Sport: Snow & Ice

Girl had a wonderful opportunity to go to Hokkaido with here grandparents. She saw snow for the first time, skied down the slopes ... and injured her arm.

Hitting the slopes

Ouch!

To make her brothers feel better about staying home, we went for the next best thing ... ice skating!

Sport: Overcoming Obstacles

In one of my more adventurous moods, I enthusiastically signed the kids up for the Junior version of the Spartan Race — an international obstacle course challenge held for the first time in Malaysia.

The promo ads and Youtube vids promised mud and dirt and more mud.

The kiddos took a look at the vids and didn't object violently, so we were set. The biggest issue was trying to decide which shoes to wear!

The 3 older ones were running in 3 different non-competitive races, based on age group.

We were told to arrive at least 1.5 hours before our race. We parked at Setia City Mall on Saturday morning and walked to the transport hub to catch a shuttle bus to the race venue. It was a long line, but also a good place to meet some familiar faces. The organisers arranged for the children to get on the bus first, so our wait was much shorter.

Upon arrival, we made our way up a muddy track to the registration booths, where we signed in and received the numbered headbands and t-shirts. We were greeted by long lines of mud-covered guys queuing for the showers!

The younger kids went first, and parents were allowed to accompany them, so I went in my Croc sandals (which got stuck in the mud at the first obstacle) and camera. Am proud to say that Baby Boy managed the obstacles comfortably without needing much assistance.

A series of obstacles on the course

Go under ...

and over ...

Sport: Climbing Walls

We were blessed by a few friends who brought kiddos out climbing at Camp 5, 1Utama.

Big Boy had a try at climbing during a friend's birthday party a year back. But it was the first time for Girl and Baby Boy.

Our friends spent their time knotting and re-knotting, belaying the kiddos, and encouraging them as they made their way up and down. It's a long-suffering role, so am thankful for the opportunity. 

There's the Cicak Club for kids and many more challenges on the walls, which we hope to try out in the near future.

Girl trying out the auto-belayer

Baby Boy made his way up high ... Proud mama!

Siblings belaying siblings

Sport: Hitting the ramps

Do you know how sometimes you wake up and decide to set your heart on some random activity and won't let it go until you've done it?

Neither have I.

But my boys woke up one morning and decided that they were going to learn how to skateboard. Yup, just like that.

And it wasn't enough just going round the house. They wanted to hit the ramps. Talk about trying to run before learning to crawl.

So they begged Daddy to bring them that very afternoon to the Arena Skate Park in Petaling Jaya.

Unfortunately it rained and poured. The boys sat in the backseat of the car, praying fervently for the weather to change, but the rain continued on.

The next afternoon, Daddy brought them back to Arena. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon, and the boys were thrilled.

There were other skateboarders, inline skaters and people playing inline hockey.

Some friendly older lads there were only too keen to give the eager newbies some pointers on how to get started, and off they went!

Tips from the veterans

Skateboard lesson in progress

Off they went!

"They were very kind," said Boy #1 of his experience.

Thank you, kind older boys. You made 2 little ones (and their parents) very happy.