Only 20 months old and Avery has plenty of weight lifting experience under her belt. Literally….

She is a master with the kettlebell, does plenty of squats, and even acts as our personal trainer sometimes. I follow a 4 day per week lifting routine and normally do some form of HIIT on my “off” days, and Avery is there with me, ready to workout too.

Well, sometimes. She also enjoys reading, which is perfectly fine. Just recently she figured out how to loop my weight belt and now she must wear it at all times. She’s a little reluctant to hand it over when I have my own heavy lifting to do, but as long as I promise to give it right back, she’ll allow me to use it. Because she has heavy lifting reading to do too.

As a bonafide exercise addict myself, I can tell when things are getting too excessive. I’m still struggling with the whole less is more ideology when it comes to gaining strength even though I know it’s true. The last thing I want is for Avery to develop the same tendency to need to workout out all the time, so it’s good for both of us that we’re going on vacation soon.

I can tell Avery is already a tad obsessive when it comes to working out just from her constant desire to have the belt on just in case she needs to pull a couple sets of doubles on deadlift or push for a new 5 rep max on back squat. Or maybe just push the boundaries of all things cute!

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Whatever the case, I knew a break from it all was imminent. First she started having trouble with getting her belt on.

Then her interest in other activities, like reading, began to wane.

A big indicator was when she started to take frequent rests and appeared lethargic. A classic sign of fatigue.

But the ultimate sign for a weight lifting rest week came about when she began getting clumsy in her movements and very, very irritable.

Trikes and belts just don’t mix, but she wouldn’t listen to Daddy.

Luckily, our whole Going Family is getting a rest week in 2 days. My training routine even has a scheduled rest week that fits perfectly for our vacation. Of course, it’ll be active rest as I plan on hiking and kayaking with my wife every day! We’re going to Colorado to stay with Nana and Papa which will be interesting since this is Avery’s first time to be on a plane. Yikes!

That said, I need to get back to perusing Pinterest for clever ways to make the trip as easy as possible. I found this blogger who created a great list for Air Travel Under 2; she says It’s not that bad. We’ll be the judge of that………or, Avery will that is.

Thanks to those of you who left me tips the other day, I’ll be using those for sure! I’m counting on her love of popcorn to make it a great snack to keep her occupied, one kernel at a time. I’m air-popping a big batch of this Tiny But Mighty organic popcorn to bring along. If you haven’t tried, pick some up and enjoy, it’s delicious! Better get back to it, we still have lots of packing to do!

Are you a fitness fanatic who never gives yourself a break, or the opposite and need more motivation to get going?

Do you find family vacations are more stressful than they should be, or have you had a great experience every time?