We go Skating - and YaYa breaks her wrist!

First off, ignore the ‘date stamp’ on these pictures. I assure you, we did not time travel back to 2007 just to enjoy a trip to the roller rink. It was Wednesday October 10^th, 2012.

Ginger, our favorite little BookEnd, had been shuffling along inside the house for weeks on roller skates. Because of that practice time she had become mildly proficient in both sorta-skating and looking like a goofy-goof, so Lisa and I both figured it was time she was introduced to the wider world of roller-rinks.

Luckily, one of the two local skate rinks has a $15 family special on Wednesday nights, so it didn't hurt my pocketbook as much as I feared.

We had a blast. YaYa, who skipped volleyball practice for the trip, was in a great mood. She won the limbo contest (I’d pegged Ginger to win but she disqualified herself in a late round by touching the ground with her hand) and skated around the rink a few times holding my hand. Not that she can’t skate mind you – she’s very good – she was just feeling all warm and fuzzy.

Meanwhile LuLu was more than holding her own, Ginger barely needed any assistance and she kept on truckin’ around and around on her own, tho' ol' droopy pants Daddy held her hand once in awhile







 Lisa sat out due to a back injury, and Smiley . . . well, Smiley clung to the wall and eventually was taken under the wing of the DJ/host, who tried to teach him how to overcome his fear and learn to (properly) skate.

We were enjoying a pizza when the DJ announced the ‘Red Light/Green Light Game” and the kids hurried out to play. Eventually it boiled down to YaYa and a boy. The other kid was stopped all of five feet from the wall/finishing line whereas YaYa was 15 feet or so back. No matter; YaYa launched herself at break neck speed , passing the kid and reaching the finishing wall – also at break neck speed. She collided with it at full throttle and collapsed to the ground. I was soon paged overhead and skated out to her.

“Get up YaYa,” I said kindly. She was writhing on the ground, holding her left arm.

“She can’t,” the DJ said, “she’s hurt her arm”

“Hurting her arm doesn’t make her legs stop working. Get up,” I said. What? You thought I’d carry the kid off the skating floor? She’s 11, and I was wearing skates. Get real!

It was obvious there was something wrong, and with my error with Smiley’s broken foot (you might recall I delayed taking him in to the doctor for a day, convinced it was a sprain, there was no delay. We packed up our stuff – rather piqued that a girl YaYa had befriended offered only the quickest expression of sympathy – and left.

I had to go to work within 90 minutes, but I dropped Lisa and YaYa off at the emergency room, where my Mother-in-law later joined them and gave them a ride home. The verdict was clear cut: a clean break (what they called a “young tree” snap) of the left wrist.) To immobile it they gave her a purple full arm cast, heralding the end of her 2012 volleyball season.

Not the greatest end to the night, but for 95% of the evening a great and special time for Team Slap.