Time to Face Our Fears!

The invites are out and I'm pumped (Janis is on holidays but I know she will be pumped when she finds out I have booked it).  

Take a look at what's coming our way at LeFleche Aerial Park - www.adventurelafleche.com. YouTube also has some eye opening previews of what's to come.  Hope you will join us on a beautiful fall day!  Fall better be gorgeous after all the rain we've had this summer.

Our 3rd Annual Yoga on the Beach!!

Thanks to Donna Davis for leading our 3rd Annual Yoga on the Beach class. This is one of our favorite events. The combination of friends, yoga, beach, sunsets and drinks just works well together. We were lucky on all accounts last night. Donna recently opened up her yoga studio, Movement to Health, which is just above Gotta Paint at 360 Kirkwood.

Thanks to the 20 SpinMamas that came out and celebrated life with us!

Ommmmmmmmmmmm

African Drumming on the Beach was Amazing!

Our African Drumming with Kathy Armstrong from Baobab Tree was so much fun. I was amazed at how far Kathy moved us along in just over an hour. After this video we added bells and singing. I was also surprised how meditative and relaxing it was to drum. It was interesting how your mind would wonder as you watched faces across the circle then your hands starting doing the wrong things. It was lots of fun and although the beach was pretty much deserted, we did get a family dancing along to our beats. Thanks for coming out ladies!


(Please excuse the affect on the video, the kids have been playing with my camera. And a special thanks to Melanie for the show at the end.)

My Salute to Mother Earth

I can't believe I was the only one that made it out for a walk along the river. We are busy ladies and I won't take it personally. I really enjoyed my walk to Remic Rapids and I'm planning on making the trek every Saturday morning at 8:30am, if anyone wants to join me. The water was very high and I even met up with a wood pecker along the way. Missed you all and Happy Mother's Day!

Patti

Any other Suggestions?

I'm not sure if skiing is going to work out with these 'hot flashes' we getting.  Any other ideas? Simplicity is key.  We could always go for drinks and keep things simple.

We're Not Feeling Artsy - How about Skiing?

Janis and I had a pow-wow today and neither of us is feeling the need to create art this month. In order for us to move ahead with an event, one of us has to feel the pull, the urge, the desire. So, we are cancelling 'A Fine Mess' and we are thinking of a ski adventure on Sunday April 20th, weather permitting. There really hasn't been any spring skiing this year, and we're in the mood for wearing bikinis and skiing. Ok, maybe not the bikinis but a beer on a deck after an afternoon of skiing sounds fabulous. We will leave invites to the last minute because of the weather.

Hope we have a few interested ski bunnies and sorry about the lack of committment to art this time around.

Patti

Now We've Zumba'd!

I have to say that I was impressed with how many of us dragged ourselves out for some Zumba on Friday night.  At last count there were 22 little tushies shaking it during the class.  I must send out a thank-you to our instructor Shawn who wasn't feeling great but still came out to show us his sexy moves.  While many people were getting ready to head south, we were dancing to the music of Cuba, Columbia and the Dominican Republic without even leaving the city.  Tropical vacations are very overrated!  

I had originally described Zumba as latin line dancing.  With one class under my belt, I would have to say that Zumba is more like latin aerobics with a big emphasis on dance.  Although we were definitely putting the dance moves together, I would have to say that most of us had a good sweat going.  It was a real workout and a lot of fun.  To me Zumba was aerobics with more sex appeal and more liberating because of the dance moves.  I especially liked the 'twirling' dance.  There is something about twirling with your arms spread out that just makes you feel like a kid again.  I'd be ready to sign up for a class if DRC schedules a session.

A few of us ended up at Milagro's on Wellington after the class.  It just seemed right to enjoy a class of Sangria after our quick trip to the South.

Patti

Our Snow Shoeing Trek under the Stars

Friday night's trek in Gatineau Park was truly wonderful.  Coordinating our shoes and car pools was a little confusing but I think the toughest part was just dragging our butt out of our houses on a cold Friday night.  Hats off to us all that hauled ourselves out into the woods.  Eighteen of us made our way to the Visitor's Centre in Chelsea.  To the left of the Centre we gathered at the 'shack' which was locked up and booked for a group of 50 which were ahead of us.  We followed the path past the old Visitors Centre and across the road.  Lee pointed us in the right direction and before we knew it were trekking up and down the rolling hills of Gatineau Park.  Our adventure took us to a look out at the top of a hill where we saw the lights of the village and stars above.  We were out in the woods for about an hour.  It was glorious!  Cheryl even sold a house while we were out there.

Some of us continued the adventure, in search of a beverage.  Believe it or not, about 8 of us ended up at Puzzles in Westboro.  Melanie and Raquel even took to the Karaoke stage and entertained us all.  I never thought I would venture into Puzzles but I guess you can go anywhere and have a good time if you are with the right people.  For future reference the regular Karaoke crowd is pretty good at Puzzles and I have a feeling we will be joining them on stage again.  A reminder to all, I'm a dancer not a singer.  I'm happy to be anyone's do-wop girl!

Patti  (pictures to follow from Melanie's phone hopefully)

Snow Shoeing, Skating or Knitting

The weather isn't looking very good for the end of the week so we may change the plans.  I will check the weather this evening and send out an updated Evite tomorrow morning.

Let's cross our fingers for consistent weather.  These ups and downs are killing us.

Patti

Curling at the Granite Club

It's been over 15yrs and I still fall over when I curl.  The nice thing to know is that I'm not the only one.  Thanks SpinMamas (all 20 of you) for coming out and giving curling a try.  A visit to the Granite Club is like a flashback in time.  I don't think the club has changed in 40 years and I love that about it.  Jolynn, Deb, Heather, Paul, and Josh were the curling experts that helped the rest of us out with our rules, form, and skills.  It took all of them to get us moving in the right direction (standing on two feet and curling the stones hard enough and in the right direction).

The concensus was to try again next year.  Now that we understand the game, we might as well work on getting the stones in the circle (what was that called again).  I know that most of us were getting the stones past the hog line by the end of the afternoon.  And a nice cold beer and a chat with the SpinMamas was a nice way to finish up our curling adventure.

I must also thank Christine Snow of Wellington Village Massage Therapy (613-761-5603) for donating our $5 1/2 hour massages.  I know that many SpinMamas will be calling her to make an appointment after pushing those muscles.  Chris is great, I'm a regular on her table.

We took some time to share ideas for future events.  Please take the time to answer the poll on this site.  

Patti

It All Started with Yoga in June of 2006

It's been many months since Janis and I started SpinMamas.  Our first event was Yoga on the Beach and we will end every year with Yoga on Westboro Beach.  We love this event!!!  It's beautiful, relaxing and Moe's is open for beverages and tasty snacks after class.  

Since Yoga on the Beach in 2006, we have visited Le Nordik Spa in Chelsea (we've gotta go back there), we have tried Belly Dancing and Latin Dancing, and we have held private shopping evenings in Westboro. A few of us even went for an inspiring walk in the woods and most recently we put on our sliders and tried out curling at the Granite Club.

Hope you can join us for our next SpinMama event,  Patti