Kenzie's Figure Skating Show

Back in February, both Lukey and Kenzie had sports events on the same weekend.  Lukey had to travel to Saratoga, New York for a hockey tournament while Kenzie had her annual end-of-season figure skating show here in Barre, Vermont.  This particular holiday weekend was fast becoming a logistical nightmare and this logistical nightmare was developing at the last minute after months of planning.

We were told about Lukey's February hockey tournament way back in October.  Literally the moment we were told about this tournament, Sheila and I started discussing making reservations at our favorite inn in Saratoga.  We like Saratoga so we were making plans within mere moments of Lukey telling us about the tournament.  

We knew the hotels in Saratoga would book very quickly and we were correct.  In the few short hours that we were discussing and planning this long weekend trip, our favorite inn was filling up quickly so we knew we had to book the weekend immediately.  Actually, within just one or two hours of Lukey telling us of the scheduling of this tournament, the inn's online reservation system was showing that the inn was full!  There were plenty of rooms available two hours earlier but now it was showing that no rooms were available!  Sheila called them immediately and, fortunately, we managed to book a room verbally rather than through their online reservation system.  

We reserved a nice suite and figured we could keep Kenzie busy with shopping and restaurants during the down time between Lukey's games.  Sheila and I started making plans for what we could do with Kenzie between games and we came up with enough things to keep us busy so we were pretty happy with this plan.  We knew it would be a fun and entertaining weekend.

We hadn't traveled at all since the beginning of the pandemic so we were ripe for a nice long weekend out of town.  Actually, I don't think we traveled anywhere since mid-2019.  At this point, we were excited to be heading out of town again.  Plus, we happen to like Saratoga as well as this inn so we were excited that the tournament was in Saratoga.  

In January, I had some significant health problems that landed me in the hospital and I would need some time to recover.  We had also planned to go to an annual train show in Springfield, Massachusetts with some friends in late January but we had to cancel these plans because my health was in no condition to travel anywhere.  Just traveling a few minutes to the local market was too much for my health so three hours in a car wasn't going to work at all.  

A few weeks later, in mid-February, we were scheduled to go to Saratoga for Lukey's hockey tournament so I was hoping I would feel well enough to make the trip.  Honestly, I wasn't too confident we'd be making this trip at this point but I was hoping anyway.  

Sometime around the time I ended up in the hospital, Kenzie found out that her figure skating show would be on the same weekend as Lukey's hockey tournament.  This was a problem.  Actually, it was a big problem.  The hockey tournament was in Saratoga while Kenzie's figure skating show was in Vermont.  We came up with a plan with Liza to get each kid to their respective events that same weekend.  In the meantime, I ended up in the hospital which put all plans on hold for Sheila and me.  

My health was exceptionally poor for about two months after the hospital visit which meant that we cancelled all our travel plans for the train show as well as for Lukey's hockey tournament.  The good news is that since we were no longer traveling anywhere, Kenzie could now stay with us at our house rather than go to Saratoga and we would take her to her figure skating show.  She wouldn't have to endure sitting in a cold rink in unfamiliar Saratoga watching hockey game after hockey game for three or four days!  If Lukey's tournament was over in time, then Liza, John, Ace and Lukey would meet us at the figure skating show.  

It turns out that Lukey's hockey team won the championship game of the whole hockey tournament and they were headed home a few hours before the figure skating show.  It was pretty close but, fortunately, they made it to the rink in time for Kenzie's show!  I think they were all pretty exhausted but at least they made it to Kenzie's figure skating show.  

We waited in the cold for the bleachers to open for the show and then quickly chose a section of the bleachers.  Kenzie would have about two or three dozen family members cheering her on so we needed some space.  Actually, everyone was fortunate in that we had enough room when each additional person from the large extended family arrived.

Each member of Lukey's hockey team was awarded a medal after the hockey tournament and that medal is what is around Lukey's neck in these photos....

Even though this was Kenzie's event, we couldn't ignore Lukey's achievement and his medal so I got a few photos of his medal...  and his smile!  Although he was clearly exhausted, he was pretty pleased with himself!

The bleachers were pretty empty when we arrived.  I would have preferred to shoot photos from right at the glass like I do for most of Lukey's hockey games but then I would be blocking the view for a lot of people so that wouldn't work for an event like this.  The bleachers would be completely full before the show started.  Instead of choosing a spot at the glass, I chose a spot at the top of the bleachers hoping that I could get some photos without having to shoot through the dirty, marred, and scuffed glass.  I would just stand on that top bench and lean back against the chain-link fencing as I shot photos and video over the top of the glass and onto the ice.

It wasn't long before all the ladies were out on the ice doing warm-ups...  hmmm...  and socializing as seen in this photo below...

The show started right on time.  There were group performances as well as solo performances.  Kenzie was in the Level 3 Basic group.  She has now graduated from that group and will be in Level 4 Basic when skating starts up again.  

This photo below shows Kenzie with her Level 3 Basic group.  You'll see a short clip of this routine in the video at the bottom of this page.  In that video, you'll see that Kenzie was in charge of calling out directions over the sound of the music during the routine.  In this photo, she is keeping a close eye on the rest of the group...

Since I preferred to have photos of Kenzie skating with her group, I didn't capture much video of her.  When she gets to the level where she will be doing a solo performance, I'll have to figure out how I am going to capture both photos and video of her at the same time.  Until then, I'm leaning more heavily toward photos.

Here are some photos of the other groups... 

Kenzie is in the line of skaters, below, moving from left to right...  she has her hair in a bun up on her head so she is pretty easy to spot...  burgundy dress and a bun.  Actually, Gee and Kenzie spent quite a bit of time on Kenzie's hair and makeup before we headed to the rink...

In this photo, below, Kenzie is being pulled apart as she struggles to keep the line together as the group line spins in a circle.  It's amazing that she held on tightly and kept the line together!  And, seeing it here in a photo, it is amazing that she didn't end up with a dislocated shoulder!

The smile on her face, below, is a pretty good indication that she is having a good time dancing on the ice...

There is always a big push to get out the door after the show and that push is mostly due to Kenzie dying to get warm again!  (She confessed that to Gee and I before this year's show so we knew she wanted to get someplace warm.)  

Below, she gets a bouquet of flowers and greets all the family members who watched the show...

We've always enjoyed this annual show.  Each year gets better than the year before as Kenzie improves.  We look forward to someday seeing her perform two routines...  a doubles routine and a solo routine!

Below is a rather long video of select clips from the show.  As I mentioned above, I am short on video clips of Kenzie so I chose to add a few photos of her at the beginning of the video in slideshow form.  There are also one or two video clips of her and her group on the ice but most of the clips in this video are a few select solo performances by US Figure Skating skaters and small group performances.  The last clip in the video is the longest and that is the one that thanks each of the groups, solo performers and coaches.  

We had a great time and we are very glad that we were able to attend the show this year after all the last minute changes in plans, the terrible health, multiple members of the family in hospitals, respite homes, funeral homes, furnace problems, refrigerator problems, and cancelling of other events.  All of that in the first few months of this year!

It has been a very rough start to 2023 for Gee and Papa but Kenzie's "Golden" Figure Skating Show was a very bright spot!