The Challenge

WHOOPS! I forgot this memorable picture of brother, David, and his try at the hula hoop. Looks pretty graceful, don't you think? (It didn't work either!)
SOMEBODY!! (my beloved Cathy!) had the hare-brained idea of bringing hula hoops to Gramma Phoebe's 95th birthday party in Phoenix. You can see below how much fun we had with them. Claire was our expert - guess it pays to be young and agile. (Sister Kate is in the background.)

Now 95-year-old Gramma Phoebe had to get up and prove that she is still the athlete we all know her to be. . . .
Well, almost!
Then, of course, everybody had to try it. Here we see Haydn making a gritty attempt at it.
And then Jack - his theory was the wider stance, the better chance of success! (Didn't work.)
Big brother, Ty, thought he might be able to do it! (Well, not really!)
Good to see that the mastermind of this scheme decided to get into the act. (Cathy! herself)
Go Sylvia! You can do it!

SO. This fun activity has turned into a real challenge for me. As soon as we got home, I stopped and bought a hula hoop! I put it in the hallway on the main floor and most every time that I go past it I stop and give it a few whirls. It took several days before I finally figured out exactly the right technique to make it work. But now I've got it - I usually have to try a couple times before it actually stays up. My goal right now is 30 seconds! I can hardly believe how strenuous is this little exercise. REALLY strenuous. As soon as I master this,

A jump rope is next!!! Now that will be real exercise. Gotta stay in shape - after all, walking is way too easy!