sized bump on my elbow) but I laughed it off and kept going. After about 45 minutes of skating, I took a break and made a my first movie with my new LomoKino analogue video camera (coming soon)! That was fun. Took the film to get processed on the way home and picked it up Thursday.

After we our 50 minute skate slot was up, we turned in our skates and walked less than a block away to the Science Museum. It was new to all three of us, and we weren't really sure what to expect. It turns out that it's not really what I thought of as a science museum, and it didn't seem to be what the boys were expecting either. Still, we saw some cool stuff, played with some cool things, and learned at least a little bit (I think).

After the museum we headed back to Putney for some Wagamama dinner and some laughs. It was a really fun day. Thanks, boys, for teaching me to skate and for a day of good memories!