Another Miserable Hike

Geez, the way we torture our children by dragging them out into NATURE and forcing them to do PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. 

Today we drove a little ways out of town to Mt. Falcon Open Space, home to a ruined "castle" and the site of the never-developed Summer White House.  It was a wide, gently rolling trail stretching little more than two miles out-and-back.

First I found an impromptu way for Ryan to show off what he's been learning in preschool:

Only in Colorado will you find outhouses with solar panels!

Our second snack stop (less than 1/2 mile in)

Jack and Sam showing off their excellent hopping skills (you have to say Ribbit Ribbit when you do it)

More letters to trace and identify

Jack joined in the fun

Ryan even asked to carry his backpack for a while (mainly to drink from the Camelbak water reservoir; he handed it back to me about 2 minutes later)

Showing off his new-found balancing skills...

With "airplane arms" just like in gymnastics class!

As we were pulling out of the parking lot Ryan asked where we were going now.  I said, "Home, to eat lunch and take naps."  He replied that he didn't want to go home, he wanted to go somewhere else.  "Where else?" I asked.  "On another hike!"  We did go home, and he slept for more than 3 1/2 hours...

Kickboard, Baby

We went to our favorite pool (with the pirate ship!) at the Link Rec Center today.  The boys were excited to "jump in the pool" which they've been playing since the Summer Olympics (by jumping off the fireplace hearth onto the living room carpet). 

Ironically, neither one of them was actually willing to jump off the side of the pool into the water - that's what ladders are for, thankyouverymuchMama.

The boys did get a kick out of playing with a kickboard (get it?) that we found on the side of the pool.  I had bought Ryan a honu kickboard when we were in Kauai last year, but he never used it the way it was meant to be used (kind of hard to do in the surf) and we left it in Kauai.

This was different - both boys instinctively knew where to put their hands and how to balance on it in the water.  We still need to work on the actually "kicking" part, but they had a blast cruising around the shallow end.  Yep, I think it's time for actual swimming lessons for Ryan.

 

 

Jack needed a little help getting moving, but had a blast nonetheless.  He even floated on his tummy for a bit, with me giving him a little lift.  A few flailing kicks and he had it down!

 

Olympic Results

So we watched the Summer Olympics maybe three times, but apparently the gymnastic routines stuck with Jack and Ryan as they have been practicing their somersaults (or winterpeppers as Grandpa calls them) and "backflips" (more like rolling on their sides) non-stop.

I finally decided to enroll Ryan in the weekly rec center gymnastics classes to give him a little structure.  I couldn't find one that spanned both Jack and Ryan's age groups, so Jack has to stay on the sidelines for now (because I don't feel like sitting through two straight hours of class every week).

Ryan did so well listening to the instructors and waiting his turn.  He didn't hesitate to try any tasks and never failed to do his "Ta-Da!" at the end. 

 

 

 

 

 

Jack snuck in while the big kids were lining up to go on the long trampoline in the background, but otherwise he was content to hang out with me on the bleachers.

And of course they finish by dancing and shaking their sillies out.