Last night we had our company holiday party. Pretty good, I think, for a company who’s financial stress at the end of last year didn’t afford us a holiday party. Even better was the fact that this year the party included family members – including children! Topping that was that the party was held at an ice skating rink – Sharks Ice in San Jose.
Little known Lita fact is I LOVE to ice skate. It brings back all sorts of childhood memories, living in New England, when my whole family would go to the rink, or, when it would freeze over, to the pond in my Grandparent’s backyard.
Nowadays, I don’t usually go more than once a year – usually when the outside rink in downtown San Jose (at the Christmas in the Park venue) is opened for the holidays. I’m really not sure why I don’t go more often, though, I think that is about to change.
Since Pops is not fully recovered from his recent fall and hurt shoulder (no surgery needed, thankfully), he was not allowed to skate. This decision was also based on the fact that he’s never skated before – and we didn’t want to add any unnecessary drama to the evening.
Lucky for me, my handsome grandson Hunter agreed to be my skating date.
Now, for a little guy who’s never skated before, I’m happy to say, he showed no apprehension or fear. In fact, he was on the ice before I even got my skates on! Skating was made easier for the kids (and first-timers) with these “buckets” that were there to give them something to use as a support out on the ice.
It was incredible to see him just get out there and skate around. Not having to grip the wall all evening really gave him a lot of confidence – and was definitely a lot more fun!
My Goddaughter Janaya was there zipping around the ice:
And my good friend’s son Dean seemed like a natural skater too:
Here’s a little video of Hunter and Dean showing how easy it was for them to get around:
If you want to see more videos, my YouTube account is LitasWorld1, I’ll be posting some more videos later today. By the way, does anyone know how to rotate the videos after you’ve shot them? I shot the videos with my phone and have no idea how to rotate them after I download them.
I really think Hunter’s hooked on skating and maybe if we go even one more time, he’ll be skating around confidently without the buckets.
After skating for more than an hour, we headed upstairs to the Sports Bar for dinner. I had never been there before and was delighted to see how warm and cozy the upstairs dining area was.
I loved the warm and toasty fireplace.
The buffet was super tasty for both adults and the kids.
And, afterwards we had two gift exchanges – one for the kids and one for the adults.
All-in-all a fabulous company holiday party. I already put my vote in for having it there next year.
Happy Holiday Partying everyone!
~ Lita
