My little ladies man...part 2

If you need a refresher on "My little ladies man...part 1" click here.

Something tells me there are going to be a lot of broken hearted girls in Ethan's wake. I'm going to go ahead and apologize now on his behalf. And also for my husband who encourages said behavior with his "that's my boy" remarks after things like what I'm about to describe.

This weekend we decided to have a family day full of firsts. We took the boys bowling - because nothing says holiday cheer like the sweet, musty haze of a bowling alley. They were a little wild in this new territory, but did pretty well thanks to all of the contraptions available to ensure kids can gettheballdownthelanefortheloveofpete. The combination of the bumper guards (to eliminate the chance of gutter balls) and a large metal ramp (to give the ball some initial power) allowed the boys to do just that. Even if it did take almost a minute for it to spin down and make contact with a pin. It was the longest single game of bowling I've ever participated in. And I wouldn't have changed that for the world!

After a quick pit-stop at McDonald's to refuel, we headed next to the local indoor ice-skating rink. Let me tell you ladies and gentlemen, I could not have been more proud of my two boys that day. Aiden has never been one to take risks. He usually likes to sit back and watch his brother be the one to crash and burn or get in trouble. However lately we have been seeing an entirely new side of him. Mr. Independent has emerged. It was a struggle to squeeze his feet into the skates but we were shocked that he even let us do that. We definitely weren't expecting him to make it out onto the ice. But lo and behold, he actually skated! I did bear most of his weight holding him up under his armpits (for which my lower back is reminding me today) but still this occassion was one that we will always remember!

And Ethan - oh my sweet little ladies man. Aiden and I were taking a breather on the sidelines when I looked up to see Ricky skating by himself, not hand-in-hand with Ethan as he had been a few moments earlier. It wouldn't have surprised me at all to find that Ethan was skating triple toe loops in the center of the rink, but that wasn't what was going on. Instead, he was sandwiched between two 10-year-old girls holding each of their hands and grinning ear to ear. They continued for 15 minutes or so, then followed him off the rink to where we were standing with Aiden. We talked to them for a bit then decided it was time to go so we left to turn in our skates. When we turned around, the girls, Hannah and Breezy, had come out to keep them company for a little while longer. Both Ethan and Aiden were eating it up!

In the car, Ethan announced "Mommy, I'm going to marry RoryCate, Tara [see the Snow Day post], Lucy [from Charlie Brown] and Hannah...but I sure hope I can make it to all of the weddings!"