Choo-Choo and Brrrrr-brrrrr!!!!

We went to Gymboree for music and family gym classes. Hardly anyone else showed up today because of the weather. Something about a -25 F wind chill today! Hmmph – that’s not going to hold us back! (Well, to be honest, it almost did, but we thought we’d give it a try and if we decided to turn around when we got out of the garage, so be it. That didn’t happen, so we got to enjoy the luxury of having Gymboree almost to ourselves!) We bundled up until the kids could barely walk, I parked in the closest parking spot I could find, and we didn’t hang outside for any longer than necessary. After all of that, I really didn’t think the cold was as bad as the news was reporting, but I also wasn’t walking more than a few dozen feet!

The gym area was set up for a transportation theme. (It’s hard to tell what the theme is if you just go to open gym times. The ramps, tunnels, boards, slides, and foam equipment obviously change configuration, but you really can’t tell that the new set up is supposed to represent an airport, a train station, a boat, a highway, etc. unless you go to a gym class where they tell you.) Today, class started with “What’s in my big blue bag?” and Miss Elizabeth pulled out a set of toy car keys, a plush truck that rumbled its engine when you squeezed it, and a picture book that showed everything from hot air balloons to trains to boats to bicycles. (I wish I caught the name and author of that one!) Shawn and Abby loved the pictures and pointed out the various things they knew – choo choo train, truck, airplane, bicycle, balloon… They’re not as vocal as some of the slightly older kids in class, but they scooted up close to Miss Elizabeth as she read so they could get the best seats in the house! Luckily, there weren’t many other kids there to compete for the good view. After the story, Miss Elizabeth gave us a tour of the equipment. There was a choo-choo train to climb on where kids could wave through the multi-shaped windows or play with the giant wheels on the ground. They could “drive” hula-hoops on a highway made of ramps, tunnels, and boards. They could board an airplane using ramps to climb up, go through tunnels that represented the fuselage, and then slide to get down. (There were a couple other modes of transportation too, but I can’t remember them now!) Shawn was in heaven. On the way home, he announced, “I ride the choo-choo train at Gymboree!”