Mall play areas

We spent some time in Columbus this week, including a stop at Polaris to let the kids burn some energy at the mall play area.

It's one of the nicest I've seen, sponsored by the Columbus Zoo with a huge tree in the middle and tons of fun animals to climb.

But that night it was truly a zoo.

It was crowded. But that wasn't the main issue. There were tons of older children riding roughshod everywhere. One group in particular, whose dad watched and only once intervened, was particularly zealous. They worked together to push one of the animals across the entire play area, using it as a boost to get up in the tree. A mother stepped up to get the dad (who I swear was wearing jegging capris) to intervene. Once he did, he allowed the kids to push the giant hippo head back across the entire place to its spot while he went back to his seat.

I let William and Elliott keep playing through all of this wackiness, although I should have probably left. But I wanted them to be able to run and play for a while and didn't feel like we should have been the ones to leave.

Then a second group of older kids stormed the place while their mothers sat on some couches far across the mall. If your children are old enough to go in alone, they are too old to be in there!

We survived, but with the level of chaos in that "zoo" there could have been some serious injuries.

Will they match????

We signed Elliott up for preschool this fall in a small and simple preschool down the street from our house. He has been quite excited to point to the church where the preschool meets each time we pass it.

Unfortunately, the church could no longer afford for the school to operate in its building. This was a big bummer for us because the location was the driving factor for us to choose the preschool, or really even to send him to preschool this year at all.

The preschool director scrambled and was able to move the school to a different church in our city.

I waited until I knew the exact location of the school to tell Elliott that it would be in a new place. We found out today.

I told him and his face dropped. He had several questions, but the most puzzling to me among them was "Will it match?"

"What do you mean? Will it be the same?"

"Yes, will it have the dog?"

Finally I remembered that the old location had a Snoopy window decoration facing the street.

I really doubt that Snoopy will make the trip to the new school, but I said that I didn't know.

I asked if he'd like to drive by the new school. He finally agreed it would be a good idea. I drove up the street to the front of the building, which is a striking Episcopal church on the northwest end of Oakwood . I said "It's really pretty isn't it?"

"No," he said. "It doesn't have a dog."

exercise update

I loaded up the boys and went to the gym yesterday only to see the entire nursery gutted.

I was shocked.

I had no idea they were planning renovation work. Last week when I joined, no one mentioned that the nursery would be closed for two weeks. No one mentioned it when I bought a child care pass.

Apparently, they didn't know that the work was going to start. The architects designed the room too small, so now it has to be fixed. That's great, and I look forward to leaving the kids in a bigger space.

But to say that I was derailed by this is an understatement. For someone who struggles to start and maintain an exercise routine, having to miss an entire week in the second week of it is very dangerous. I'm not quite sure what I would have done differently had I known about the nursery construction, but I am pretty sure that knowing would have kept me from crying in the lobby in front of the staff ... that I will have to see again when I return! They did give me four extra weeks on my annual pass and a free childcare card ($18 value).

I can figure out some other way to exercise, but we don't have a DVD player, the kids aren't reliable in the stroller (which is a regular one and not an easy-t0-push jogging stroller anyway), and I'll be on my own with them until Friday so I can't duck out in the evening unless I hire a sitter.

Okay, I'm done complaining now.

What I can do:

Purposely run around with them outside

Exercises in the house or yard

Watch how much I am eating

Stay off my bum as much as possible during the day

Keep focused on the next time I am going to the gym, which is either Friday or Saturday

Web round up

Think your slip and slide is cool? Try this backyard splash pad featured on Ohdeedoh

Will someone build one of these for me?

The boys bowled for free this week. If you haven't heard of this offer, check out the kidsbowlfree.com. It's legit and easy to sign up. Kids bowl free, just buy the shoe rental (and, if you are me, some french fries)

Exercise

I joined a gym yesterday. I am beyond out of shape. Since August, I have gained 20 pounds. This gym has childcare, so that can't be an excuse. And with my pass, I also have access to a fitness room and walking track that's even closer to my house that I can use when Tim is home to watch the kids.

Even though the working out will certainly help, I also must start making better eating choices. I really hate preparing meals, so sometimes I'll just make something for the kids and not eat. Then when we are out I'll be starving, so I'll go through a drive-thru and get something stupid like Tim Bits. I also tend to get Starbucks or some other kind of treat on the days that I work outside the house. I'm not sitting down to super sized extra value meals, but the series of small high-calories items is enough to keep me piling on weight, not to mention the overall health impact of those kinds of foods.

The bad thing is that I am fairly unmotivated to work out or eat better. In fact, when I think of eating better, I can only visualize the world's largest donut. No joke. I saw a woman, probably in her early 50s, in the grocery store the other day. She was a bit overweight, but looked very elegant in her clothes. Granted, these aren't clothes that are appropriate for a 30-year-old woman. But I actually thought, I wish I could just be in my 50s and it would make sense if I wore those clothes and was that size! There is something wrong with that mindset!

So, let's consider the huge motivators for me to get in shape:

* Long term health. I really don't want heart surgery. It would be embarrassing to develop a health condition just because I couldn't stop eating trash in my 30s.

* Clothes. If I can lose at a minimum 20 pounds, I will be back into the land of easier shopping. I already face the challenge of being tall and having giant feet, so adding plus size shopping into the mix makes it a hellacious experience to go near a mall.

* Child-free time to work out. I have two hours child care whenever I go to the gym. HELLO!!! Why am I not there right now??

* More energy. I know that exercise and healthier eating will give me more energy, which would be a nice perk given that I have two energy monsters in my care.

* General self-esteem. I don't like being overweight. I might never be super slim, but I can at least lose the weight I've gained this year.

My mother-in-law has done a fabulous job of losing and keeping off weight for several years now. She has gone with Weight Watchers, smaller portions and working out. It's both healthy and sustainable. I can't decide if WW would be a good choice for me. The point system seems like something I would fail miserably. It suits her personality, though, and has worked well for her.

I weigh 218 pounds. Last June, I was losing weight and falling into the mid 190s (walking a ton, still nursing William, etc). That's not skinny, but it's not a terrible weight for me. I thought I might be on my way to my goal weight of 170 pounds. Unfortunately, instead of losing 20 pounds I gained it. I went back on birth control when I stopped nursing, I developed a several month long sinus infection/allergies and I kept deluding myself into eating more and more to try to get rid of the headaches. Then I stopped walking since it was winter and also the boys really hate the stroller. Then the holiday season came, followed by a long winter and rainy spring, and here I am.( I didn't join the gym because we didn't want to spend the money. Obviously I should have).

I am going to avoid focusing on the numbers at first. My initial goal is to go to the gym at a minimum of three times a week and eat fewer sweets. I am going to make an appointment with a trainer to get a workout routine going.

Maybe I'll update the blog with some progress. Here's hoping it's progress in the right direction!

Mysteried it

One of the most interesting things of being a parent is watching your child learn to speak. Lately Elliott has come up with hilarious uses of words.

Today he picked up a little thing that falls from our tree. He peeled back the layers to show me that there is a seed inside. I asked him if someone showed him the seed or if he discovered it on his own. He said he "mysteried it." I love this because it is obviously his attempt to say that it was a mystery to know what was inside, and he found out.

Then, later in the evening, he changed into his UK jersey to play basketball outside. William didn't put on his. When they started to play, Elliott proclaimed that William was a "misser" because he didn't have on a jersey, and Elliott was a "goaler" because he was wearing his jersey. William promptly made a shot, disproving the magic jersey theory. Elliott pushed him away and reminded him that he was a "misser." Poor little brother.

Music

Some thoughts on music:

* Elliott and William constantly beat box. I couldn't get Elliott to calm down for bed last night because he couldn't stop beat boxing. I love it. This is much better than their knock knock joke obsession. They are fairly limited in their beat box stylings at this point, but I predict big things. I'll post a video as soon as I figure why the one I have won't post.

* I've tried to be careful about what kind of music the boys hear. There's no reason for them to be hearing adult-themed music as toddlers and preschoolers. However, Elliott really loves our new Over the Rhine album. He especially loves "The Laugh of Recognition" and "Oh Yeah, By the Way," which aren't racy, but deal with life issues well beyond his years. He doesn't pick up on it, and it's nothing that would get him in trouble if he repeated it in public. It's just funny to hear him singing along to it in the backseat. His favorite line is "Goodbye yesterday, goodbye yesterday," which is part of "Oh Yeah, By The Way, " a very melancholy song about a lost love.

Speaking of the Over the Rhine album "The Long Surrender" ... they are brilliant lyricists. I have some all-time favorite lines on this album:

From "All My Favorite People are Broken":

"All my favorite people are broken/believe me/my heart should know/

Skeptical dreamers/orphaned believers/ step forward

You can stay right here/You don't have to go"

From "Undamned" (notice the themes of grace here)

"I’ve got a thousand lost songs
(Far too many they just got away)
I’ve done a thousand things wrong
(Far too many for me to name)
But I’m not too far gone
To fall
Headlong
Into the arms that love me"

And from Days Like This:

All I wanna do is live my life honestly
I just wanna wake up and see your face next to me
Every regret I have I will go set it free
It will be good for me

* But, the hands-down favorite in this house among the under 4 set is "Hello Everybody." This is the theme song for Music Together, a music class for children. We have done it twice before William was old enough to have to tuition, which made it too expensive :(. William is a "Hello Everybody" fanatic. He will seriously sing it in every tone and voice at just about any time of day.

* Made up songs. Elliott has a classic song called "I love fireworks!" (He doesn't). William likes to repeat anything Elliott sings and then add his own special "Oh yeah!" to the end. It's his unique twist.

I'll have to record some of this soon, lest I forget it.

Family photos ... thanks Kelly!

We snagged a great deal with Kelly Crabtree Photography to support some friends who are going on a missions trip to Trinidad this summer. Here are a few of the results:

Summer to do list

First a song to set the mood:

June Hymn by The Decemberists

1. Go swimming. This seems pretty obvious to most people, but our family NEVER makes it to the pool. Seriously last summer we went for the first time all summer on the last day of Kettering Rec Center's pool.

2. Hike more. We have beautiful parks in Dayton. It's much cooler under the canopy of trees than in the direct sun, too, so we ought to spend more time hiking and exploring the woods.

3. Natural play areas. Five River Metro Parks turned me on to this idea. They've cleared invasive plants at several locations to create special children's natural play areas. Natural play areas can be found at Englewood Metro Park's Patty Shelter; Sugarcreek Metropark near the main entrance trailhead; and at Hills and Dales near the White Oak Camp. I plan to check out Hills & Dales very soon (maybe today) so give me a buzz if you want to go with us there sometime.

4. Get to know our neighbors. Block parties are very common in our community. I've pulled the paperwork to have one on our block. It requires getting the approval and signature of every home owner on the block. I have to get moving on that one.

5. Do more things as a family during the week. Summer is full of fun opportunities, but they are often get relegated to the weekend - which means crowds and in general, a lack of time to get to all of the fun stuff. Tim has scheduled a few days off throughout the summer so we can get out and play during the week. I am so thankful he is willing to make his family a priority and take the time to spend with us.

6. PATIOS! I love eating outside in the summer. Dayton has some really great patio restaurants: Thai 9, Dublin Pub, El Meson. I want to make it to El Meson at least once this summer.

7. Pick strawberries. We have never been berry picking, but I really hope to do it this summer. Our boys love strawberries, so I think we'll start with that.

That's all for now ... what do you want to make time for this summer?