Now that I am out of the little kid stage, I’m starting to feel like weekends speed by. This did not use to be the case when there were toddlers who had to be watched every second!
On Friday night we went to see the opening of the new bear exhibit at the zoo. We were on the list for this by buying a ceremonial brick through their fundraiser. They had a nice BBQ dinner for people and it is kind of fun to see the zoo when it isn’t crowded at all, and as the temperature drops in the evening. When we came home I made a fire in the firepit outside.
Then on Saturday (after sleeping in until 8:20!) I went for a run, then took my daughter to a tennis lesson and shopped at a nearby grocery store during that for party supplies. In the later afternoon I took the 6-year-old to a classmate’s end-of-year party. He had a lot of fun playing in the stream that runs through their backyard — I almost couldn’t extract him at the end. We all went into the pool + hot tub as a family that evening (fun since often the big kids don’t join us) and then I watched the Knicks win the NBA playoffs.
Sunday was the last time the sanctuary choir will sing until fall. Our new director has been doing big music right up to the end, so we sang the Mathias “Let all the people praise thee” piece (composed for the Charles/Diana wedding many years ago…) plus some major descant and fancy choral Amen stuff. We celebrated the end of the season with a picnic at my house.
I had been watching the weather all week, but fortunately the major storm held off until last night. We had somewhere between 50-60 people out on my porch, and while it was hot, there was enough of a breeze that it wasn’t unpleasant. I ordered fried chicken from Lovebird, plus my husband grilled hot dogs and veggie burgers. People brought apps/sides/desserts/drinks. I think it went well and enough people helped me break down tables and such yesterday that things aren’t in too bad of a state today.
We had to turn around quickly at the end of the picnic though – I’d say the last people left around 3:00/3:15 and then we got in the car at 3:45 to head to an end-of-year music recital. The 6-year-old played his piano version of “Ode to Joy” and the 16-year-old played Georgia On My Mind on his alto sax with a back-up band – that was pretty cool.
We were out of there at 6 to get home, eat some leftover fried chicken, and then my husband took the 11-year-old to try out Scouts (the 16-year-old is the assistant patrol leader for the troop). I think he will do it since a few of his friends are in the troop. So then my husband was watching the videos last night to get his adult leader clearances – since the 6-year-old said he wanted to do Cub Scouts too. So it sounds like we may be going all in on this. I managed to get a run in before putting the 6-year-old to bed, which involved making this Kiwi Crate planetarium type thing. I signed him up for the 6-9 year old crates, which I think he could do solo if he could read but he can’t. Anyway, that took a while, but I managed to get 30 minutes of puzzle time after he went to bed.
In my attempt to hold myself accountable for exercising, I’m looking at my log for the past week today and noting my workouts (I try to do something every day).
Monday – worked out with my trainer virtually (30 minutes strength)
Tuesday – ran 2 miles on treadmill quickly while the 6-year-old had his piano lesson
Wednesday – ran 2.8 miles outside, just on our road as a break during the day, then came in and did 15 minutes of strength.
Thursday – Ran at night outside after dinner – it was still muggy and hot though, so only did 3.1 miles.
Friday – hiked with Joy on our local trail. Did 15 minutes of strength in the afternoon with home equipment (then walked all over the zoo at night – it was a 15k-plus step day).
Saturday – “long” run of 4.0 miles. This is an area to improve, but I’m getting kind of bored with my local runs. And I’m slow, especially in the heat. I did 15 minutes of strength afterwards.
Sunday – 2.0 miles outside on our road after dinner while the 14-year-old was home with the 6-year-old and everyone else was at scouts.
Looking at this, I’m meeting my (limited) strength training goals – which is to just do something at least 3x a week. I could definitely increase my mileage on running.
Quick book note: If you haven’t already, would you consider picking up a copy of Big Time? I’ve been enjoying reading the Amazon reviews, and I just got an email from a longtime reader saying it was my best yet. I’m partial to the book as well! To learn more or order, just click here.
Photo: Cookie from the bear event at the zoo. They were good!
