Hot Air ballooning, Pregnant and with a Toddler

So I felt compelled to write this post right away due to the lack of research I was able to find on this subject.

Riding in a balloon basket at Pennypickle's Workshop,
the award-winning Children's Museum in Temecula

We have renewed energy to beef up our 100 Weeks list as baby #2 will join us soon! As a part of a weekend trip to Temecula, CA (partly to celebrate our anniversary, though we didn't taste -much- wine and M joined us) we decided to go hot air ballooning. It seemed like the "other" thing to do in Temecula, if you weren't visiting all the wineries. So we called and made a last minute reservation for the three of us Sunday afternoon for the next morning. But then later that evening, a friend on Facebook asked, "Are you allowed to do that when pregnant?"

getting ready to take off!
we flew with 15 people (including the pilot).
 luckily the basket was compartmentalized,
and our family got a compartment to ourselves. 

Hm. The balloon company never asked (and it was me, a woman, who called). They didn't seem to have any concerns over us bringing the two-year-old along (in fact, they had a toddler aboard the day before, the man said). But better safe to do some Google-ing. Between hubby and I, we came up with post after post that said, "DON'T DO IT". Some, with no reason at all listed, but some said that a rough take off or landing could be dangerous for baby. Some also said the altitude might mean less oxygen for mom and baby. Still others suggested that the stress of being afraid of heights would be detrimental. Some just said that many companies had policies against it. Only one poster said that they'd actually asked their doctor, who said they were fine with it.

watching in fascination as the
 crew sets up the balloon, rocks and sticks
 were also fun to play with while we waited.

But I REALLY didn't want to have to cancel our adventure. So I called the balloon company back and asked if it mattered if I was pregnant. They said, "How pregnant?" About 4 months. "Hm. This is probably a question better asked to your doctor. But we aren't expecting it to be very windy tomorrow, so we don't anticipate very bumpy landings. If it were February or March, we'd say definitely not." OK, thanks for the information. Doubtful I'll hear from my doctor before 6AM tomorrow.

So hubby and I discussed. I am not afraid of heights, and had been ballooning before, so I didn't think stress from that would be an issue. Bumpy landings were less of a risk, given the weather, but we (and the company) were willing to subject our toddler to that already, right? Less oxygen? Hm. Didn't seem like a real risk since they didn't ask if we had any other health conditions... 

So we did it. And while I am NOT a medical professional, nor have I consulted mine about this (yet), here is what I will tell you:

up in the air! with a bunch of other balloons!

With respect to being pregnant, bring snacks and water and a hat. We each had a banana before heading out at 5:45 AM and didn't have another chance to eat until 9AM (we didn't think we should bring our whole bag along for the flight, given the space and exact weight being calculated). Too long for me to go, and I did start to get really tired. You stand the whole time (it was about an hour and fifteen minutes for us) in the basket (except the breaks I took with M) and beforehand while they set up. I declined to wear M, or even pick him up (not that that would have been very safe in the air anyway). We could have easily brought a bottle of water and some Nutragrain bars with us. Actually, we did have a champagne/OJ toast to celebrate the safe flight after we landed (about 8:30). But still, a little OJ over three hours later was cutting it close. The hat is because, while it is sunny up there, you are also really close to the flame throwers that heat the air in the balloon. And they are hot on your head! I guess pregnant or not, another layer between me and that would have been nice. They did actually tell us to bring hats, and everyone had one except me, because I didn't pack one on the trip. So just saying, they are serious about that.

watching the balloon come down after our ride

With respect to bringing a toddler, bring snacks and water and a hat... and a cell phone. Again, guess who else needs to eat frequently and be protected from heat? And gets cranky if they don't have these things? M loved watching the balloon be set up, and the first 20 minutes or so of the ride. He rode in our Ergo carrier with his daddy for takeoff, and for those first few minutes, but then wanted to get down. He sat in the floor of the basket (where it was further from the flames and cooler) and looked out of the foot holes, or flipped through photos on my iPhone. Every now and then, either Daddy or I would squat down and help point out mountains or lakes or trees or other balloons we could see out of the holes. Only twice did he complain that he was "all done". At the advice of our pilot, we didn't put him back in the Ergo for the landing and while it wasn't very bumpy, we did have a bump and he hit his face on the basket, right where there was no padding. A little whining, but fine after a kiss, and no mark.

All-in-all we were happy with our decision!

the traditional post-balloon ride toast (just juice for me and M)

Camping: take two! O'Neill Regional Park

helping assemble the tent
(consequently one of our poles broke this trip...
 i'll have to see if coleman offers replacements...)

This weekend we tried out camping again! (see our Back Yard Camping post)

We went to O'Neill Regional Park, which came recommended by FunOrangeCountyParks blog as one with nice amenities (showers... bathrooms that don't absolutely require hovering...) and she was right on. We had running water at our campsite, and a picnic table and grill tray and plenty of space (could have fit at least  three tents) and some decent pockets of shade to beat the heat.

Overall it was a good trip.

Things started out a little frustrating because the dry rocky soil wouldn’t bite the tent stakes (and was bending them) so hubby was getting frustrated (he did 95% of the assembling)… and M wanted to ‘help’ :)

Then it was pretty darn hot outside the pockets of shade… I wish we would have brought our bikes with us, because we could have gotten farther with much less effort and a breeze to boot! And maybe another toddler nap in the baby seat. We ended up driving back up to the park entrance, after we made camp to play in the playground and at the nature center. I felt so un-eco friendly…

checking out the animals at the nature center.
I actually jumped at the snakes though i knew none of them
was alive. eesh.

We had ended up pitching the tent in a place with receding shade, so the only nap that occurred was the too-short one in the car on our drive in. I tried to rest myself in the tent but it was sweltering… and with the tent stakes being finicky we didn’t get good ventilation on the sides (which was perfectly fine ... after about 6PM)

We packed the new Stomp Rocket (an early birthday gift for the toddler from a friend) and his baseball tee which kept us busy for a bit, too. And I realized we had a water spigot at our campsite, so we filled a bucket and flung water at each other for a little while, and relaxed in our chairs in the shade. That felt pretty good.

commemorating his first s'more

We brought our tailgate grill to cook with (no real fire… :) even though a little ground grill thing, with a grate and everything, was provided at the campsite) and had hot dogs with canned green beans for dinner and a s’more for dessert. We had grabbed a few ketchup and mustard packets from our fast food lunch to take with us. Graham crackers proved to be a favorite snack (even without chocolate and marshmallows), especially paired with the grapes or bananas we had too. We had a picnic table at the campsite. M was a little squirmy in it, but it mostly worked out.

We packed Horizon organic milk juicebox things that don’t have to be refrigerated, and they worked out well. We got the last tiny bag of ice from Target, and it barely kept until we had to leave.

So the sleep thing:

how we ended up waking up...

We were very close to the bathrooms and showers (you’re getting the idea that we didn’t really rough it, right?) so we did the same nightly brush teeth/take a shower routine as usual. We got him in his diaper and PJs and realized we’d forgotten to pack books, but read him a story on the iPad (which we did remember :) ) and laid him down in the pack n play. That went well for exactly ½ second and he stood up and said, “all done!” and “I don’t want to” and got weepy. I kept trying to reason with him about how it was bed time and how he should just lay down and he kept standing and saying no and crying. I laid down next to the crib for a minute but he kept standing and trying to climb out. Every time I tried to lay him down he wailed louder and finally I just did it… and he rolled over intending to get up, but miraculously kept his head down just a few more seconds and I patted his bum and shushed. He sucked his thumb for a minute, and then finally tucked his arms under him and ‘assumed the position’ of sleep. I patted lighter and lighter and then just stayed in the tent until I could see regular even breathing and then snuck out. Felt like an hour… but hubby said it was probably 10-15 minutes and that the noise was no worse than the shrieking kids in the neighboring campsites (the outside noise didn’t really seem to bother M, which was nice, since we could hear not only screaming kids but other adults talking and cars and motorcycles driving by on the main road). Whew.

saying hi to the horses... and the pretty ladies,

 who were pretty tickled with him, too

Since we had no campfire we decided to turn in rather early ourselves (~9) which was good because M woke up around 3. Not totally awake at first, just sort of wimpering and moaning “Mommy” so I wasn’t sure if he was having a dream or what. I finally just said “shhhh… shhhh” and he quieted down again. But 15-20 min later he did it again. This back and forth went on for an hour or so. I finally took him out of the pack n play and put him on the sleeping mat between me and hubby with his blanket. By now our tent was plenty warm and he sucked his thumb and played with my fingers for a bit, but finally rolled to his tummy and was out until his normal 6:30 wake up time.

One of our "walks", stopping to play the drums on the rocks 

He was his usually cheery happy morning self when he got up. He liked rolling around the floor of the tent and snuggling with us. I changed his diaper and put on a hat and jacket, since it was chilly in the morning outside the tent and he was only sleeping in his footie pjs, and morning went on as usual (though we were all beat by nap time when we got home). We made sausage and pancakes and fruit and had coffee (Starbucks Via - instant!)

We tried to take a few walks during our stay but didn't get far from the campsite because sticks and rocks and leaves and bugs were too interesting for M, which was fine. I was glad he enjoyed the outdoors. There was a horse path that ran by the site, too, so we got to see several riders just by staying in one place.

 

good morning!

We had our Blue Heeler with us, and considering there were dogs at the campsites on either side of us, she was pretty good. She was in a shady spot where the trees blocked most of her view of them and only got riled up when a dog walked by on the main path or some nearby dog barked. Oh, and she slept in the 2 square feet of free space in the tent... with us. Helped keep it warm!

We were there just 24 hours, but I think we are up for doing it again, and for two nights even. A friend of a friend out here is interested in joining us (with her husband and 5-year-old). I think we are probably ready for that given our few tips from this past time.

I say success! :) And I will be looking into the toddler sleeping bag that a friend recommended soon since I think we can do without the pack n play next time.

helping Daddy with dinner

the playground

tent pitched!

helping choose sleeping mats. this was our big addition to this trip... and well worth the splurge! the nice man at REI talked us into 2.5" thick extra large mats because space wasn't an issue and because they were on sale. the mat pictured here probably cost 3x's what the ones we actual got... but kept M occupied while we shopped

Grijalva Park

Welcome to Grijalva Park!

A parent at M's school recommended Grijalva Park a while back, and when I first googled it, the description went on about a new sports complex, so I kind of wrote it off as a ball field. But I was so wrong!! What a cute park!! The park has huge expanses of green, and really well maintained play structures and gathering spaces.

It is also pretty convenient to our house. We could bike there and we saw several families who did just that.

engineer-in-the-making?

The playground had a tot lot and a structure for bigger kids. It also had a bridge perpendicular to both that separated the two. Kids if all sizes ran back and forth across it. There were swings for kids large and small, too.

Next to the playground there was a sand volleyball court (which M had a great time hitting balls to himself in) and large grassy field where a family was practicing soccer moves.

Oh, there is a large sports field, too, but it is fenced off and can only be used with advanced permission. It adds to the green feel of the park... But you can't actually use it. For our purposes, we had plenty.

I can't wait to go back!!

racing around the fenced-in field

soccer/volleyball

Eisenhower Park

the tot lot

I really wanted to love this Eisenhower Park. We have driven by it so many times and I looked longingly at the big duck pond and expanse of green space. We finally decided to go check it out Memorial Day weekend.

Yeah, Memorial Day weekend. So the park was packed - which is fine with us, except that it was also fairly trashed. I am not sure if it is always this way or just the result of a busy weekend.

The park is SO big. It has great green space to run around in. It doesn't have a ton of shade and Monday was HOT. There were several shady places, but they were pretty well staked out for holiday gatherings. The playgrounds were nice. The duck pond was scummy and had trash floating in it. But the ducks were fun to watch. I didn't see any swings.

more of the tot lot

Also, there were a couple of small, dedicated parking lots for the park, but they were all packed, and the neighboring shopping center had up a fence between it and the park (presumably) to keep

Our toddler had toy envy, and we weren't sure how to handle the situation. Normally we just tell him the toys aren't ours and encourage him to play with the ones we brought or head back to the playground, but my mom was with us and encouraged us to see if the other kids (er, parents) would share. So we let him borrow a ride-on toy we came across that didn't seem to have an owner in the immediate vicinity and kept an eye out to see if anyone claimed it so we could ask permission. Eventually one little girl stared me down and tried to tell me (I think... we were literally not speaking the same language and I had to think back to my high school days to ask her if the toy was hers) that the toy was her brother's. How does your family handle toy envy?

big kid play structure

Anyway, I can't say that we will be planning to return to this park, but one day we may have to give it another try...

Back Yard Camping

We are itching to try out camping in the Great Outdoors. Our big goal this weekend was to give it a "test run". We have dug up all the camping/tailgate stuff we have, and this was our chance to try them all together from the comfort of our backyard. 1) to make sure everything works, 2) to make sure/a list of everything we need, 3) see how M does. Did I mention that we are not campers... even before we had a kid?

So on Saturday we had a leisurely breakfast and a not-so-leisurely trip to REI. M was only interested in riding the bikes and we wanted to try out sleeping mats, which is pretty hard to do with an un-interested toddler so that will have to be another day. Suggestions (for a cheap but comfortable option) welcome! In the meantime, the yoga mats we used instead did nothing for comfort, but we weren't cold (not sure if they helped in that department either). I digress.

After a Tyke Hike in the morning, M was worn out and took a  nice long 3-hr nap. By the time he got up and had a snack, it was time to set up camp in the back yard. We picked our spot (and turned off the sprinklers). We were pleasantly surprised how big a 4-person tent really is. It easily fit two sleeping bags, a pack n play, and a little pallet for Our 30 lb. dog. There was a nice little space to store shoes underneath the pack n play, too, and handy pockets for keeping our cell phones and flashlights attached to the inside of the tent.

M loved the idea of being in the tent and zipping and unzipping the door. We did have to remind him a couple of times not to lean on the tent. He also very much liked his toddler-sized bag chair, and how he could fit his water bottle or sippy cup in the cup holder. He encouraged us to use our chairs as well.

For dinner, we made grilled cheeses, using the grill as our campfire, and had apples and canned green beans as our sides (note to self: add can opener to our checklist). M was a little wiggly sitting in a grown up chair our our outside table and wanted to keep sliding off his chair and climbing back up until he finally fell over in it. *sigh*

After we cleaned up (we cheated and used the indoor sink. I haven't totally wrapped my head around doing dishes outside, though I think we can use one of our storage tubs and biodegradable soap)we went upstairs and brushed our teeth and took a shower (we do plan to hit up some 'upscale' campgrounds that should have decent amenities for both activities... I think... Am I overestimating?). Then it was time to get M into his diaper and PJ's (It was starting to get chilly, so we dressed him inside. I worry the tent is going to be small for these acrobatics, but I suppose this could be done in the bathing quarters as well?). Then we read our 3 books with a cup of milk (our  nightly routine) and it was bed time, al fresco. He was excited to get in the tent and after a few minutes of singing to himself, he was out like a light. Hubby and I then wondered what it was we were supposed to do until our bed time (suggestions welcome!). We read a book on the iPad and surfed the Internet (pretty sure these amenities may be limited at the campsite).



all dressed for bed, reading a book and drinking milk

Sleeping was a little uncomfortable on the hard, slightly sloping ground, but plenty warm. Actually too warm we realized when M woke us up, all of us sweating. Once, Hubby said he woke to M standing in the crib and motioned to him to lay down, which he did. But on the instance I heard him, he was standing, with his hat strapped only around his neck and looking very sad. He wanted to get out and said hi to The dog and crawled all over the tent, laid down with me for a bit, sucking his thumb but not sleeping, requested a diaper change (claiming he had poop in it, but didn't) and then announced that he was "all done" in the tent around 3:30 AM. So we moved inside, I laid him in the crib and we got into our bed and we all went right to sleep until 7:30 AM (which is an hour late for us, thank goodness).



zipping...



Anywho. We got up the next day, and went back outside to make egg sandwiches on blueberry bagels and our instant (Starbucks Via) coffee with water boiled on the grill. This turned out well. M was slightly less wiggly in his chair, but not much (how do you attach a booster seat to a picnic table?). We went over to the playground with M still in footy pajamas (sandals on top - quite the sight... and of course we met a new neighbor at the playground, but hey, we are roughing it!).

All in all, I am not sure if this is a success or not. I would love any suggestions or feedback. I am not sure why M got up (3:00 is when we could hear our neighbors' sprinklers turn on, we were all much warmer than we needed to be, he could see us through the crib walls.... other thoughts? suggestions?).

I would like to say a special thanks to the other outdoor blog writers who inspired me to even do a test run of camping, and answered my questions. I want badly to do this at a real campground, especially during our adventurous 100 Weeks Challenge!!! Thanks to Cragmama, Adventure Tykes and FunOrangeCountyParks!!

>>> update: we did it! we actually went camping!!! see the post!<<<

Also, here are a few links I used in my research for tips and checklists:

http://cragmama.com/2011/08/creating-a-cragbaby-camping-with-infants-under-one-is-fun/

http://www.babyzone.com/toddler/camping-with-toddler-checklist_72280

http://wondertime.go.com/resources/pdf/create-and-play/printables/Campingchecklist.pdf

http://www.adventuroo.com/wp-content/themes/thesis_151/custom/images/checklists/adv_camp_checklist.pdf

http://www.nature.org/greenliving/gogreen/everydayenvironmentalist/take-your-kids-camping.xml

http://cragmama.com/2012/03/favorite-cragtivities-for-the-under-2-set/

dog tips http://www.coyotecom.com/dogcamp.html

recipe ideas: http://familyfun.go.com/vacations/activities-and-attractions/camping-vacations/camping-food/more-than-smores-for-the-great-outdoors-714773/8/

Tyke Hike at Rancho Sonado

We are so fortunate to have found some resources for kid-themed nature activities in our new home. This weekend we participated in one sponsored by Inside the Outdoors.


walking up to the nature center to start the hike



Saturday morning we headed to Rancho Sonado (in Silverado) for our second Tyke Hike. This one was themed "Where the Wild Things Are". Conveniently, M requested a book about monsters at bedtime on Thursday this week (I am really not sure where this request came from...), so we started obliged with said book, hoping to prepare him with some key elements from the book. Our favorite element is when Max tells the monsters to "Stop!" We also practiced roaring our terrible roars, gnashing our terrible teeth, rolling our terrible eyes, and showing our terrible claws. The hike was cute all around. For one, my son's friend (and his mom) joined us, and the two were incredibly cute together. They held hands going up and down the hills, and copied each other when they fell or even coughed. 



enjoying the sand toys

One thing I particularly liked about the program itself was that as a mingling agenda item, they put out a bunch of sand toys for this kids to play with in the gravel drive. They all would have been happy if that were the only activity for the next hour and a half. 



making crowns (like Max's) from nature materials



However, our first task was to hunt around to find some nature objects to decorate a crown with (like the one Max wore when he was king of the Wild Things). I can't say that M really got this concept, but he obliged in walking around and playing with random leaves (and promptly dropping them when he moved on to the next thing) and stopping to look at lizards. Luckily the staff had pre-gathered some materials, and M colored on his strip of paper while I helped taped some of our objects to it. He wore the crown some.

The next 'leg' was walking around the lake (where we saw fish and stink bugs and M and his buddy happily dawdled) to a circle of tree stumps where the kids sat and listened to one of the guides read the title book. M was very still and enthralled for the whole thing. He only got up once to chime in excitedly.



reading Where the Wild Things Are



Then we had a "wild rumpus" back to the classroom area where we went on a make-believe hike and got to pet (real) animals we encountered along the way. These included a snake, a salamander, a tortoise, a bunny rabbit, a tarantula, and a chinchilla. M was only up for petting a few of these, but I was very surprised at how many he remembered on all his own when he recounted the animals for his grandparents later. Especially the "itsy itsy spider". Oh, we also learned that supposedly Hollywood got its name from the Toyon plant (that looks like holly but isn't) that was abundant there when people settled it. What do you think about this theory?

petting a salamander



Needless to say M was sufficiently worn out and took a 3-hour nap after a little lunch when we got home.

I enjoy these opportunities to get outside, and can only imagine how much more fun it is for the kids (especially the ones just a bit older).









The Getty Center

Draped Reclinging Mother and Baby, Henry Moore 1983
(and Mother and Baby :) )

I am a little behind on posting this, but here is how I spent part of my Mothers' Day last weekend - at the Getty! Even though M is a little too little to really appreciate (or even tolerate) the inside exhibits, I had heard the gardens were very lovely and appropriate for toddlers. Unfortunately, we found that they were under renovation (to open in a couple weeks). However, we still had a blast filling up a couple of hours. Not to mention that we get to ride a train (tram) from the parking deck up to the museum.

the architecture of the buildings themselves are
 'enough' to make for an enjoying day.

There is a ton of outside space to walk in (apart from the gardens) and sculptures and fountains and vistas and architecture to take in and a toddler can (mostly) have free reign. There is also one exhibit' especially for kids, where a few key pieces from the inside exhibits have been highlighted and transformed into something even wee ones can appreciate. They call this exhibit The Family Room. at first we thought this might just be a place for nursing and diaper changing, but I am so glad we went in! M gladly would have spent the whole day there, particularly in one part where you connect fun noodles to holes in the wall to imitate one of the outdoor sculptures. The featured pieces change from time to time, so we will definitely be back to check this (and the gardens) out!

We had hoped that all the walking and playing and exploring might tucker the toddler out, so that we could go inside while he napped, but we were not so lucky (maybe you will be!). So hubby and I will be back on a date night to soak in some further culture. 

M and I taking in one of the fountains

We did eat lunch at The Getty, in the cafe. The setup was much like a cafeteria, which worked so we could pick a la cart what we each wanted and it was 'mid-priced'. Still a little pricey for lunch, but we also got a half-bottle of wine, and enjoyed the whole meal outside where we enjoyed the beautiful weather, view and smell. And we were slightly less self-conscious about any toddler disruptions (like him pretending his apple was a ball and repeatedly throwing or kicking it).

reading on a Victorian bed in the Family Room

building with fun noodles in the Family Room

riding the "choo choo" from our car to the museum

the view of cacti (M's favorite) and Culver City

Bicycles!!

these are our new special hats, and M's "smile" squinty  face

So I got a bicycle this weekend!!

I haven't owned one in years, and I am having fun just dreaming of all the places I want to ride it. I am not interested in road races or mountain biking, I am just excited to go places under my own power. One of the things I miss most about college was that I could walk to 99% of the places I needed to get to - and that was so liberating! No hassle of parking or getting gas or carpooling or needing directions or waiting in traffic. Hubby and I decided that if we moved West we would need to own bicycles, and this was the weekend we finally got around to it. And in 24 hours we realized how small/ride-able Orange really is.

almost all buckled in!

After we ate breakfast and visited the farmers market (post to follow) in Old Towne Orange, we headed over to Orange Cycle, where the saleslady was soooo patient with us and our toddler (maybe she could see how little we knew about bikes, or maybe she could smell a sale...) either way we were grateful for the guidance, patience, and lack of pressure. We took turns learning about the best bike for our needs (hubby and I wanted different things out of our bikes - me something easy to maneuver and comfortable to ride, and he, something he could maybe off road in sometime) while the other would stay with M while he played on the kids' balance bikes (also very cool, and we will definitely be considering this for his birthday in a couple of months! He took to it very well) and bike trailers. After much education and direction we test drove 3 or 4 models each, and found the ones we liked best.

We got tuneups included with our purchase, so we left the bikes and headed home for naptime. The staff also installed the mount for the baby seat. Later that evening we picked up some helmets from Target, so that we could get up first thing in the morning and ride our bikes to breakfast! I explained to M, that we needed to get some special hats to wear for when he was riding in his special seat on the back of Daddy's bicycle. He was very excited about this idea, and did not mind wearing his helmet on any of our trips (so far). In fact, he likes to point to the bikes in the garage and tell us all about who's bike is who's and where he gets to ride and that he has a special hat, called a "huul-mit."

playing with a balance bike at the store

We did it! Rockwell's is less than a mile from our house, but neither of us had ever really ridden with traffic -and we still stayed mostly on the sidewalk. What are the rules for riding bikes? It seems that people ride on the sidewalks all the time around here (where there aren't bike lanes). We did see a few serious cyclists riding on the road, and I seem to recall that bikes are technically vehicles... Luckily there wasn't much foot or auto traffic out, so we didn't seem to be in anyone's way. We arrived safely at breakfast, figured out our new bike locks (and remembered the combinations!!). M was thrilled with his first ride, and jabbered on about who rode where and that we went fast! I was so glad that he didn't freak out when strapped in, but instead he was very still enjoyed watching things as they passed and patting Daddy on the back.  After breakfast, we figured our first ride was so successful, we'd head another couple miles to Shaffer Park (from the How to Find a Park Near You post) playground before going home.

Later that evening, though, as we were walking to the car after doing our grocery shopping, hubby remarked on the beautiful weather and how nice some Oggi's pizza would be on their outdoor patio. I asked if we could ride our bikes there, he said yes, and so we did! We unpacked our groceries and headed back on bike.

In summary, this is how I feel about my new bike (also this is one of our favorite videos to watch on our YouTube apps when we need entertainment in a pinch):

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4ECK62aDJdI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 

Little Gym - a test drive

So today we took advantage of a free trial class from the Little Gym. A friend of mine raves about taking her 3-yr-old daughter and my curiosity has been piqued ever since. After we moved, I looked around for places nearby (and besides Gymboree and Little Gym, I had a tough time coming up with other venue options), and this place is about five minutes from the house. The only class offered outside work hours for M's age group was on Thursdays at 5:45pm. Hm... this might work, but what do we do about dinner? I decided to make two quick dinners Wednesday night so we could quickly heat one up after class. It still took us 5 weeks of rescheduling (with our moving and hubby traveling with work) to actually make the class. Not a good sign for fitting in our schedules. Especially since the payment structure is monthly membership (after your free class). Access to one class per week costs you $85. Hm. That translates to more than my fancy yoga class drop-in rates if we made it every single week... We kept all this in mind, as well as the rave reviews as we headed to our first class.

M had a great time playing with the cars in the waiting area. We had to be reminded to remove his shoes and socks before heading into the gym. I was worried about him getting hungry so I tried to slip him some cheddar bunnies while he played, but he was not interested. When we were called to the gym, M was stoked! He wanted to climb all over everything! But the curriculum called for sitting on the bare mat and singing an opening song. This did not sit well, even though the song involved shaking percussion instruments. I am sure if we went repeatedly we would learn the routine and the disappointment would not be so great. After singing the welcome song we went around the circle introducing the toddlers. They were invited to say their names, and then do an assisted summersault. M wanted to jump up the whole time... until it was his turn and he wanted to bury himself in my armpit. No summersault for him. Then we 'warmed up' by walking, then running, side-shuffling, and finally hopping in a circle. M didn't get this idea at all until the hopping, which he liked. We repeated the warm up using a parachute, which was nice since we had to hold the handles, it gave us some boundaries. 

Finally, the teacher explained the main things we'd be working on that day, and let the kids go explore the gym. M loved being a monkey and hanging from the parallel bars. He also liked walking on the balance beam holding our hands, and in general climbing wherever he could. More than once we had to steer him back to the gym from peering through the windows back at the lobby trucks, or trying to play with a basketball hoop that was tucked in the corner, but mostly he liked this part of class. We did have to remind him not to tackle other kids and that he had to take turns. We also had to strongly encourage him to participate in the main activities for the day, hanging like a basket on the parallel bars and walking on the balance beam on your hands (both of these sound complicated to me, but the teachers did a great job of explaining them to the kids so they could get their bodies to do what was being asked. When I tried my hand it, it felt like one of those trust activities where you tell a blindfolded person where to walk). M especially loved the flipping.

After gym play, we headed back to the mat for the basketball activity, which M and the other little boys flocked to instantly (I am a fan of staying gender neutral, but it is so striking sometimes how certain activities seem to attract particular genders), and this was his favorite part of class. Basketball was followed by cleanup, more circle time and songs (which involved blowing bubbles and catching them on your tummy... M was reluctant at first and I don't really blame him). 

Conclusion: Hubby and I had the same impression that this class was not for us. The cost compared with the frequency that we'd be able to attend plus the inconvenience of getting from work to class to home and fitting in food was just tight. Maybe sometime in the future if we find we have a ton of extra time on our hands we'll change our minds. But with little leagues in our future soon enough, I don't see any reason to start rushing from here to there.

M seemed reluctant to the concept, but I think he would warm up once he got used to the routine. I do think this would be a great place to have a birthday party, or a great place to go during the week if I were home with him.

I also have to admit, that I secretly wanted to meet other moms there, but I just didn't really find the time. The park seems like a much better alternative, with a more relaxed atmosphere, affordable price (free!), and flexible time (open any time the sun is up). Plus you can bring food for any meal or snack and a stroller to get your own workout in.

Oh, and I asked M on the way home, "What did we just do?" He replied, "Play with dump truck. Bus."

Do you go to a kids gym? Which one? What keeps you going back?

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