Ice Skating Showcase

This past Saturday, the 19th was the Peaks Showcase.  Figure Skaters and Hockey Players were able to show off their skills in a recital type program.  Hailey and Addy were approached  by the LTS Coordinator asking them if they would like to perform.  Hailey was immediately excited. Addy, a little apprehensive.  After discussing it with them, they decided they wanted to do a duet performance.

We got together with a coach who met with them just twice during the week before the showcase to coreograph their routine.  I was worried it wouldn't be enough time, but they're 3 and 5... it's really no big deal. Their coach asked them what songs they liked. She started throwing out ideas like Disney songs, princess songs, etc.  Hailey looks at her and responds "I like Firework."  The coach looks at me and says "as in Katy Perry?"  It was a pretty funny moment. So, they ran with the idea and their coach was quite excited to put together a routine for such little girls to such a fun song.

These were some of the other little skaters that performed that day.

This is their coach Breanna. She was amazing.

The day came and they both informed me they wanted to curl their hair and put sparkles in it. :-)  I got them all dolled up and gathered all their 'stuff' and off to the rink we went.  We got there early so that they could run through their program one more time.  They were acting quite goofy and quite excited.  I ran up to the stands to grab my spot and find the best place to record (since Nate couldn't make it) and to find my friend Moana and her nieces who came to support the girls.  After getting all set, I ran back down to the Olympic Room to make sure the girls were set, then left them to their coach.

I went back up to the stands and took my place to record.  The time came and the announcer called their names. They were first to perform because they were the youngest of all the skaters.  Hailey of course skated right out there, all ready to go, but Addy froze.  I knew she would. Especially once everyone in the stands started cheering and whisteling.  Then everyone just waited and waited. The announcer had to call their names twice before they could get Addy on the ice. Then, her coach ended up having to stay on the ice with her the whole time. I still can't believe she actually did it. I'm so proud of her for that. They ended up having to cut off a few seconds of their act because Addy was so scared and skating so slow, but it still was absolutely darling. Hailey was a little champion out there. She loved every minute of performing in front of people and did great. 

After their program as I turned the camera off and they exited the ice, I suddenly hear someone SCREAM in the tunnel and I could tell that it was Addy.  I look over and see a coach standing up waving me to come saying "HURRY!" I left all my junk with Moana and took off for the tunnel. As I got to the bottom of the stairs by the front desk, I see one of the coaches carrying Addy quickly to me. My first thought was that she just got overly freaked out by the whole thing and bursted into tears. Then, I saw the blood.  The coach was holding Addy's hands together with her own and there was blood dripping through her fingers. At this time, I'm trying to process what's going on when all I hear Hailey saying is "it was an accident, i'm so sorry Addy". Addy's face went white and she kind of went into a little shock.  We covered her hand with towels and all the while the coach was telling me that they tripped after coming off the ice and Hailey stepped on Addy's hand with her skate blade. It sliced three of her fingers. Her pointer and ring fingers were cute pretty bad and her middle finger had a little cut on it. The other two fingers had an indention on her nail where the blade hit.  I've never really gotten weak at the sight of blood but there was so much that I thought I was going to puke for sure. I was pretty freaked out and Hailey was equally freaked out. Addy was in shock.  Luckily, my coach was there and she's also a nurse. She came into the bathroom to help me get her cleaned up and to take a closer look at it. She really helped Addy to calm down a lot and stay coherant.

It was such a traumatic experience for all of us but mostly Addy.  Poor thing didn't stop crying for two hours. She insisted on staying to watch the rest of the skaters but just layed in my lap with a constant stream of tears rolling down her face during the rest of the showcase. I could not believe how many people were so worried about her. Everyone kept coming to her asking how she was, trying to help her feel better. It was just so sad. She was in so much pain. When they had to go back out on the ice to recieve their medals, her coach just carried her so she wouldn't have to put her skates back on. 

Their medals they got were pretty awesome, I have to admit. I was quite impressed.

Addy at this point didn't want any pictures taken of her. :-(

We took the girls out for ice cream after and then to their cousins house to play a bit. We were trying to get her mind off her hand. At their cousins house, one of the bandaids came off and to look at it again made all  of us feel nauseous.  Addy still won't look at her fingers when the bandages are off. It freaks her out too much. I don't blame her. I can hardly keep my cool when looking at it.

She has been telling me she doesn't want to skate anymore (with good reason) but I know I have to force her back on the ice for her to not be afraid.  So, hopefully by tomorrow night, I can calm her down a bit before her testing lesson.