several weeks after the birthday

Yes, it took us two+ weeks after E's birthday to follow up on her request to go roller skating for her birthday.  We found a day that Daddy could take off early and then we headed to the roller rink three blocks away.  And it was nice and empty!!!

We had brought what skates we owned in order to save on skate rental.  Daddy wasn't so sure about his inline skates.  David complained that his inline skates were too hard to use.  And E cried furiously for the first five minutes and just stonewalled with having to use her inline skates.  I started out giving David my skate rental and took his (which were about 1-1 1/2 sizes too small).  E finally realized that she could skate on her inline skates and started having fun.  Later we switched it all up and I tried out Daddy's (too big).  Then, I took David's skate rental....ahhh....just right.

This time we rented only two skate helpers.  David got pretty comofortable without it.  And within about 30 minutes E was skating without it.  She even competed with me in the middle of the rink in a dance competition sans skate helper.  A was the last to leave it behind and never got completely comfortable, but she was able to go a few feet on her own before slipping...or lap the rink with Mommy or Daddy's hand.

Overall, a successful end to E's extended birthday.