Roller Skating and Wilbur the Pig

Last night after work, we all went to the local roller skating rink for the weekly Family Night skate, where admissions is only a dollar. This is the first time I've been skating in I don't know how long. Growing up in California, I made many, many trips to "Rollertowne" in Visalia, California with our church youth group and other outings. I was actually a pretty good skater. But after leaving California, that was pretty much it. I skated occasionally in college as we had skating outings there once in a while.

So last night, I laced on the skates and found out I could still move okay. Not quite as agile as I once was and no longer can do the triple-lutz jumps (okay, I never could do that). Dorene was a little less unsure, and even more unsure when a beginning backwards skater plowed into her.

Anna loves the skates. She gets on the floor and basically skates non-stop until the skating session is over. She stops once in a while for a drink and that's about it. Doesn't bug us to go to the snack bar or play the video games. She's there to skate!

Cameron went around the rink twice, which took just about a half hour. He's not too sure about this whole skating thing yet. He had a good time, even though he was on the floor most of the time. He was a good sport. When he fell, I'd laugh and he'd look up and grin too. Didn't get frustrated.

Afterwards we went to Famous Dave's BBQ, one of our favorite eating places. Even more so because on Monday and Tuesday nights, kids eat free. That's actually a pretty good savings, so Dorene and I can each get a nice meal and pay about the same as if all four of us ate at Arby's. On kids night, they bring out Wilbur the Pig. Tonight, since it was quite a bit later (after 8:00 p.m.), the pig had retired for the evening. We hadn't been to Famous Dave's for months, but Cameron remembered the pig and was watching out for him. Our waitress basically said he was gone but that she would check to see for sure.

Now, I'm sure the employee that was dressed up in the pig costume was going home for the night since it was late and any responsible parent would have had their kids in bed by this time. But lo and behold, the pig came out and Cameron just lit up. Whoever took the time to don the pig costume for a few extra minutes certainly made my little boy happy and I thank them for it. That's what's called going the extra mile in customer service and the next time we're there, you can be sure Cameron will be on "Wilbur Watch."