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I hope you weren’t expecting to see me in costume or the real Toby Maguire. I visited my Grandma in Arizona once or twice growing up and loved to be in the pool. I was never a strong swimmer and when I would get tired I would cling to the side until my fingers and toes were past pruning and would start to get red and sore. My Grandma used to tease that I looked like Spider-Man climbing around the edge of the pool.

I signed up with a local coupon agent that emails me deals. Usually the coupons are for massages and Mexican food but I got lucky when one came for 58% off Winter-Fest ice skating at Adventure Landing. We had never gone before because it’s part water-park and part small-rides with untamed children. I’m not a big fan of public water areas – all the contamination. This water would be frozen; we should be fine.

We pass some alligators on our way in to get some balls for golfing. Along with our ice skating ticket we are allowed to pick putt-putt, laser tag, or go-carts. I thought about the go-carts but I think the next time I want to go fast I will try for the adult race track or the autobahn. We each get a ball and I stop counting putts – I’m not that good. Caleb gets a hole-in-one. The last hole returns your ball but I wasn’t ready to go.

We explore the other 18-hole course and find some misplaced balls. The putters are left outside so we return to grab them, fish the balls out, and continue the next course. We lose our balls on hole-4 and an employee dumps water through the pipe to clean out seven balls in there along with ours. We finish this course too and it’s time to skate. There aren’t too many people on the ice which is good; it will give me more room to fall.

The skates are surprisingly easy to stand on and going forward is no problem; it’s the stopping and turning that has me grabbing the wall. I’m getting the hang of things and I have to so I can go around others clutching the wall and some kids still sliding to the ice. This girl skates up to us and asks why we have cameras on the ice. My answer, “I like to take pictures.” I figured it was simple and why else besides, my blog of course and, trying to get the one picture of Caleb falling.

I haven’t roller-bladed in years and it has been even longer since I’ve been on the ice. I am always quick to offer advice to others to bend their knees; this takes a lot of ankle coordination too. Caleb soon tires and takes my camera thinking it might be throwing my balance. I like to grab the edge and get going fast but there are many kids in the way now with the edges worn but the middle still smooth.

We pass two 2-foot or more and one 4-foot or longer alligator sun bathing on our way out. I take some pictures and then see the sign ‘Feed Alligators – $3.’ I’m thinking Caleb will do the feeding if they hand us bloody animal parts or anything that could resemble such. What we get is little meaty-steak treats for dogs; I have no problem helping him bait the hair pin. As we dangle the food in the water a crowd of people and fish gather.

We wait and soon one of the ‘are they real?’ alligators gets up and moves towards the water. For me it was like watching Piggy getting a treat. She knows it’s there and she can smell it but has trouble biting it exactly. This alligator bites at the string and bites around the treat. Finally he bites it and the part he loses goes to the swarming fish around him.

We return the pole and on our final way out there is another family attempting to feed them too. I’m glad we ventured to try something, perhaps not new, that hadn’t been done in a while. As for the feeding, I was hoping to get closer but am glad that in my excitement to see and do I was able to let kids too. Some parents are too focused on spending their money on all the video games and calories that await them indoors; that can be done at home. Experiencing something new means widening your focus.