Skate or Die

Hi gang.

We're currently in the middle of Spring Break (whoo-hoo), and while Kris has been away at work, slaving away in the secular non-school field, Yours Truly has been responsible for keeping the kids entertained.

Good times.

Today, I decided to take the kids out to the local skate park on the opposite end of town, over by the Tridge.  Abby and her friend Ella have been bugging me to go all week, and today I said 'screw it' and load them and all their gear up into the trunk of my car.  Alayna wanted to go as well, but, not being remotely interested in anything quasi-athletic (just like me at that age), she requested to bring along our two dogs so that she could play with them in one of the enclosed dog parks, right next door. 

So, being the insane individual that I am, I consented to this as well.

We spent two hours down by the Tridge, and it was ridiculously windy and cold out (mid-40s, but with the wind it felt about ten degrees colder, thereabouts), but it was a pretty good time.  Abby and Ella really got into the skate park, and are already begging to go again, and Yours Truly got some much-needed time in on my Arbor Axis 40 longboard that I got last summer (they have some nice, flat and even walkways that curve about between the skate park and dog parks, perfect for longboarding, so that's how I kept myself entertained while the kids were otherwise occupying their time.)

Alayna wasn't a fan of the weather, though, so next time we do this we'll probably leave her - and the dogs - at home.

No surprises there.

Check it out. . .

Arriving at Trilogy Skate Park, around 11:30am. . .

A 40-year-old hero, preparing to trick himself into believing he's only 22.

I'm glad they have two dog parks here, one for small dogs and one for large ones.  Watson's an asshole, and would have no problem picking a fight with a much larger dog that could potentially maul him to death.

Letting these two assholes run amok.  We're fencing our yard later this week (finally), so these guys will be able to do this in the comfort of their own backyard very soon.

Super windy out here on the open fields.  Alayna was not a fan.

Wish I would've thought of this place last summer - these long, curving pathways were perfect for this.  I'm hoping it doesn't get overly crowded in the summer, when the weather improves, but I'm sure it will.

I spent the majority of my time skating back and forth between the dog and skate parks, and when I set up Alayna and the dogs at one end, I headed back to check in on Ella and Abby.  It took them awhile to warm up to the ramps, but eventually they had zero problem with it.

When we first got there, the only other people on hand were a trio of high schoolers who had BMX stunt bikes with them, but they stayed on one end and our kids stayed on the other.  They spent the majority of their time there just sitting on the side and listening to music anyway, probably trying to look cool.  You know, 'cause teenagers.

I had to remind Ella to keep her helmet on.  Her dad would not have been cool with her skating around without it.

Alayna (at far left) got bored of the dog park within ten minutes, and wandered over - dogs in tow - to watch the other two skate for awhile.

The longer they did this, the braver they got.  Par for the course.

I told Abby she should try bringing her skateboard up here sometime, but that pretty much fell on deaf ears.  These two were much more interested in rollerblading instead.

After skating for about an hour and a half, the girls wanted to take a break, so we all ventured back over to the dog park and let the dogs burn off some more energy.  They all tried to get the dogs to run through this pipe thingy, but only Samson wanted to do it (no surprises there.)

Samson tunnels out. . .

Commandeering my longboard for a bizarre commute back to the skate park. . .

We'll definitely be hitting this place up much more frequently in the future, that's for damn sure.

- Brian