Cheap Skates

Pre-teenagers are hard to understand.  For evidence, I offer the child who wore shorts and a puffy vest at the same time.

Clara is pretty fast with this little walker. She often convinces complete strangers to push her around. 

Timothy really loves ice skating.  He's my buddy on the rink and cheers me on because I can skate "so fast"!

Amy doesn't like wearing the helmet, but after somebody got life flighted after being hit in the head with an ice skate this winter, the helmet stays. I should really make the boys wear them too.  I should probably wear one too.

Strolling on ice is so much fun.  The other stroller contains Audrey. She is terrified of skating still.

I offer this photo of my foot as unclear evidence that I also skated.

I have a confession to make. Okay, not really.  I usually keep my dirty laundry within the walls of my own house.  But, I have a mini confession to make, not one of the sinful nature, but one of the nature of my nature.  And if you know me very well, you already know this about me- I am a cheapskate.  I love to get a good deal.  I loathe paying full price for anything.  I have limits that I will not cross no matter what.  I will not buy a prepared fruit or vegetable platter or a cake from the bakery.  I know, some of you are thinking that the cakes at Costco are a pretty good price, but I can make a FANTASTIC cake for $5 or less, one that includes real butter in the frosting and melt in your mouth chocolate chip goodness, mmm, yummy.  I will not pay any price for lard frosting, hydrogenated this that or the other, freaky textured, unusally long shelf life, what the heck is in that? store bought cake. I won't even eat it if you paid for it. And don't say, "It's buttercream frosting" No it isn't, not really.
  My cheapness extends beyond $1.99 or less per pound of boneless skinless chicken breast,no, it is not just skin deep.  My cheapness hits where it really hurts- entertainment.  I can count on one hand the number of times we have paid to go to the first run theatre since we got married.  My idea of good fun is free fun. But, this isn't always possible, so I'm always on the hunt for cheap fun, for the deal that is too good to be true but actually is true.  And we have just such a deal right here in our very own Salt Lake County. It's called the Utah Olympic Oval.  Yes, I said Olympic, as in THE OLYMPICS.  The 2002 Olympics that happened right here in Utah.  This facility is awesome!
Here's a link:http://www.olyparks.com/uoo/index.asp
I only got to go ice skating a few times in my first 15 years of life.  The price where I grew up in Dallas, Tx, was about $7. That was a lot of money in the 80's and 90's and more money than my parents spent on activities most of the time. With 6 kids, that would have been a pretty pricey two hours and I think my mom made the better choice buying season passes to Six Flags Over Texas.  Back then they were around $50 a person and she took us at least once a week all summer. That was also back when summer lasted a full three months.  I can't get going on that topic, or I might lose my focus. Anyway, I only went a few times.  That is, until we moved to one of the coldest places in the world- Moscow, Russia. All of a sudden we could do almost anything we wanted. With the value of the dollar we could go to the Bolshoi Theatre for a dollar or two.  Ice skating was so cheap it was insignificant.  And if we didn't want to pay anything at all, we had a pond within walking distance that was free.  So, my parents bought me some Russian ice skates for under $20 and I had my chance over the next 3 winters to skate to my hearts' content. There wasn't much else for me to do, with no t.v., no internet, no cell phones, no ipads, no blackberries, no high school, no mall. .  .We made our own fun. And we had fun!
Okay, now fast forward to adulthood and the Olympic Oval.  It is one of the few truly fabulous deals out there right now.  If you pay to skate one time it will cost you $6.  This is a pretty good deal considering what I paid 20 years ago to skate.  But, if you buy a family pass, you pay $99 for one year.  $99.  As in ninety nine dollars!!!!!!!  Not even one hundred.  So, that's a marketing ploy, but who cares. It includes skate rental. This is seriously cheap skating!  And I haven't even told you the coolest part yet.  You didn't see that one coming did you? The ice skating rink is a 400 m oval.  Inside of the oval are two smaller rinks.  One of them is for hockey games and for public skating during the summer months. The other one is for figure skating.  Surrounding the oval is a running track, which is included in our membership.  And the biggest and bestest part is that strollers are allowed on the ice, so I can go ice skating without my husband but with my little ones who cannot ice skate and I get to skate too!  You can even bring a double stroller on if you want to.  They have little walkers for beginning skaters and helmets for anyone who wants one, all included as part of the membership or admission.  For $99 a year, for up to 6 people, but kids under 4 are free, so my family of 8 was still $99.  And if you have a bigger family, it is only $10 more per person.  We had a pass a couple of  years ago and loved it and we bought another one at the beginning of the Christmas break.  I've taken the kids about 10 times in 3 1/2 months. Following this trend and taking breaks into account, we will probably go 25-30 times during our year of membership.  If we all go 25 times, it would be about $4 each time, or fifty cents per person.  That is good exercise, good fun, and Cheap Skates. You would think with this great deal that it would be so crowded as to be miserable, but it isn't.  Sometimes the lines can be a little bit long to get your skates if a youth group comes, but there's always plenty of room on the ice and the track. If you haven't checked it out yet you should.  We'd be happy to meet you there!