A picnic dinner and a playground romp with the kiddos can cure pretty much anything. (Except strep throat. True story: “Bear Buddy” came home with my preschooler Monday with instructions to take him everywhere and write about our adventures in his notebook before returning him. To get a little inspiration as to what to write, I checked out some previous entries – of which every single one included “watched TV” in case you were curious – and discovered that the last child took Bear Buddy on a madcap adventure to the magical world of Urgent Care where she was diagnosed with strep throat and pinkeye! Good old Bear Buddy snuggled in her arms the whole time and kept her safe, even when they drew blood. Despite the supercuteness of it all, the preschooler did not understand why I went ballistic, wrenching Bear Buddy from his tiny hands and sticking him in a plastic bag filled with Lysol. I’m sure his teachers will find that little anecdote amusing.) ANYHOW. Today was the most craptastic day ever – everything that could go wrong, did – and so when I returned to the car tonight from feeding my friends’ cats (who barfed, of course) all set to whine to Gym Hubby, I was surprised to find him immersed in my My Trainer 100-Calorie Workout cards starring MizFit. Yesterday the Gym Buddies and I got to workout with MizFit and usually Gym Hubby’s not really into what we’re doing but tonight he held up the cards and asked, “Can I have these?”
“Of course!”
“These are really cool. I like them because they just tell me what to do. I’m not like you – I hate planning out my workout in advance and with these all I have to remember is which day I’m on! Day 1: Squats and jacks – I can do that!” He flipped through a few cards, “Plus I never remember what all the moves are called and she has little pictures to show me. It’s great. I’m going to take them to work.” (Plus they’re hooked together with a mini carabiner and while he won’t admit it, Gym Hubby’s a sucker for a sparkly carabiner.)
By this point we were home and the Gym Kidlets were interested too and it was so cute, I had to pull out the camera. Here’s a workout, Gym Hubby style! (Notice Bear Buddy is not pictured – he was still in quarantine.)
First you have to achieve the proper Zen mindset. Gym Buddy takes his workouts as unseriously as possible. Seriously, that’s his mantra.
Push-ups!! See what a drill sergeant I am?! I’m like Jillian… crossed with one of those circus ladies who rides the ponies bareback.
Next up: Reverse lunges. I asked him for his best lunge form. This is what he gave me. The camera loves him.
Squat jumps are fun for the whole family! Their starting position didn’t look exactly like MizFit’s but I’m guessing she won’t mind.
The “jump” part of the squat jump! Yes, air was had but me and my lame camera skills couldn’t catch it.
The next move was a “step up” – this was Gym Hubby’s artistic interpretation and hey, compound move – works your quads and your butt!
Okay so Supermans (supermen?) weren’t in the cards but Son 1 learned them in gym class today and wanted to teach it to us. And who could say no to that squishy little face?
We finished with abs. Yes, these are bicycle crunches! Guess whose idea the bike helmets was? Hint: not the short child’s.
That’s my kind of workout fun! Are you a workout planner like me or a spur-of-the-moment guy like Gym Hubby? What’s your antidote to a bad day? (Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go check a certain stuffed bear for lice.)
Want to win two sets of My Trainer Workout cards from MizFit? You can still enter my giveaway through Saturday! And while you’re entering giveaways, don’t forget to enter the $50 PlanetGear one!
Want to read more about my kids? Check out my post for Redbook today about whether it’s better to give your child a unique or a classic baby name.
Your family is too cute! I’m also crazy jealous of your lawn. If I had a lawn like that I would do more exercises outside.
Well considering this is the first time we’ve seen it in 6 months….
My cure to a bad day is gratuitous violence on DVD – usually in the form of Buffy, Xena or something like that (I’ll be hitting them hard tonight – pun intended !)
I wish I knew enough to be spontaneous with my workouts, but I need to plan them out, have little charts made up so I can keep score; and pictures so I (hopefully) won’t drop a weight on my head.
Your family is so adorable ! The pictures are great 🙂
I think I need more Buffy in my life!!! I’m a chart-girl too!
Fab pictures! I am so jealous of the green grass. It keeps snowing here and the sun is stuck behind a perma-cloud of gray sky.
I am a workout planner. Right now I am doing (a modified) Rachel Cosgrove and loving it. I don’t have to plan out anything, its all written out for me. Yay
It’s still snowing there?? ANd I thought the weather sucked here! Ok, have to stop complaining…
LOVED. THIS. POST. It may be my favorite ever.
I’m a planner like you.
You and your hubby could pass for brother and sister! Hope that not weird.
OH wow, thank you! You’ve said that a few times over the past few weeks – are my posts really getting that much better? That makes me happy!
And yeah, we get the brother/sister comment ALL the time. It’s still weird;)
Ummm, that bear is sort of terrifying. But your family is crazy endearing. Was one of your precious kidlets taking the photo of you imitating Gillian?
I don’t plan exercise. I actually attend classes at the gym so I don’t have to plan. And sign up for boot-camp so I don’t have to plan. And intend to hire a personal trainer when I start work, so I don’t have to plan.
Generally I love to plan (school, life, work, everything), but I feel like there is too much conflicting evidence for exercise, and I’m not sure what is best for me (or more..what is best for me to reach my goals, in the most efficient manner), and so…I’m afraid to plan when it comes to exercise, because I’m afraid I’ll get it wrong, and possibly injure myself in the process.
With food, I feel I’ve read enough, and determined that IE is the best option for me, and really…doesn’t involve much planning other than packing food for my day, which I’d do either way. So, it’s totally do-able. Exercise planning on the other hand, still overwhelms me.
Yep, my 8 year old is turning into quite the photog! And I totally get the overwhelming aspect of exercise planning! There’s just SO MUCH info out there and most of it contradictory.
GYm kidlets…hahaha!!
I’m a planner. It goes along with my dorky nerdy qualities. I am trying to be better. It’s too hard though, so I keep PLANNING to be better.
See what I did there? 😉
I see you my sister in semantics!
That’s really great that you let your children exercise with you and your husband. And you make it fun for them.
Once in a while, on the weekends, my two younger kids, ages 12 and 13, want to hang out with me at the gym to be coached on headstands and other time wasters that end up having me NOT get my workout done. But we have a great time.I work out so often at the gym that goofing around for a morning with my kids and getting them to enjoy exercise doesn’t really lower my fitness any.
We parents are the role models of fitness for our children. Even when they don’t follow our example, they are spying on everything we do to see what they are supposed to be like when they grow up. So we need to make eating healthy and exercising fun in front of them and allow them to join if they are excited about it too.
They grow up. My oldest is a college senior and wants to go with me to an outdoor yoga class this summer. I am one of her workout buddies and probably the most enthusiastic of all of them. We will brave the glaring sunshine and the sea gulls overhead (and their random pooping) together! 🙂
I can’t wait until my kids are old enough to adult activities with! I lovelovelove that you and your daughter are workout buddies!!!
I’m sort of a planner. I like to write a workout schedule for the coming week every Sunday, so I have a general idea what I will do (i.e. what days to strength train, what days to focus on cardio, etc.), but my plan often gets changed if I decide that it’s such a beautiful day, I’d rather go for a jog than do what I was planning, or if I’m still too sore from strength training 2 days earlier to strength train again on the day I planned to. But I do generally like to have something in mind in advance.
Flexibility – best of both worlds!
I’m a planner – and like to know my week’s schedule for workouts in advance (you should see my Google calendar) – of course, when life wreaks havoc on that schedule it makes me insanely crabby – like this week, when our master bath is getting remodeled, and I am at the mercy of contractors – my workout schedule has been tossed out with the bathtub! Those MizFit cards would be a great way to carve out time and make me feel better about missing a scheduled workout.
I like the Miz cards best. I don’t like to have to think too hard about what to do. Plus, I often get companions like squishy face.
I’d like to pretend that I’m a planner. I always go into a workout with a concept in mind, but there are many times that my runs are shorter than I initially planned (and of course a few are longer).
Love the photos.
Man, you guys are cute!!!!!
And WHO’S brilliant idea was it to pass around a stuffed bear to a group of preschoolers?!?! “Hey, let’s take a toy that attracts and traps every conceivable germ known to human kind, then pass it around a group of kids who, while adorable, are basically petri dishes on legs! Yeah, that’ll be GREAT!!!!!”
Anyway. Unless I’m teaching a class or attending one, I lean toward spontaneity for my workouts. I like to figure out what I’m in the mood for and what I can do safely (I don’t want to do a whole-body strength training workout 2 days in a row, for example).
Finally, my antidote for a bad day is to crawl into bed with a good book. Sometimes the kids and Hubby will crawl in with me and we’ll all snuggle in. The best cure ever, lol!
Oh, and a family dance party works wonders, too!
I know, right?? EW. I was so glad to give that thing back yesterday. I love your bad day antidote:)))
These photos are too cute! What a great way to get your son into exercising with you and your husband. When I do workout (I can’t now due to injuries) I usually plan what I am going to do but being spontaneous is so much more fun–which is what working out should be!
I am totally a planner. I get unmotivated if I don’t have a plan. Your family is adorable and I am sooooo jealous of your lawn. Ours here in TX are all so dead because we can’t get any rain…
FYI, congrats on the press to handstand! 😉
err meant BTW, wrong acronym. I’m tired. 🙂
Hahah – I didn’t even notice the error until you corrected it! And thanks, I still have a teeny lil jump in there but I’m working on it.
I am a total over-planner when it comes to anything, including workouts. What can I say, I love lists!
Also your friend’s cat made me think of when, last week, I was petting my notoriously bitchy cat and she signaled she was done with that by turning into a yowling ball of teeth and claws. I chased her the kitchen bleeding and she promptly threw up everywhere. I think she won that round 🙂
I tend to nurse my days with trashy TV. (Go Teen Mom!)
Yes, she def. one! I hope you were ok! Gym Buddy Krista got a terrible infection (needed IV antibiotics) from a cat bite…
The same thing happened to me a few years ago! I got bitten by a feral cat and the oral antibiotics did nothing to stop the red line creeping up my arm. Luckily the IV stuff cleared it up. Cat scratches/bites are nasty. I used to volunteer at a baby bird clinic and even one tiny little cat scratch always meant the bird died. But I’ve been bitten/scratched a lot over the years by one house cat or another and never had a problem from that.
Unfortunately, when it comes to exercise I am not very spontanious. In fact I have been know to get mad at my guy if he tries to make us run longer than I had mental planned on. But on the other hand, I often add miles when I am by myself.
I think I just like things the way I want them! Ha!
Unfortunately, when it comes to exercise I am not very spontanious. In fact I have been know to get mad at my guy if he tries to make us run longer than I had mentally planned on. But on the other hand, I often add miles when I am by myself.
I think I just like things the way I want them! Ha!
With just about everything else I am a strict planner. Seriously, in high school I would plan out the entire day (including planning my free time).
But I think I have work out ADD, I always end up doing totally random stuff on the spur of the moment.
Workout ADD! Um, yes please!
That is too cute. I love that they’re wear helmets during bicycle crunches!
Cute pics. Your son looks just like your hubby.
I tend to be a bit of a planner with exercise, but sometimes that simply means going for a run or a workout class without specifics regarding time, distance, etc. I’m the lazy sort, so if I don’t have it planned out, I will just not do a workout. Wait! This happens even when I do plan it sometimes….
Doesn’t he?? We call him mini-me (as in Hubby’s, not mine) I swear all our kids look like him.
Oh, and that pic of the bear at the top is SCARY!
OMG, I LOVED THIS POST and the pics – TOO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow! Your son looks just like you! So cute.
Those cards look awesome. I might get those after I finish boot camp.
Hahaha. I would’ve done the same thing with the bear… and I don’t even have children… When I was in the 5th grade we had the “Flat Stanley” project which was similar… only you send a flat cartoon cutout (of sorts) to someone in a different location that you know… mine came back not so flat (they padded him to make him look like he gained weight — tv and oreos).
Anyhoo, off topic there (as always) — I’m sort of spontaneous… I do what I feel like doing… even when I was a runner I was horrid at following those plans. When I feel like pilates I do pilates. When I feel like running, I run… walking, I walk. The only thing I used to truly have to plan to do was intervals, because I loathed them so much.
Oooh I’m totally stealing that flat stanley idea! (He comes to our house fairly regularly…)
I always have options, but don’t really plan until I am about to do the workout…it always depends on my mood and/or physical self….am i too sore? Am I too tired? Do I feel sick? Did I just recently barf up my breakfast? If I say yes to any of those, I say NO to a workout! 🙂
I always have a stack of dvd’s ready to go by my tv for a great workout…seeing them there is also motivation to do one!
“Did I just recently barf up breakfast”?!? I should hope you don’t workout after that! (Are you preggers?)
haha sorry, that might bave been a little dramatic! goodness I HOPE I’m not preggers! Otherwise, there needs to be a trip to the doc STAT!
and you are right, any time there is any sort of vomiting, puking, etc. there should NEVER be a workout! ick….it’d put burpees on a whole new level…
I want those cards too! Those are cool. That’s what I like: someone telling me exactly what I need to do. Can I bring the fam over to workout on your front lawn? P.S. Pass it on to the Gym Hubby that Nate & I liked the helmets.