Free lunch at the park started last week, but we were out of town, so our first meal was on Monday. We went to Parkwest, the nearest participating park to our home, and afterwards Abraham did some impressive tree climbing.
We learned that several of our friends were regularly going to park lunch at East Atrisco (aka the purple park or Charlie's park) so we went there on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and ate with the Jones', Hobbs', and Jolley's.
The kids also started swimming lessons this week at the West Mesa Rec center. The two week class meets Monday through Thursday evenings from 6:00 to 6:50. Their first lesson coincided with a thunderstorm on Monday so they weren't able to get in the water, but all three had a great time Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Abraham and Mercy are in the same pre-school class in the kiddie pool. There are only four of them and I'm pleased with the attention each one gets. Mercy especially loves her teacher and is exceeding my expectations in her ability to stay focused and follow instructions. I don't know that either of them will actually be able to swim at the end of the two week course, but they are well on their way. Hyrum is in a beginners class in the big pool. There are seven kids in his group, so he doesn't get as much one on one instruction as the little kids do, but they seem to be moving along a bit faster and he's keeping up so I'm pleased.
Also this week, I started a new eight week training cycle. I'm in the building phase particularly focusing on endurance, which means long rides near or above my FTP. I have less than 16 weeks until my century race and I'm definitely feeling the pressure. It was a fairly normal week for Matthew, though he did start laying down pavers to make a base for the swimming pool. The trade off for buying the Highlander is that certain elements of the backyard have been put on hold. We had planned on maybe getting a bigger pool, which will have to wait until next year. Properly extending the patio wasn't explicitly part of the plan for this year, but it is definitely not in the budget now. We want to put up the pool we do have though, so we are just laying the bricks on our roughly leveled dirt as a basic foundation and to help keep the dust and mud at bay.
In addition to fun summer activities, we are also getting into our new, not in school groove. The kids have an hour of quiet, alone time every day after lunch, and when 4:00 pm rolls around they know it's time to clean up after a full day of pulling out toys. The boys helped me sort and put away laundry and of course are still practicing piano every day. Mindy offered to let all three play at her house while I went grocery shopping this afternoon, which was much more fun for everyone. Summer school starts next week, but it's still been nice to settle into a new schedule, even if it's a short lived one.
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