A family that stays fit together

MARIA HOWARDFitness Editor's note: This the second of a three-part column series on families that exercise together.

The Pfab family has found some fabulous ways to spend time together.

For starters, they play tennis - all 11 of them. Mom and Dad play regularly and often hit with their children. Their two college-age children don't play on a team anymore, but they still pick up their rackets now and then. The four teenagers at Blessed Sacrament Huguenot all play on the team there. And the three youngest take lessons and practice regularly.

In a family with nine children, you might think it would be tough to find forms of physical activity that span the ages and interests. But the Pfabs, who live in Midlothian, seem to do it with ease. Tennis isn't the only energetic activity they enjoy together.

They recently purchased a utility trailer so they can load up their bikes (and a grill, and whatever else they might need) and hit the biking trails in nearby parks.

The youngest, 4-year-old Jacob, ditched his training wheels last fall when the family started taking longer rides.

"He keeps up with the rest of us," said his mother, Rachel Pfab. Jacob grinned widely.

In this day of video games and remote controls, the Pfabs are striking a healthy balance that should be a goal for all of us with families.

Particularly this time of year, we hear people complaining that they can't find time to exercise. And if they do, they say they're missing out on critical family time.

So why not combine exercise time with family time? It's a way to get everyone moving - and often communicating - at the same time.

Michael Pfab, a local dentist and father of the nine Pfab children, said he grew up playing baseball. But that's not a sport you can play spontaneously as an adult. And when he and Rachel began having children, golf seemed out of the question from a time and cost perspective.

Tennis, however, was doable.

"We just needed something we could all play," Michael Pfab said. And it has worked beautifully.

"They like it," he said. "It's good exercise. And you can play it for life."

When the weather's nice, you can often find several Pfabs at the outdoor courts at James River High School.

Rachel said, "That's nice because if the little kids get bored [with tennis], they can just go play."

In the winter, however, they usually move inside, to the ACAC Fitness & Wellness Center off Robious Road.

The two oldest Pfabs, Catherine and Anthony, attend Virginia Tech. Their racquets don't see as much action as when they played on the team at Blessed Sacrament.

Anthony said it's more difficult to find a tennis player than it is to join in a pick-up basketball game.

"So I play more basketball now."

Still, he's exercising. It seems to have become a habit in the Pfab family. We should try to make it the same in ours.