AlmondIce Blog

This past weekend, Labor Day to be exact, we decided to check out The SkatePark of Austin.

We wanted to let Ryan and Krystal get a chance to ride rollerblades and skateboards in the park. First off it was kind of interesting when I went in is they required both Ryan and Krystal to sign, well initial, rules they had to agree to. It was pretty cool. I pretty much told Ryan that he had to follow the rules and wear his helmet or he would get kicked out.

The fun thing was we brought Ryan’s new skateboard, the wave, and it was an immediate attraction for the other kids. When I was paying, the kids right outside of the Pro Shop were riding it trying to figure it out. It was fun watching the interest in the board.

After we got in Ryan wanted to Rollerblade first and ride the mini bowl.

He struggled a little bit but picked it up pretty quickly and was able ride around the bowl and handle some of the walls. Then Krystal decided it was her turn to run around the bowl in her shoes and then lace up and roller blade. I was very proud of her to want to try it. She did good and was very patient in her skating and was able to go up a little bit on some of the walls and turn around. Going backwards from a wall was a very new sensation for her.

After the mini bowl Ryan decided to try the street course.

He started out on his rolerblades moved to his skateboard and then had a good time on his wave. He would start on the far end and then up the ramp on the left hand side in the middle. He had a great time and was getting more comfortable and having lots of fun before the day was over. Ryan had to stay on the left side of the street course because the more advanced skaters were more towards the right and were pretty good. At one point a few of the kids were dropping in from the top of the ramp and then going across the street section and attempting to jump over a chair on the top of another ramp. It was pretty cool to watch.

Krystal also attempted the street course on her roller blades with daddy holding her hand going over the ramps on the left hand side. As a matter of fact Krystal turned into a street skater girl taking a big hit. I was holding her hand going down a ramp and Ryan’s board popped up and buster her lip. She decided at that point she was done.
After hitting the street course we were hanging around the 69 bowl and I decided to give the big bowl a try. Ryan did not want to go in initially because it is a big swimming pool and the shallow end is 6ft deep. He was more concerned about how he would get out. I was too until I got in.

Well, mommy was snapping pictures and told him to give it a try and then she gave him a little nudge when he was sitting on the corner and he slid down into the pool. Once he was in the bowl the first challenge was to try to get out So he tried to get out and he needed some help from Dad to get out. Once he became even more comfortable he really liked riding from the shallow end to the deep end. The cool part about it was the transition to the deep end was about a 2 foot drop that gave you even more speed to hit the 9 foot wall. He spent his time on his roller blades and was able to get some consderable speed and hit the 9 foot wall and turn around pretty good.

During this time mommy was talking to the other kids skating and showing them the pictures she took of them doing jumps. Some of the kids were even interested in paying for the pictures. Hmm, a photo business opportunity? All the while Krystal was very intent with her coloring books on the benches around the 69 bowl.

I got some courage up myself and rode the wave board in the big bowl and was able to get form the shallow end to the deep end without crashing. I was able to get as high as about 5-6 feet on the 9 foot wall and able to turn around. I only ate it really hard once but I had a lot of fun and it brought back lots of memories of riding skateboards at Clown Ramp in Dallas when I was growing up.

We had a ton of fun and Ryan & Krystal want to go back to the skate park for more fun. We will have to go again. The good thing is the kids in the park respected everyone skating ability and were courteous and patient. Goot time, we will be going back.