I got to see Battle of the Blades again! I had so much fun!
He said
Last week on a whim when we saw that CBC had brought back Battle of the Blades after a six year hiatus, I decided I’d if we could get tickets for the show like we had way back in 2011. And as luck would have it we were able to, and as quickly as this week. This season they aren’t only filming in Toronto like they did back in 2011 – the first 3 episodes are in Hamilton before they move back to Toronto after next week. And, the best part was the seats were 6 rows up from the action at centre ice! Not bad for $10 a pop!
The show films on Thursday night which worked perfectly as I was off work, Emelia didn’t have any after school activities, and we could leave the second Danielle was wrapped up with the daycare kids and still have plenty of time to get to Hamilton. And even better was how excited Emelia was to go see it. We were worried with it having been so long since we’d last gone to see it with her, she might not remember much about it, but she did and was excited that we got tickets to see it again.
We made great time getting down to the rink and had plenty of time to make our way to our seats before they closed up the building as a live studio. Much of the show is the same as when we saw it way back when but one notable difference is the former NHLers are immediately in figure skates whereas when they started the show it took some of them half the season to leave the comforts of the only (hockey) skates they ever known. But, also it seems these former hockey players come in a lot more prepared for the artistic and dance-y side.
We were blown away with the show and had a great time as a family. The cast this year features a couple of former enforcers, a player with a tortured past who has turned his pain into awareness, and what I love the most is a couple of women hockey players who have competed at the highest levels they can. We were absolutely blown away at the tricks they were already doing just the second week into the season! It was amazing to see, and the best part was with Emelia’s persistence, we stuck around after and she was able to get some autographs from the competitors. She was bummed she didn’t get to meet Violetta again, but I was super happy she got to meet Natalie Spooner from the Women’s National Team.
Also this week we’ve all been hit with a nasty bug that has been going around that brings with it sore throat, cough and just general cruddy feelings. Danielle was the first one befallen by it, and then Emelia was next. Danielle has been soldiering through it, but by Tuesday night Emelia was in it bad enough she came home early from gymnastics practice. Wednesday she thought she was good enough to make it through the school day but called Danielle and came home by 11:30am to spend the day resting. By Friday it was starting to sink it’s way into me too. Thankfully I haven’t gotten it near as bad as Danielle or Emelia and I also have today off and tomorrow too, to hopefully get in front of it.
This week there’s nothing to crazy on the radar aside from starting to prepare for our second last (or last) trip out camping on the season for Thanksgiving weekend. I am happy to say that I have finally got the last video of last season’s camping trips edited and online. My goal is to get all of this year’s camping trips edited and online before the year end so that next year I can post them a lot closer to when they happened. While this week was really all about the Battle of the Blades, the rest of the year will be about the Battle of Catching Up (on our videos)!
She said
This week was a tiring one, mainly as John has already mentioned I managed to get hit with the season change cold. The daycare kids have all been battling runny noses and being a bit ‘off’, by the end of last week I was starting to feel the worn out feeling and sore throat. As the week progressed the sore throat worsened and the headache kicked in. I have been pushing through hoping that it would stop at me. Sadly nope. Emelia was the second one down. She was able to descibe in pretty vivid details how crappy she was feeling and got a better idea of what the daycare kids had been battling.
When Emelia got home from school on Tuesday she wasnt looking the greatest but was determined to get to practice. Doug was driving her and offered to stick around for a bit to see how she was making out before leaving. She insisted she was fine. Well that only lasted about an hour into practice and then I got the message from her she needed me to come get her. I got to the gym and she was feeling horrible. Chatted with Anna (the coach filling in for her coach who was also under the weather) and said I was calling it she was coming home and going right to bed. We made a quick stop on the way home to get her some supplies of ice cream for her sore throat and then home to rest.
She woke Wednesday determined to go to school. She is in the middle of volleyball tryouts for the school team so she insisted she was feeling better and could go. Off she went before 8 am for tryouts. I went on with my daycare day and went to our weekly Wednesday playgroup. Around 11:00 I get the call from the school, Emelia in tears telling me her head feels like its on fire and sharp pains in her head and throat. Loaded all 5 kids into the wagon and hauled my way to the school to get her. I got her to bed and then the kids so I could spend time with her and try and get her on the mend. She rested for the afternoon. By the end of the day she was well enough to get a bit done after work. Mainly some quick shopping for her friend Evelyn’s birthday present.
Thursday morning Emelia was feeling a fair bit better and she was back to her normal activities. Thursday was a big day at school with the annual Terry Fox run. Emelia was determined to be there participating in memory of her Aunt Linda. She had taken a very active role this year being on the school committee for the day so it was really important for her to be better.
Thursday night was the big event for the week and thankfully Emelia was much better. As soon as the daycare kids left for the day we headed out to Hamilton to see the Battle of the Blades. This show we have watched as a family since it first aired. Emelia has adored it every year and was so excited that we were able to get tickets again this year. Once again the show blew us away, I am seriously in awe of talent of the skaters and the tricks they take on right from the beginning. The show was incredible and a night I am sure Emelia won’t forget anytime soon and either will we.