FINatic

Tommy is a member of the Sharks' FINatical Kids Club and they hosted an event last week at the Sharks' practice ice rink.  It was an open skate session and SJ Sharkie would appear and skate with the kids.  We'd never been to the rink, but it was awesome.  Great fun, great crowd, and great for kids.  They had a blocked off area at one end for beginning skaters and these great stacked paint buckets for the kids to hold onto.

SJ Sharkie was skating round and round and we kept trying to catch him to get a picture.  After some trial and error we decided to backtrack around the skating circle and try to catch him on the other side.  While backtracking and watching out for all the people actually traveling the correct direction around the circle, I almost lost my balance and fell backward.  But who skated to my rescue and caught me...?  SJ SHARKIE.  So apparently, that's how you get the attention of this chivalrous fish and hook it up so he takes a picture with your kid!

I think SJ Sharkie is a great mascot and he DID catch me from falling earlier in the evening.  But here is a Sharkie blooper!

After much practice in the Bucket Area, we ventured out onto the rink with Tom and I on either side of Tommy.  Tommy just held on a coasted along, but did a great job holding onto his balance and starting to move his feet a little bit.  Suddenly, someone came up behind us and swooped Tommy up by the waist, lifting him up and skating away with him!  After a moment of shock for me, I watched as SJ Sharkie skated off with my boy!  It was awesome!

Here's an action video, sorry no steady cam!