Kidding Around Vancouver Island

The kids have at least half a dozen hula hoops hanging in the carport, but none of us has been able get the hula part of it.  The only use the hoops get is a rare game of daddy toss – 10 points if you get it over his head and 5 points if it just hits him.

Then we met Sally Whibley who has a booth at the Errington market selling hand-made hula hoops and helping people like us. Partly it’s a matter of having the right kind of hoop (too light and there’s nothing to counter-balance against), then you need to find the right swing of the hips (think minimalist instead of wild gyrations).  You also don’t want to have too big a hoop. Pretty soon, we were putting the hula back in the hoops.

Ok, so maybe we only got about two feet and not 10 kilometres, but we were keeping those hoops going!  Grace was absolutely into it, though I had the feeling Ella wondered why we were all so concerned about encircling our bodies with plastic tubing.  Surely a princess, like Cinderella, would never do such a thing.  I was liking it because the hula hoop gives me some exercise and it’s something I can do with the kids.  George is into to as long as it’s in the backyard and no one can see.

Sally is bringing a hula hoop expert to Oceanside for a whole series of workshops on Hoola Dance from August 8 – 16th.  The woman’s name is Betty Hoops – no really, that’s her name.  Betty is listed in the Guiness Book of World Records for having travelled 10 kilometres while hooping. She combines dance, aerobics, and yoga to make hula hooping a fun routine.