Kids' Personal Triathlon - Hike, Bike, Jump

One of the fun things we like doing as a family is going through walks in the neighborhood. One evening as we were walking, we crested a hill and could see the ocean. Ian has been pushing to go for a walk from our house all the way to the beach. One Saturday morning, we decided to give it a go!

It's a beautiful Saturday. We started in the morning, and not long after starting had peeled off our over-shirts and rolled up our pants. It's really December?

There's quite a few hills between our house and the beach, but after an hour, we had made it to the sand. 

If we're coming all this way, we've got to get our toes in the water. 

Beach snacks. 

And a little bit of playing in the sand before it's time to start back home. 

Remember those hills? If you go down them, you've got to go back up them too. 

That was fun! It turned out to be around 4.5 miles. We're not through yet though. 

The other thing we've enjoyed doing is going on a bike ride. We've gone out for an hour or so, but never any really long rides. Today, both kids wanted to push it, so we set ourselves a goal of 10 miles. Considering that Alli is on a little one-speed bike with small wheels, that's a pretty big undertaking. 

But, she powered through and we ended up peddling for 10.25 miles. At one of our rest stops we found a cool rock garden. 

After the 10 mile ride, Theresa suggested we should go on a fifteen mile bike ride next. 

Ian - Okay! But we're going to need a lot more snacks!

Theresa - More snacks? For fifteen miles?

Ian - Oh, I thought you said 50 miles!

Wow, he was willing to do fifty miles on a bike! He must be liking it. 

If this was a triathlon, it would have included a swim. That can't happen, but we do have a trampoline. Ian set a goal for them to jump for 2 whole hours. He set a countdown timer on his iPad, paused it whenever he needed to come inside, and together they jumped for 2 hours. They're going to sleep well tonight!

In total, that's 4.5 miles hiking, 10.25 miles biking, and 2 hours jumping on a trampoline. I think that's good enough to call this a Mini Triathlon. Great job kids!

With this lockdown in place, the trampoline has been a lifesaver. It's great for exercise, balance, and coordination. The kids can spend lots of time out there playing, and we're starting to learn some tricks too!