Blake, the hockey man

That's right. Blake had his first ice hockey session tonight. Ice Hockey? We can all thank Tyler for this one. Thaaaanks...

The session started at 6:15 PM, but we got there by 5:20 to get Blake outfitted in all the gear...helmet, mouthguard, knee pads, skates, elbow pads, gloves, stick, long-sleeved shirt, sweatshirt, and jersey. It made for a very long day, as you can see in the pictures. Blake was "frightened" at first (his word), SLOWLY got the hang of the skates, SLOWLY learned how to get up after falling down (it's not easy), and finally got to hit a puck a few times. He would have completely lost interest if they hadn't brought out the pucks. Now, that's all he really remembers (not the falling so much) and he's ready to go again. Grrrrrreat.

Here's how Blake looked when we got to the rink. This was after a short 15-minute drive from our house. At this point, I was not expecting things to go well...

Here's Blake after we got him suited up. At this point, I still was not expecting things to go well...

Here's Blake right after getting on the ice. The kid in red next to him couldn't stand up to save his life. After MANY more falls, the poor kid looked at his mom in the stands and cried, "I can't move! I can't move!" He made his exit shortly after that. Blake looks pretty stable, right? That's because he didn't move! Once he got there, he stayed there, for a long, long time. At this point, I still was not expecting things to go well...

Here's Blake after making one of his slap-shots. He hit the puck and DID NOT fall down. At this point, he (and Tyler) was hooked. Still, I am not expecting things to go well...