posts tagged with 'exercise'
getting our workout
The pandemic changed our lives in lots of ways, and one of them was to stop us playing Pokemon. In the before time, it was ever on our minds: when the next event was, how many points was Harvey at, what decks should we play, what cards were coming out in the next set... We played in events, we played at the local game store, and we played on Pokemon Trading Card Game Online. Then in March we stopped. Lately, though, we've been getting back into playing online (which is of course all there is), and for Christmas I got all the boys new cards. With our regained enthusiasm for the game, though, I was worried we'd lose all the fitness we'd gained from a summer and fall of off-road cycling. So now we're taking exercise breaks after each game, with jumping jacks and pushups. I don't know how it breaks down in caloric intake compared to actual outdoor activity, but today I did 225 jumping jacks and 63 pushups, which is certainly way more of either of those than I would have otherwise! The boys didn't get quite as many in, since I play faster than them and also I do seven pushups after each game to their five. And then we also took a walk and a bike ride. So while video gaming might not be the best for our bodies, I don't think we're doing too badly.
at the park
Zion revived enough this morning for us to feel able to head out to a homeschool gathering at a playground in Lexington. It's a weekly meetup that's been going on for maybe a month or two now, and I've been wanting to go but never managed to make it happen. Today was the day!
I hear from other parents that it's sometimes a challenge getting their kids going for a "park day", as we call them in the homeschool world, but there's never any problem in our household. We're always game for a visit to a playground! The morning sun had vanished behind clouds and the damp air was intermittently enhanced by windblown drizzle and snow, but that was fine too: it just meant we had to run around in order to stay warm. And run we did, especially when the other kids got there.
We do try and get good exercise by ourselves, and we certainly walk and bike plenty (along with a little ball playing now and again). But when it's just us Archibalds we really don't have the same motivation for, say, a good game of tag. But add just one more 9-year-old, and suddenly things are a lot more interesting. Tag with five people lasted a good half hour. There was also lots of climbing and jumping challenges, and we finished things off with some soccer on the giant artificial turf field. Speaking only for myself, it was more running than I did the whole week prior. Good times. We'll do it again next Wednesday.