Parenting Month 92: Let's Exercise

We are getting the full value of our ever more equipped gym in the basement.  My daughter in particular has exercising as her go-to activity when bored (ok, it probably loses to watching videos, but exercising in the basement makes a pretty good run when daddy is home).  Some fun things:

1. She joined me in watching the Crossfit games.  Since I've been learning many of the standard and Olympic lifts (on dumbbells) and she recognizes the gymnastic moves from our fitness cards, she would regularly see something and ask "do you do that?"  Having your daughter ask if you are like a world class athlete is a real big ego boost.
2. She has been joining me in CrossFit workouts at home.

The original idea was to do the #streetparking 073018 workout, but my daughter had other thoughts. 3 rounds 10x jumping jacks, 10x bear hug squats, 10x weighted pushups, 30 sec planks. Weighted step ups 10x each side. Solo: 2rounds 8x renegade rows with pushups, 20 dumbbell hopovers. 50 kettlebell swings. #garagegym #dadworkout

A post shared by Louis L (@lluang70) on Aug 9, 2018 at 6:15pm PDT

3. She joined me in a visit to a Crossfit gym for a fundraiser workout.  This was public friendly, so it was mostly moves that she recognized from our fitness cards, and things that she has seen (she knows to use a light ball in the place of dumbbells or kettlebells and I can give her subs for things she cannot do).

Went with A (dd4) to @cfironcity for the #22istoomany veteran suicides WOD fundraiser for @activeheroes. A was a champ. Several new movement for me. Calorie rows, atomic sit-ups, and DB snatches were brand new for me, and I’m still working on getting a good feel for wall balls. This was a very good first visit to a #CrossFit box for me. And A did very well as we figured out a version of each exercise for her. #daddydaughterworkout #firsttimeinabox

A post shared by Louis L (@lluang70) on Aug 19, 2018 at 1:11pm PDT

4.  And she now joins me in full on Crossfit workouts (http://streetparking.com) workouts at home

We did Julian’s benchmark from #streetparking from Friday. And my daughter really wanted to exercise. 5 rounds of 8 jumpovers, 20 front rack lunges, 20 hang snatches. (Green on whiteboard are my daughters scaling). I used 27 lb DB. In the middle of round 3 I cried uncle and my front rack lunges became goblet lunges. 15:25. And my best #sweatangel so far. My daughter made it about 1 1/2 rounds before she decided that this was too much exercise and she just watched. Afterwards, she got her second wind and we did TKD form and @stack52 cards. @streetparkingmembers #homegym #garagegym #familyfitness

A post shared by Louis L (@lluang70) on Sep 1, 2018 at 5:53pm PDT

We'll see how things go when school goes in earnest.  My weekday workouts tend to be late at night, so she does not get to see them.  But it is fun to take a session in the weekend and throw down some exercise cards.

In other news, we had another visit with a cousin.  They did the usual Science Center and museum visits, robot camp, and the LEGO exhibit "The Art of the Brick"

Pairs activity at "The Art of the Brick"

My daughter refers to this as older brother's cousin, to contrast to the cousins in China who are girls and younger.

My son is becoming more aware of the difference between summer and the school year.  While mommy and daddy school is not a cakewalk, there is a difference between that and the hours spent at school during the year, followed by tedious homework (and he can tell the difference there as well).  so another year is on the way, and while it is not dread, it is not excitement either.