Quiet little girls

Is what I don't have.

While cleaning up after breakfast, this is what I looked over to see...

And that's nothing. 

Yesterday's game involved standing on that window ledge behind the couch and then leaping from the ledge to the couch that was pushed out from the wall about 2 feet. Leaping over a 3 foot drop. Leaping down towards the edge of a coffee table. Right. Maybe if I hadn't had to deal with Quinn splitting her head, chin and lip open multiple times (including once on that coffee table!), I would relax a bit more. 

They were watching an episode of Paw Patrol this morning before we left for school. They can't just sit on the couch. Some sort of questionable game always needs to be created. 

They're having fun, which makes the game hard to stop. It's hard to let it keep going when injury, hopefully not serious, is highly probable.

Keeping these two busy and active is no easy feat. They get plenty of free time to run, jump, wrestle and play. We also balance that with some structured activities. They can do a 5K hike, play in the park for an hour and still have energy to burn. They are my karma. 

The fall lesson round up...

Swimming lessons are a must in my books. While we aren't around the water as much anymore because we no longer have the cottage, I still think that learning to swim is critical. They have a half hour lesson once per week. They love their instructor and I've been thrilled with the quality of the lessons. 

Gymnastics. My Mom and I started taking them when they were about 18 months. They have always loved it. It's a great energy burner and fantastic for building confidence, balance and agility. They're going to a new gym that has a great set up for little ones. Beams and bars at their level. A tumble track trampoline and lots of things to jump on and over. And, the best part is that they currently have a semi-private lesson so they never stop moving! 

Army-style: leaping from hoop to hoop.

Flying down the tumble track trampoline

And finally hockey. As you've likely seen if you've followed my blog, the girls have been skating for a while now. With a former professional figure skater for a mom, I've been lucky enough to have someone who can help me get them out there quite often. My friend was going to enrol her 3 and 5-year old in a hockey program, so I decided to enrol T&Q too. She and I actually met when we were 14 and playing hockey through the same organization. Getting their equipment on has been the hardest part. It's bulky and they complain. Once they're out there though, they have a blast. The instructor has a few teenaged girls from the older teams helping her out. They've been fantastic with the little ones. They usually do a few short skating drills and then play lots of games, like What time is it Mr. Wolf? Anything to get the kids moving around and improving their skating. At their last class, the girls stayed on the ice for an entire hour. They were very excited to tell me that the instructor asked them both to demonstrate how to skate backwards for the class. They can thank Atty for that one! It's amazing to see how much they're improving each week. Quinn loves to move quickly and has enough balance now to do so. Teagan, the more cautious twin, has developed quite a bit of confidence. 

Gotta represent!

A rare moment when Quinn isn't moving her
feet 100 miles an hour!

Balance and teamwork.

And for all the activity in this household, I try hard to balance it with some quiet reading time each day. They will almost always curl up on the couch with me if I offer to read them some books. They both also love to do arts n crafts, so I always try to have supplies on hand for a quiet activity.