Saturday, May 18, 2013

YMCA!

Last week we got a membership to the Y, and I can't believe I didn't do this sooner. I can do some cardio, swim, sit in the steam room, and get a nice workout. Meanwhile the girls go to the kidzone, which has an outdoor and indoor playground. They can spend time with other kids while I can be around other adults. I'm so out of shape I'm only going every other day and keeping an eye on my heartrate, in fact the cardio machines have heartrate monitors built right in so it's super easy. Well it's still hard to do the actual exercise, but I've lost two pounds this week and feel pretty damn good! My back is not real great, but after cardio I sit in the whirlpool and that seems to help. I hope I'll have less pain after I get into better shape but at the very least I'll be healthier and have more energy. I have my ups and downs about losing weight and it feels good to know I have access to a gym with childcare. I like my workout videos but I can't make it through one without having to stop a million times to take care of the girls.

Fun with tents

We have a megaland play tent that includes three tents and a couple of mini tunnels that can be connected in a variety of different ways and came with a bunch of balls and a storage bag. This was only fourty dollars and the girls love to play with it. It's got a basketball hoop, soccer goal and a beanbag throw/ball toss. It's super easy to set up because the tents just spring open and twist flat when we're done with it. The only hard part about cleaning up is finding all the balls because they go everywhere. It's a great way for the girls to be active when we can't (or just don't want to) go to the park.
In these pics I set up one tent with their music stuff, which is so cool I'll probably write a blog about just that. The biggest tent got filled with stuffed animals for them to roll around in. I even got in there with them for a bit, and they laughed and crawled all over me. They also gave me their favorite stuffed animals to play with. It makes me smile just thinking about it. So worth squeezing into a little tent.

Activities With The Girls

I mentioned the dry erase crayons in an earlier blog and found another activity to do with them that the girls absolutely loved! After making sure that the curtains were out of the way we decorated the windows with the crayons. Maybe it was the novelty of drawing on something other than paper but both girls were enthralled with this and clean up was a snap. This would be even better if you had glass patio doors, which would make a much bigger canvas.

Happy Happy Joy Joy Garden Blooms

There's nothing like watching the buds start to form and all my perennials return all green and bushy. My oregano is turning into a decent sized patch (at least 2' by 1') and it's hard to believe that it's grown from a single plant a couple of years ago. This year I got two poblanos, a red bell pepper and a cherry tomato. I also decided to try growing a stevia plant, and planted some basil seeds, but the kids and dog won't stay out of them so I might just go out and buy a plant.
My chives are blooming like crazy, but the columbine is hardly blooming at all this year. I've decided to move my spearmint to the back of our yard, away from everything else. Those roots seem to strangle anything they come into contact with. If they survive the move, then I'll be happy because mint comes in handy for so many things and thrives in our yard. The irises are purple and yellow this year, they've been getting more color every year since they were given to us and are now getting quite beautiful.
I also got a bunch of petunias and sweet potato vine, as well as some perennials like dianthus and lilies. For mothers day I was given a gorgeous planter that I put in the center of our biggest garden bed. All that and some mulch given to us by a generous freecycler and I've got the most fantastic garden in the works! I'll put some pics here, and post some more as the season progresses and things fill out.