Kids' Ice Show

This school year we decided to enroll kids into extra curricular activities of their choice. We didn't do it last year because everything was new to them: new country, new home, new school, new friends, new language. It was already hard enough. But then the girls really took off and did a great job with everything we asked of them, so we decided to give it a try. Nika and Lina both are taking guitar lessons, Nika is also doing track and field (that is a story for another post), and all four of the girls are in figure skating.

Today I want to tell about their figure skating. The girls love it. They go twice a week for an hour and a half each time. Here it is ridiculously cheap. We are paying 7000 tenge/month which is about $22/month for each kid. They have a really good coach who is also a hockey player, snowboarder, and into many other different sports. He is a no-nonsense guy who is at the same time very respectful to kids: a great combination in my opinion. Our girls took figure skating when we lived in Iowa but here they are really making big progress.

On Christmas Day they had a big Ice Show which they were preparing for a whole month. It was a musical fairytale about a witch trying to stop Ded Moroz (cousin of Santa Claus) from delivering presents to the kids but at the end she could not succeed. Our coach trains a lot of kids in many different classes and levels, and all of them were participating in the show. Our twins got to play bandits who were lead by Baba Yaga (the witch) in kidnapping Ded Moroz and his friend the Snowman. Nika and Lina were playing blizzard that froze the bandits and freed Ded Moroz and his friend. We had to come up with our own costumes. My mom was coming right before the show to stay with us for a couple of months, so I asked her to sew Nika's and Lina's blizzard costumes. I just described to her my vision, and she made it happen! She is just awesome! We ordered bandit costumes for the twins in America, and our friend brought them to us when he came here to Astana on a business trip. The girls were so excited!

Getting ready for the show.

Twins are ready to roll! 

On the morning of the show we took the kids to the Children's Palace (it is like a HUGE rec center) where the show was talking place. There were lots of other performances going on at the same time so the place was packed. The parents and guests could watch from the upper level of ice arena. All kids did a great job, and should be proud of their accomplishments! The show was really fun!

This was a practice run. Ded Moroz is the coach.

Coach is giving the last instructions before the show.

Village kids are bringing Christmas tree

A snowball fight

Snowman is bringing a bag with letters to Ded Moroz

Village kids are sending letters to Ded Moroz

A snowflake dance

The wind

The wind is blowing the bag with the letters away, and it gets lost

Bunnies

Polar bears find the bag

...and returned it to Ded Moroz and Snowman

Dance of Ded Moroz and Snowman

Elves are filling up a bag with toys

Ded Moroz and Snowman are living in their reindeer sleigh

Baba Yaga, the wicked witch

Baba Yaga calls the bandits

The bandits kidnapped Ded Moroz

...and Snowman

their victory dance

Try to find twins here!

but the blizzard comes to help

Blizzard Dance

Lina

Blizzard

Blizzard freezes the bandits and saves Ded Moroz and Snowman

Snegurochka's Dance

At the end everyone got a present (a bag with candy) from Ded Moroz

Lina was swinging her bag, and it broke spraying candy everywhere around her. Most kids thought it was like a pinata game, so Lina ended up with just half of her candy back. 

Our cutie pies!

After the show we went to Keruen Mall for lunch at KFC (I have to say that KFC is much better here than in America and is one of our favorite places to go out to).

At the Keruen Mall waiting for the order. This tree with the muhomor (fly-agaric, a very poisonous mushroom) on top is very... interesting