The boys had such a good time sledding, and it tuckered them out. They must have gone up and down that hill 30 times, at least!

I posted a few videos on facebook. Let’s see if embedding them here works.

We then headed home, with the boys playing in some deep snowdrifts on the way.

They also found some giant snowballs that they insisted on bringing home, because, well…I guess our yard didn’t have enough snow.

When we got home a rosy-cheeked Daegan relaxed on the couch reading Far Side cartoons:

While Gareth made us all some of his special hot chocolate recipe. He wrote it out himself the other day:

We even had vegan whipped cream on hand to add on top. Yum!

Yup. A great day!

The weirdest thing that happened on this outing—and which unfortunately happened so fast I didn’t get a pic—is I had a muskrat run under my feet! I was sitting on a bench by the Bow River, watching the kids throw rocks and such, and there’s a path connecting where I was to the Jeffries Pond. Out waddles this muskrat—I thought it was a squirrel at first out of the corner of my eye, and then once I saw the long tail I thought, “Eek! Rat!" both of which prevented me from grabbing my camera in time. Before I knew it he’d scooted past me, and dove into the river. I caught the ripple of the splash on my camera…sigh. Too late!

Anyhow, here’s the pictorial highlights of our Thanksgiving (hover your mouse over the pics for details):

After our walk I cooked up our Thanksgiving dinner. It was decadent and delish! We had BBQ chick’n cutlets, twice-baked potatoes, stuffing, ‘shredded brussels sprouts’ (OMG! I finally, after 40-odd years, have found a way to like brussels sprouts!), and chocolate-coconut pie for dessert. Not quite your traditional turkey and pumpkin thing, but we all loved it!

Wishing all my Canadian readers a Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you got to spend time with your friends and family this weekend, doing something that you love.

The kids then played a relay game to build the biggest pile of leaves. They broke into two teams, where one kid per team ran to the other end of the field to gather leaves, then ran to put them in a pile, and sprinted back to their team to tag the next runner to go. It is such a lovely environment for the kids surrounded by nature, and I like how the emphasis at running club is on fun and cheering on your team:

They soon told everyone to go and gather leaves all at once, in a big pile. Charge!

Once a fair-sized pile was built up, they called all the kids in for the big finale. Everyone pick up a big armful of leaves from the pile…

And…..wheeeeeeeeee!!!!

Needless to say, the kids loved this. So one more time everyone…..wheeeeeee!

The boys love this program. The people running it are friendly and helpful, and have the kids doing proper warm-up, longer runs, games, sprints, and so on. They make good use of the resources in the park, with its different pathways, playgrounds (the kids preferred cool down activity!), and nature. No running that same route over and over again here! No running endless “laps around the track”  (snore!) we all did in highschool. There’s a nice mix of ages and genders among kids and parent volunteers too. And the cost simply can’t be beat: $15 per kid for 6 weeks of running. Awesome!

I am so appreciative of these sorts of community resources that make raising kids and homeschooling that much easier. So what sorts of things do you take advantage of that are on offer in your community?

Here’s some pictures. Daegan split his bowling between the one-armed traditional roll of a bowling ball, and the ‘two-hand between the legs’ roll, whereas Gareth generally stuck to the between the legs method.

Jim and I gave advice and encouragement:

My grandma must be proud. It’s her 92nd birthday tomorrow, and she was a bowler most of her life, well into her 80s if I am remembering correctly. Continuing the legacy! Next, to teach the boys canasta!

Daegan was really concentrating and trying to follow the instructor, and he did it quite well. She felt he’d progressed enough to join the next class up if he wants to continue:

In each class they learned some adapted karate moves for self-defence, like what to do if someone grabs you by the leg when lying down. They’re too far away to punch, and you can’t draw your feet back enough to kick, so what options do you have? Roll! They cannot maintain their grip as their hands twist as you roll away. (She used a very effective analogy to how a crocodile rolls to drown its victims here—very popular with the boys in the class):

The class then ended with everyone getting the chance to break some boards, something they had not done before. Here’s Daegan learning how to strike through the board with his knee:

And in case you think breaking this boards is easy, watch Gareth struggle with the task and finally get it in the end. Gareth did not officially take the class, but participated from time to time to a degree when he and I went to watch.

Here’s some of the highlights of the final class. Jim and Gareth were goofing around as folks were arriving. Jim kept wandering around saying, “Where’s Gareth? I’ve lost Gareth! Daegan, have you seen Gareth?” while Gareth was giggling and grinning ear to ear:

The class started by playing freeze tag in various permutations: adults IT, boys IT, girls IT, kids wearing a blue shirt IT, etc.

The instructor then played a very fun warm-up CD that had songs with instructions on various ways to move, with places where you freeze when the music stops. Think silly, freeform musical chairs. Here the kids are marching:

and hopping like frogs:

They then gathered in a circle to do some stretches, and the instructor asked for suggestions from the kids for favourite games and activities from the classes that they would like to share with their parents. The kids chose running races:

Duck, Duck, Goose; Red Light, Green Light, and What Time is It, Mr Wolf (in which Daegan got a turn being the wolf):

They then did some balance activities using bosu balls and balance cushions. They began by doing all kinds of silly dances to music:

And then balancing on something when then music stopped. The instructor called out different ways to balance, like “on one foot” and “holding on to a partner”:

“no hands, no feet” and “surfing!”:

The class then ended by cooling down with some yoga poses:

And while I don’t have any pics, I am just going to note here for my own homeschool record-keeping that the boys also did skating lessons this winter, on the outdoor rink in our old neighbourhood. Just as they did last year and I wrote about here. They’ve both improved: Daegan is becoming and speed demon on ice, and Gareth can now skate on his own without Jim. What kinds of things do you do to keep your family physically active through winter?

Just before Christmas, there was a session where parents were welcome to come and participate in a Sportball class. It was such fun! While a typical class focuses on one sport, and the sport changes week to week, this class had us doing activities from various sports as well as some general games and fun activities, so as to provide parents with an overview of the Sportball program. The class began with some warm-up activities, like stretching:

and gentle running. The kids really enjoyed running around the circle of parents, giving each a meet-and-greet “low 5”:

They then did some races back and forth, where the emphasis was on warming up and doing your best, not on winning. Get into starter’s position, folks!

We then moved on to the first sport of the day: basketball. The child took the ball, bounced (dribbled) it three times, then shot it through the hula hoop (basket) being held by the parent. This simple activity adapts to a wide variety of skill levels, with the simplest shown below with Gareth shooting close to the ‘basket’ and the hoop held facing Gareth, giving him the widest target (while one of the Sportball coaches looks on). As the child’s skill improves, they can both stand farther back and the parent can tip the hoop towards the horizontal, as in a traditional basketball net:

We then had a fun transition game in which the coaches emptied a large bucket of tennis balls all over the room. The children ran to collect a ball and then, with their parent, had to carry the ball back to the bucket using various body parts: between arms, legs, backs, heads, elbows, etc. It was pretty funny to watch! We then moved on to golf, where first parents formed a bridge while kids putted the ball under:

And then kids formed the bridge for parents to putt under:

We then played a game that pitted kids against parentss. The gym was divided in two, and in each teams’ “end zone” were balls on cones. A rope was laid to mark the half-way line, and various other ‘free’ balls put out. Each team had to stay on their side, gather one of the free balls, and bowl / roll it into the other team’s area and try to knock the balls off the cones. It was interesting to watch as some kids rushed up to the half-way line grabbing and throwing balls (offence / attack) and some kids went back to their own balls on cones to try to protect them (defence / like a goalie). This game was so well-received they played a second round with parents and kids on the same team, against the 3 coaches. Here’s a coach explaining the game:

And the pandemonium that ensued:

We did one more skill from a traditional sport: bumping in volleyball. In the simple version, parents threw the ball and the kids bumped it back; those needing more of a challenge bumped back and forth with their parent, counting how many consecutive bumps they got before the ball hit the floor. One of the things I really like about Sportball is that it introduces kids to such a wide variety of sports. Daegan, age 8, says his favourite sport is volleyball.

The class ended with Gareth’s favourite game: rescue heroes. It’s basically a version of freeze tag with tennis balls. The coaches sit in the centre of the room, lobbing balls at the kids who run around the outside. If you get hit by a ball, you make a bridge and another runner can be a ‘rescue hero’ and dive under to unfreeze you.

Some adults got right into the game too. Here’s Jim rescuing a kid we don’t even know!

Gee, do you think they had fun?

Sportball has classes in many cities in Canada, and they are eligible for the Children’s Fitness Tax Credit. If you are looking for a non-competitive route for your child to develop a love of sports, check them out!

The class began with a couple rounds of freeze tag, with the freezing pose adapted to build some gymnastics skills. Here’s Gareth making a bridge with his body, needing another child to crawl underneath to “unfreeze” him:

The tag also got some of the kids’ energy out, allowing them to slow down and focus for the stretching, which incorporated yoga poses:

The kids then went around to various ‘stations’. Here’s Daegan supporting himself on the rings:

And Gareth doing a perfect backward roll: he landed on his feet, not his knees. Oh, to be small and flexible again!

And Daegan doing a modified handstand:

We then headed over to the larger gymnastics equipment, like parallel bars, balance beams and trampolines. Here’s Gareth, who started the session very cautiously and wouldn’t even touch some of the equipment, getting major airtime on the trampoline:

Daegan was able to touch his toes (like a side split) when jumping. Unfortunately, I caught him just milliseconds afterwards in the pic. So instead, here’s Daegan on the bars:

I was really proud of Gareth for going on the bars (he wouldn’t touch them for weeks!), and he even allowed the instructor to help him touch his feet to the bar:

Both boys strutted their stuff on the balance beam:

Gareth started on the low beam (practically running along it), but gained enough confidence to try the high beam by the end of class:

And there was time for just plain goofing around too. Daegan quite enjoyed falling into the padding, Hollywood-style (keeping body completely straight like you’d do in a comedy routine):

The class ended with each child getting a certificate and a round of applause from teachers and peers. We’ll be signing up for these classes again!

A fabulous play structure, with swings and slides, climbers and merry-go-rounds, and a bajillion other ways for kids to expend some energy:

And huge open fields for running and chasing, kicking a ball around, etc. We brought our giant soft frisbee along:

It was a gorgeous fall day, reaching a high over 10C (50F), with clear sunny skies. Less than 72 hours later—this morning (Tuesday)—we woke to winter’s arrival. The boys were outside in full snow gear in the early morning hours making the most of it:

Hope you are making the most of whatever Mother Nature is throwing at you, too.