Wyatt Playing Hockey

Today's blog is brought to you by Guest Blogger Brian (the husband & daddy)

Last weekend Brittney, Reese and Hudson hit the road to visit family and celebrate cousin Mason's 1st birthday. Wyatt and I stayed behind because he had a basketball game and I had some other obligations to take care of. So yeah - it was Boys Weekend at our house! And what a weekend it was (but more about that in my next post). For now I will focus on a particularly exciting part of the weekend - Wyatt playing hockey (on ice) for the first time!

On Saturday, national Try Hockey for Free Day was taking place in rinks across the country. It allows kids ages 4-9 the opportunity to get dressed up in hockey gear and hit the ice to try everything out - for FREE. It was an awesome experience for Wyatt. He was a little skeptical at first, but as soon as we pulled into the parking lot at Chilled Ponds he got super excited and was ready to go. We got him dressed in skates, hockey jersey, helmet and stick and he hit the ice. I must add that Wyatt has never ice skated a day in his life. We play street hockey outside all the time (we used to play inside too - until Brittney banned us) but never on ice. Fortunately, Chilled Ponds had some of the coaches and players from the local junior hockey team to lend a hand and teach the kids some things. Wyatt was one of the few kids there that had never skated but he did such a great job. I was so proud of him! He never got frustrated and kept trying the entire time. Even when none of the coaches or players were nearby, Wyatt would leave the bench area by himself and do his best to maneuver on the ice. He fell down many times, but never and I mean NEVER stopped smiling. By the end of the hour he could not only skate a short distance without falling, but he could also stand back up by himself after falling. And the highlight of his day was that he got to shoot a puck into a real hockey goal! 

Here are some photos of his big day!

 Sitting and waiting for his next chance...but not for long.

 Getting tips from one of the players.

 Pucks everywhere! In the process of standing back up after falling. He learned this trick very quickly.

 Down he goes...but not giving up on getting that puck.

 But he NEVER stopped smiling.

 Trying a slapshot!

 Look at him go!

I am so proud of this little guy!