Mulling over my summer exercise options

Now that summer has arrived things have changed. 

Some things have been unexpected: we've been designing an Ark instead of sandcastles and have been stoking the fire instead of applying sunscreen!

But other changes are as we anticipated: school is over, gymnastics is over, and the kids and I have relocated to my parents house in Monument Beach for the majority of the summer. Josh comes down Tuesday nights and weekends. 

How do we fit in exercise?

I had it all planned out on my end. I had envisioned loading up the kids in the car after the baby's morning nap and heading to the canal bike path.  Birds would be chirping, boats cruising by, 70 degrees, not humid, with a light pleasant breeze ... aaaah! The boys could happily ride in the jogger admiring the scenery and my little lady would cruise along on her bike. 

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! 

This is when the alarm clock wakes me up from my pleasant dreams!!!! My darling daughter will NOT ride a bike. She has NO interest. We've been to REI, bike shops, Target, Walmart and she can get on, she can make it go, even has a little fun and smiles ... for maybe 10 seconds and that is it! Off she goes. "No thanks, I don't want a bike." 

UGH! Now what?

Pushing three kids is NOT an option.

1) we would need yet ANOTHER stroller which surely would cause Josh to sign me up for strollerholics anonymous. 

2) we'd be talking a total of over 100lbs of kids, never mind the weight of the stroller. I'd be outweighed! A good jogger rolls REAL nice but can it compensate for that much weight?

3) although it is pretty flat here on the cape (jogging strollers and hills don't mix) there is almost always a breeze. Jogging strollers are not aerodynamic.

4) it is just TOO daunting a task. I MUST find another option.

Options:

1) find a gym with babysitting. At home we have the Y which is about 20 min away, but here the closest Y is 35 min WITHOUT the summer traffic. The closer options do not have babysitting.

2) find a babysitter - this has been much harder in my experience then it sounds but I will try!

3) rely on the help of my parents - again. I am so blessed that they live downstairs from us in the winter and let us camp out with them for the summer on the cape. They are SO incredibly helpful without me ever even asking, so I try not to ask for help whenever possible. If I have to ask, I always try and minimize the impact. Here are my options:

a) Best scenario: wake up at 5:30 am and head out keeping fingers crossed that the baby will sleep until 7 (10% chance) and that the older two will sleep until then as well (75% chance). Teach the older two how to turn on the TV to kids shows, have sippy cups with milk ready to go in the fridge they can grab so IF they wake while I am out they don't have to wake up Grammy and Grampy. If the baby wakes up this scenario will be short lived :)

b) Wake up at 6 and just get the baby up if he happens to still be sleeping (90% chance at 6, 20% chance by 6:15 - this is his wake up time) and take him with me still in his jammies, milk ready to go. Same scenario above for the older two although they are more likely to wake up before I get back because I'll be leaving later.

c) Wait until the two boys have afternoon naps together and that leaves only my darling daughter in need of entertainment. This works great when it isn't hot but they nap 1:30-3:30  a real bummer as the summer heats up. Grammy also likes an afternoon nap so this means Grampy needs to be available or else ... TV which I hate to do on a nice sunny afternoon.

Bottom line is it will be up to the Grandparents. Until I can find a local babysitter.

This is not every day. I will aim for 2-3 weekdays and then I will get out both weekend days when Josh is here. 

I also have a happy dream for Josh: Mon/Wed/Thur he finishes work and no one his home. So although he is sad that the adoring faces of his three children and loving wife will not be there to greet him when he walks in the door, he also will face no distractions. He will quickly change into his running gear and hit the pavement. If it is hot, he goes to the gym. Comes home, quiet dinner, phone call to say good night to the kids. Nice relaxing evening to unwind. Tues and Fri he will be on the road to Cape Cod so these will be his rest days. Saturday and Sunday, training runs and swims with his partner, wife, teammate and best friend :)

Aaaaaaah! Birds are chirping. Sounds good right? But the grass is always greener. I look forward to hearing his perspective! 

This is what I've been pondering over the last few days. This and hydration systems but I'll save that for another post!

Take care and happy Monday!