Tag Archives: naptime

Jumping With Friends at Altitude Trampoline Park

08/31/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

When the local Altitude Trampoline Park offers a discount for toddlers, you jump on it! Last week, our friends/neighbors asked several of us parents if we’d like to get the kids together for a little jumping action (aka increased naptime success), and there was no way I would say no to this cutie.

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It’s not a major concern to Going Mom and me right now, but sometimes we wonder if Avery gets enough social interaction with peers. With me staying at home, we obviously avoid daycare and/or nannies. We love our situation and wouldn’t change it for the world, but know she needs her time with others. Luckily, she has plenty of peers in our neighborhood and they all get along pretty well.

altitude trampoline park, toddler, parenting, jumping, kids, friends

When together, they seem to keep to themselves and interact every now and then. I expect this is normal for 2 and 3 year olds and will change as they get older. At the trampoline park, they showed more interaction than I’ve seen with Avery in a while and I loved watching them play.

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These balls of energy scoured the whole facility but kept gravitating to this trampoline ramp (tramp ramp? No?) to use as a slide. Belly sliding was the thing that day.

Trampoline Belly Slides

Once down, they would scamper right back up to go down again. Yes, that’s it, use that energy!

Climbing Trampoline

I always try to interact with these kids when we see them in the neighborhood, but they usually just hide behind a parent while shooting unwelcoming facial expressions my way. Natalie, who just had a birthday at Altitude Trampoline Park, simply dropped to the ground and curled into a ball as I smiled at her. I got the hint.

The other girl, Emma, started off shy but we ended up playing a lot after she warmed up. By play, I mean she pushed me off the edge of things and jumped on my back to attack me. It was fun though. One of the boys, Tanner, was constantly running laps around the area, but he gave some great high fives. Something about the boys at this age, most of them just are not as shy.

Without a doubt, the best playmate is and always will be my precious little girl.

Daddy and Avery Sticking Tongues Out at Altitude Trampoline Park

She played a lot with the other kids, but made sure to save a little playtime with Daddy too. I appreciate the time with her and know this time won’t last long, so making the most of it is vital. I think she enjoys our time too, at least that smile says so.

Looking Up from Trampoline

Once she finds out what dating is, her feeling might change. But lets not talk about that now…..or for a loooongggg time.

Heading to Altitude Trampoline Park is fun whether it’s just us or with friends, but hopefully we’ll get a group together again soon!

Going Strong, Life

An HIIT Kettlebell Workout Routine to do During Nap Time

01/06/2016 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

This HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout routine is perfect for the time-strapped parent (or anyone short on time) as it provides a high-revving training stimulus in 30 minutes or less. That is, of course, assuming you push yourself out of your comfort zone. If there’s one carry-over from my years of marathon training to strength training, it’s learning to push far beyond my level of comfort to reach and/or surpass my goals.

But there are differences. With marathon training, it’s all about doing more; more miles, more time on feet, and essentially, more running! When training for strength, you focus on lifting more weight or adding more sets/reps, but doing too much creates a point of diminishing returns. Muscles need to rest and recover in order to repair themselves and grow stronger, and that means doing less might be best.

That’s an extreme Cliff Notes version as there’s definitely a lot more to strength training than just lift heavy, eat a caloric surplus (focusing on quality food sources), rest, repeat. I could blabber on and on about this topic, but I would need to have a blog devoted entirely to the subject as it is extremely vast. Plus, I have an HIIT routine for the time-strapped parent (or anyone really) I created that I want to share. Hopefully you’ll find it effective.

Once your kid goes down for a nap or you’re graced with a patient child, try this routine for a full-body blast that’ll have you full of endorphins once finished.

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6 Rounds for Time

**6 *Pull-ups or Chin-ups**

10 Burpees

15 Push-ups

10 1-arm Kettlebell Swings (each arm)**

15 V-Ups

*If you can’t do pull-ups/chin-ups, try inverted rows or dumbbell bent rows

**If you don’t have a kettlebell, use a dumbbell or anything you can old and securely swing

I was feeling this the next day and loved it! If you really push yourself, expect to take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. I added 5 minutes of biking before and after but it’s not required.

Give this routine a try and let me know how you liked it (or didn’t like it) in the comments below. This is also a great finisher after pure strength training with compounds exercises like squat, deadlift, bench, etc.; just shorten it to 3 rounds.

Parents need to keep fit too, and HIIT routines like this allow us to get a good strength and cardio workout in when there’s not a lot of time. If you can (or if nap time was a failure), have the kids join in to let them see how “fun” keeping active is, and you’ll be leading my example.

What are your current fitness goals?

Do you like HIIT routines like this or prefer standard cardio options like running or biking?

Life, Parenting

Popular at Papa’s Party and Giving the Finger

01/19/2015 R.C. Liley 1 Comment

This past Saturday, January 17, Going Mom, Avery, and I met friends and family at Kona Grill to celebrate Papa’s (Kelley’s dad) 60th birthday. Nana had two large tables reserved and arranged the get-together for her loving husband’s big “Six-Oh”.

The party started at 4pm, which meant something all parents to babies and toddlers fear the most…..Nap Time Disruption! Despite this fear, Avery had a somewhat good nap before we made the drive down to Papa’s celebration.

We were the last ones to show, no thanks to a wreck on the highway and our own non-punctuality (c’mon, we have a baby!), but we weren’t that late.

The two tables were lined with family and friends along with a variety of appetizers to choose from. Kona Grill serves a mix of American fare along with sushi. Weird mix if you ask me, but the do serve quality food and cook from scratch. Then menu was set, but the servers kindly had a lobster sushi roll made just for me with no creamy sauce on top.

One of the pros of family gatherings is that everyone has to hold the baby, Avery, and it gives Going Mom and I a short break. The moment we arrived, before we could take our seats, Taylor and Ashlee, Avery’s cousins, rushed over to take her away.

Just hangin' with the girls — Just hangin’ with the girls

We enjoy a little free-from-baby time, family gets to hold our precious baby, and we all win! The infatuation with holding other peoples’ babies, I don’t totally understand, but our baby, it’s a no brainer, she’s the prettiest one EVER! Biased Parenting, we all do it, right?

Avery behaved better than expected for getting passed around all over the restaurant and also running around all over the restaurant as everyone took turns chasing after her. Well, there was one moment when I think Avery got a little annoyed with the constant too close for comfort attention. She didn’t say it, but in this case pictures really do speak louder than words!

Cute, huh? How's this for "cute"?! — Cute, huh? How’s this for “cute”?!

It was great to see my mom (G-Ma) there, and despite Avery flipping the bird, she took part in the baby holding/chasing experience.

Two beautiful ladies!

Speaking of, Nana and Aunt Lindsay along with a good friend all got the memo to wear white and looked fabulous as usual.

Left to Right: Friend, Nana, Aunt Lindsay

I was lucky enough to have my picture taken with two beautiful ladies as well. One with my wonderful mom….

….and another with Going Mom/my stunning wife!

Everyone complimented Avery on how precious she was and repeatedly told us how they adored her. We love hearing compliments about our awesome baby, and we couldn’t agree more with each bit of praise she receives. There was one instance, when someone tried to tell us Avery doesn’t have baby fat and that we need to give her sugar. I laughed for a second, then put my serious face on to get ready for battle!

Luckily, they finally gave up and Going Mom and I were able to contain ourselves (kinda) as we clenched our teeth. Phew, never challenge our parenting, especially when it comes to what we feed our daughter!!

Anyway, as the party neared the end, Papa was presented with a big carrot cake as we all sang “Happy Birthday” to him. Nana made sure to cheer him on as he drew in a big breath to blow out the candles. Luckily she didn’t have a candle for each year, he’d need a big breath and fire extinguisher to put those out! Sorry, Steve, just had a give you a good ole son-in-law jab at your age! Will you still let me keep your daughter as my wife? Okay, just one picture with her, but seriously, I want her back! 🙂

After opening gifts and the cake presentation, Avery had made several rounds with everyone holding and playing with her and we were still proud at how well she held up. But, she finally started getting cranky and wound up back with us.

It didn’t take long for us to catch on to Avery’s cues of being tired and ready to leave, so we said our goodbyes and made the trek back home.

Since we didn’t have much of the appetizers, we were hungry, and despite it being late, we still went for our evening (fast) walk before dinner. Avery slept well that night, and for that, so did we.