Winter workouts

Winter has finally made its presence felt here in North East Ohio! Up until now, our winter has been very mild, and snowfalls have been scarce. Our temperatures were actually in the upper 50's (mid teens C) over the New Year weekend, which turned all of the snow that was left on the ground into it's liquid form - giving us unobstructed views of our green lawns! But less than one week later, Mother Nature came to restore her reputation and snow has fallen steadily from Thursday night until Saturday afternoon - covering the earth with her frigid winter coat! In fact, my snow thrower was even required to clear our driveway for the first time this season on Friday morning.

On Saturday morning, it was all hands on deck at 8am as we tried getting everyone ready to head out to the gym. Our New Year's INTENTIONS (not resolutions - Liesel's wording) was to join a gym and workout as regularly as possible, and Saturday mornings were set aside to go together as family. The reason we were rushing, is that Liesel and I wanted to make the 9:30am class, Power Sculpt, which we did! It was our first fitness class in years, and we were definitely put through our paces. The fifty minute session touched most of our major muscle groups, and got our heart rates up! In fact, a few hours later, our muscles started protesting and by the next day, we knew exactly which muscles received attention during the class.

As we drove home from the gym, the snow was coming down rapidly, which gave us an idea. Once we had finished lunch - we dressed the boys in their snow suits and hit the slopes with our sleds for the first time this season. Nathan had an absolute blast, and Josh enjoyed the thrill of the downhill ride. He did not enjoy the snow blowing into his face, and the trek back up the hill! If he is anything like Nathan, he will soon grow to love the snow and will not be able to get enough the frozen powder!

That was our second workout that day! The rest of the afternoon was a lot more relaxed, as Liesel and Josh had afternoon naps, and I went to the stores to exchange some items. To close off the day, it was Nathan's choice of family fun night, and he chose to play some board games.

Sunday's weather was absolutely beautiful. Despite it being 9 degrees outside (-12C), we had blue skies and the sun reflecting off the freshly fallen snow! Liesel was on duty in the church's nursery so I went in to the main service alone. Afterward, I picked up Nathan and we went shopping for a DS game, with the money that he had been saving up, as well as the allowance he had earned the day before! We found the Mario Bros game he was looking for and needless to say, we did not see much of him the rest of the day :P Sunday afternoon was even more laid back than Saturday - with no-one opting to leave the warm confines of the house.
Later that evening, after a delicious roast chicken dinner, and once the boys were put to bed, Liesel and I put our sore legs up and watched the comedy/action movie "Killers". It was a great way to end off a great weekend! Now only if my muscles would stop aching........