Y! M! C! A!

I love few things in life more than the Y.  I only regret we found the Y so late in life.

It was 2011, and many of our neighborhood friends who had the means were ditching the local park for a private swim club.  Concurrently, Amy had injured her ankle and was looking for a gym to rehab.  

Being the utter penny-pincher, I blanched at the swim club dues and the gym membership fees.  I forget if it was me or Amy who offered, "what about the Y," but since then we haven't looked back.



All of our kids have taken multiple classes there, as has Amy.  As for me, I'm there all the time, whether running outside and ending up there to lift, or swimming laps on alternate days.  

As for the weekends, it is perhaps not an exaggeration to say that the Y watches our kids more than we do.  Indeed, when Aaron and Jada were younger, and now with Asher, Kid Watch has been a life-saver in giving us both a break from toddler drama and a time and place to get a much-needed workout in.

In fact, Asher is known at multiple Y's in the region, that's how good care folks take care of us throughout the system.  And we have literally planned vacations around "where is there a Y that we can use," capitalizing fully on the Y's "Away" program in which membership enables access to other branches.  

In the spirit of documentation, here is the full list of Y's I've worked out in, and many of them have also entertained my kids to boot:

AZ: Lincoln Family Downtown
CA: Bayview Hunters Point, Central, El Camino, Mission Valley, Northwest, Peninsula Valley, Stonestown
DC: Anthony Bowen, Metropolitan Washington
DE: Bear-Glasgow Family, Sussex Family, Western Family
FL: Aquatic Center
NY: Dodge
PA: Ambler Area, Christian Street, Columbia North, Haverford Area, Hatboro Area, Roxborough, West Philadelphia
VA: Downtown Richmond, RF Wilkinson
WA: Downtown Seattle

It's 25 and counting, and you best believe it is now a form of internal competition for me to get to as many more as I can.  On behalf of my entire family, I say thanks.