Curling lessons

I have always loved the Olympics. I watch eveything I can. During the last Olympics, curling caught Barrett's attention. This year was no exception. He loves curling. Last week I looked up curling in the area to see if Barrett could try it. I found Wine Country Curling Club in Vacaville. They were giving free lessons in honor of the Olympics. We loaded up the van and went. It occured to me that my old gold van has set out with a group of guys to do a lot of things for a lot of years. It made me smile. Now the boys are big and the van has 288000 plus miles but it still loading up for the next adventure...curling. While we waited, we watched the Zamboni get the ice ready to curl. Brandon, Barrett and Spencer.

Gavin.

There was a huge crowd. After the boys had a brief overview of the sport, they were in line to get on the ice. There must have been 250 people there for the lesson.

The pictures get cloudy now because I am outside of the rink and they are inside the rink. There is scratches plexiglass between us. Here they ae in a group waiting to get to a lane.

Still waiting.

And waiting.

They are finally ready to start. They are getting instructions from their instructor. He is a curler for the U.S. para-olympic team. He will compete next month in Vancouver.
The first task was to slide with two stones to keep their balance. Barrett was first. the instructor asked him something so he looked back to hear him.

Then Gavin.

Then Brandon. I missed Spencer...someone stepped in front of him.

Barrett looks like a natural...here holding the broom waiting for his turn. He did have a chance to sweep but I missed the picture. He did it just like on TV :)

The next task was to slide with the stone using the broom to balance. Barrett first.

At the finish. Notice the slipper on the ice. The surface allows them to slide.

Next Gavin.

Brandon sprawled. They said in the instructions, expect to fall.

Spencer getting up after he finished his slide.

The third task was sliding, balancing with the broom and releasing the stone. Barrett first.

Brandon next.

Spencer's release.

Gavin's release. You can just see the stone at the edge of the picture.

Final words from the instructor. Barrett thought he was very cool. On Barrett's face...pure joy!

Note: Owen was going to get Aunt Merle and bring her back to watch. He and Greg ended up visiting with her at her house. We didn't see her, but they had a nice visit, though they did miss their chance to curl.