THURSDAYS: REFRESHED

 Mondays and Thursdays (and every other Friday) are my days to pick up the kids from school (because Jay has class from 6-9pm on Tuesday nights and wants to get some time with them before class, and he has class from 4-6pm on Thursdays). Since Mondays will be one of my two weekly "rest days" once I start running again, I decided to make those "fun days" for the kids (meaning, they don't have to go to the gym daycare while mama works out, not that they mind the gym - they actually love going there and seeing their buddies that they don't see elsewhere). Instead, we go to the park, or go out for ice cream, or go home and ride bikes. Whatever the kids feel like doing. Thursdays are gym days. However, last week Sophie talked me into trying Spin Class, and while I hated pretty much every second of it, I gave it another chance today and actually liked it. Partly because I made an effort to hit the elliptical earlier this week a couple of times (my cardio work had been slacking big-time due to The Boot), and partly because Sophie gave me a great tip that helped save my legs - instead of pushing down as I biked along, I focused on LIFTING my legs, and it made a world of difference! I was actually able to hang with the class (perhaps not at their tension/speed, but it's hard to know what everyone is doing anyway, since we all adjust as we go on our individual bikes, which do not have pre-set digital "levels") and follow the instructors cues 85-90% of the time. That made me feel awesome, since last week I pooped out at least 75% of the time... Anyway, now that I'm doing spin, which doesn't start until 5:45pm, the kids are getting more park time after school (and then they get fast food for dinner, to take to the gym to eat while I'm in class - and since we very rarely eat fast food, it seems like a treat to them). Today we went to the "new" park that we visit in town (a really nice park in a good neighborhood, but one without any trees/shade, so it's not so great in the summer months - hooray for fall being on the way!)

As always, Cora went straight for the swing! She loves to "fly"

 James and Manu were stuck together like glue the whole time we were there. They were "climbing the mountains" (walking UP one slide, then down another), occasionally sitting down in "train" formation to actually slide.

 Cora joined in on the mountain climbing too.

 Chugga-chugga choo-choo, whistle blowing WHOO-WHOO!

 Once they got tired of the play set (and the water fountain... why are little kids SO OBSESSED with water fountains?!), they started sliding down the big hill. Pretty sure they would have been rolling down if their mamas hadn't been worried about injury...