Laughing in the Lane

The girls decided we ALL needed to walk our guest-dog, Loki, tonight. Normally, this is no big deal. But today... there are.... PUDDLES!!!!

Do you remember the dog treat commercial where the dog could smell "BACON!!!!" I think I heard Loki say "puddles" in much the same manner. I've never seen a dog so water crazy! He will jump on any puddle he sees then start to "dig" in it. He loves the water!

It's very cute, but when a 60+ pound dog wants to go to every puddle he sees, let's just say it makes for a very tight-leash walk!

Tonight, the girls are riding bikes trying to miss all the puddles. Loki is excitedly trying to get IN all the puddles.

I know the girls and I were laughing; I think the guards were laughing at me. And I'm pretty sure Loki was laughing.

That's China

It rained last night. On my early morning walk with our guest-pet, I witnessed something that happens every time it rains here.

The compound guards use brush brooms to sweep the water to the storm drains. This isn't the best picture, but you get the idea.

Two wet klicks for me, a wet broom morning for the guard.

Wistow Picnic, Guest Post

On Sunday August 23rd Christine and Housemates at Wistow invited friends & family for a potluck Luau BBQ. The weather was tropical: hot, sunny and humid.

Guests were escorted to the beautiful backyard where each received a lei. Guests were decked out in colourful attire befitting the tropical theme.

As per the nature of potluck gatherings, there was an overabundance of delicious food which was enjoyed by all.

The smile on Chrissy's face tell us she was so happy to entertain in her garden: a little slice of paradise.

Loving this low AQI!

We walked and rode and walked and rode today. The girls earned half of these Klicks. During the day, it's sometimes a little frustrating because I want Little Bit to ride in the bike trailer so I can go farther. But at the same time, I am so proud of her because she wants to ride her bike or walk so SHE is earning Klicks for Aunt Chrisy. I guess I really can't complain about that!

Total today: 15km

Fantastic way to earn Klicks!

We visited Longqingxia or the Longqing Gorge today. It was beautiful. We walked, rode a dragon escalator, rode boats, climbed, walked more, toured a strange cave decorated to show the seasons and regions of China and rode a giant toboggan style slide with no safety measures. A true China Style day.

The majority of our walking was done going up stairs. Ok, maybe not the majority of our walking but a great bit of our time anyway! We were attempting to reach the Illusion Temple. We made it about half way and then little legs sat down refusing to go up another step. I can't really blame them, it was a long way up.

The scenery today was amazing the the girls were troopers. The Dad, aka Tool Man, aka Shutter Bug, took some beautiful pictures. These two best show where we were walking. It's so hard to capture just how deep this gorge is. Maybe the little Chinese heads in the first picture give some perspective?

We had to estimate the distance as I forgot to start my "Map My Run" ap. Sorry about that. We were with another couple, both Canadians, who estimated we walked about 8km. They are both experienced in land nav, so they may be right. But Brian and I didn't think we walked that much; so we are guessing 5km. Multiply that by 5... not a bad day for klick earning.

All tallied, 29.5km today, all walking!

Saturday update

More great AQI.

Dad's kilometers for the week: 9.5

Our family AQI for today: 16.5

The dog we are puppy sitting may be wearing out! This was all he had left at the end of the day today... poor pup!

Fantastic AQI!

What a fantastic day! It started out with a high AQI but dropped so I was able to get in lots of biking and walking today. The girls claimed it was "too hot" so they didn't add much. But hopefully the air will be nice again tomorrow and we'll all get in on the fun!

21 km today.

Exciting update!

It's another cloudy, smoggy day in the Jing. But we managed 13.5klicks today!

This whole "Klicks for Chrissy" idea came about after a strategic planning meeting with Chrissy over the summer. A fantastic PH worker sat with Chrissy and her family to set dreams and goals for the year. The girls and I were fortunate enough to participate in the last portion of the planning session. It was fascinating to watch this woman work with Chrissy and read her responses. The PH worker incorporated our verbal input and Chrissy's subtle cues. I was impressed with how well she included Chrissy in the conversation and made the planning session about what Chrissy wants, not what we all thought Chrissy wants.

One of Chrissy's dreams is to be on the London Tour of Gardens. Broken down into time specific and achievable goals... build the sidewalk.

Another dream and goal is to stay more connected to her nieces (the girls) and her brother

And one more dream? To go swimming.

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I was to get this note from Mom/Oma:

A short report re: Chrissy's swimming experience. The Y was recently renovated and they did well; larger change rooms with change tables and ceiling lifts. The therapeutic pool itself is warmer and has a ceiling lift for getting in and out of the water. The smile on Chrissy'e face was unbelievable, I have not seen that smile since before her kidney stones. It lasted the whole 45 minutes she was in the water and beyond. At on point I held her upright and her legs were down. I told her we could actually measure how tall she is when she is in the water. She was very relaxed and we are planning to go on Mondays for the time being. A rewarding experience.

I am so very excited for Chrissy and for Mom/Oma. They have wanted to get this done for Chrissy for as long as I can remember. I can imagine Chrissy's radiant and beautiful smile in the pool!!

I wish I were closer to give everyone a giant hug in celebration. 

Walking Loki

We are dog sitting again, this time a black lab named Loki. He needs lots of walks... good for us! The girls and I took Loki out tonight. Girls on bikes, Loki and I on foot. All together, 13km today.

Lazy day

Bad air day. A little rainy. Rachel and I stayed home and were completely lazy. Total today? 3km.

Happy Monday!

Welcoming in the week with 22 klicks today. Starting out strong!

Another low AQI day

AQI was low, humidity was low and the temperature wasn't as high.That makes for a good day for traveling some kilometers!

I have decide the best way for us to rack up the klicks is to bike. If not, we may never reach our goal. To that end, I pulled Rachel in the trailer today and biked for a bit. While riding, I figured out we need to be covering 115km/week if we want to finish by May 31, 2014. That's approximately 17km/day. We had best get moving!

Today, 23km

Movin' right along

We have had another donation! We are now up to $300. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Dad's Klicks for the week: 11
Our Klicks for today: 10

High AQI, Low Klicks.

Weather stats today:
AQI 204
Humidity 95%
Temperature 94F (34.5C)

We managed 3.5km in this humid, polluted soup

Walking and walking

Middle Bit's bike is on the blink; the chain keeps coming off. The Tool Man comes home tonight so hopefully, that will be remedied soon. Until then, Middle Bit is riding either in the tuk-tuk or stroller. She is disappointed to not be earning any Klicks for a few days. I did suggest she could walk to/from the bus stop each day but she decided that would take longer than she would like.

Our total for today: 11.5km

Mile Markers

The girls love seeing our blog-site updates but wanted something they could update. Paper, markers and some design ideas later, we have a Klicks 4 Chrissy poster hanging on the wall. The girls are coloring in the kilometers at the end of the day.

Rollin up the Klicks!

We were out the door on time again today so we were biking to the bus! Little bit and I ran errands and by the time it was all said and done, 20 Klicks.

Despite the look on the littlest face (she was upset when I made her stop to have her picture taken... she was "winning" at the moment!), the girls are really enjoying Klicking for Chrissy.

Catching Up, Posting Klicks

It has been a whirl-wind few weeks. This is my catch-up post.

We've walked, biked, run and swam some clicks in the last few weeks. One thing I am finding interesting is that our 5 doing 5000 goal is becoming part of our daily discussion. I am impressed with how attentive to this goal, this idea of doing something for Chrissy, the girls are.

So, to catch up:

Dad:
Walking to work every day for 3 weeks: 22.5
Running: 11
Biking to and from school: 10

Mom:
an Olympic distance triathlon (whoot!): 51.5KM
I finally was able to go run! Clear head and sweaty: 4.5km
To and from and to and from and to and from ... the bus stop: 4km

Girls:
Again with the to and from and from and to... : 12km

Add them together and...
115.5