Training and Trains

First I have to tell you that I got suckered in to chaperoning a motley crew of middle schoolers to an afternoon of rollerskating last week. I brought Jack with me, while Brent (wisely?) stayed home with Sawyer. Skateworld is just as I remembered it- dark, smelly, and... really really fun! I'll admit that once I stuck those familiar old brown skates on my feet and outfitted Jack with a pair of his own, my first thought was something along the lines of "What did I get myself into?" But it was fun fun fun! Jack managed to (sort of) get the hang of it and it all (kind of) came back to me after awhile.

If you didn't know this about me already, I was a rollerskater back in my day. Like, as in, I had my own skates and one of those fancy skating suits. At one point my photo was on the wall at Skateworld. (Don't be too impressed- everyone who took lessons there got their photo up on the wall. But still.). Despite my extensive training at the roller rink, sadly there was no future for me as a professional skater and I retired at the tender age of ten.

Rollerskating isn't like riding a bike. I doesn't just come right back to you. I'm still able to skate, but I'm super wobbly and have a total fear of falling (these bones are getting older, you know!). I'm just happy that we made it out of there in one piece and that no one went to the hospital. I was not brave enough to bring the camera with me, so you'll just have to imagine what a sight we were on our skates. Jack just might be a natural...

Now let's discuss the finer points of last week. We are a pancakes on the weekend kind of family. I start craving pancakes midway through the week and can't wait to get my fix on Saturday morning. I've been on a big buttermilk kick lately and I've decided that buttermilk is my new favorite ingredient. Buttermilk biscuits are so delicious. Who knew that sour milk could be so divine?

So in shopping around for my new favorite (buttermilk) pancake recipe, I stumbled across this little gem. Do not fear the butter. These pancakes are TO DIE FOR. I gobbled them up. Well, we all did, but it's really only significant that I gobbled, since the rest of the fam will gobble even if the pancakes are sub par. Not me, I'm picky. Anyways, the pancakes are truly amazing and I've been craving them again since Monday.

After our Sunday morning pancake pig out session, Jack amused me by leafing through the paper and lo and behold, there was something that captured his attention:


A model train show! What fun! And free (the best kind of fun there is!)

But before we could go to the model train show, these monkeys had to spend some time goofing around without clothes on.

Then Jack and I hung out on the couch for awhile while he told me a very long and detailed (and nonsensical) story that involved trains. This kid is a talker. I wonder where he gets that from?

At last it was time to go and enjoy the trains. They were kind of cool, I guess. As cool as amateur model trains set up in a mall can be. Jack and Lily liked the overpriced merry-go-round more than the trains. And really, after your first trip to Skateworld, everything else seems to pale in comparison, am I right?

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