The Gymnastics Show

For the past couple of years, around the time when Reid was born, Jake and Ainsley have participated in gymnastics off and on. They absolutely love it and whenever time allows I get them registered - which wasn't always as often as they would have liked. In TN they went to SKIES on post because it was low cost, the timing of the classes worked well, and (most importantly) the waiting area was big enough for my non-participants to run and play without causing me constant stress.

So when we moved here to NC I knew I wanted to get them involved in gymnastics to help ease the transition by putting them in something that would feel familiar. For some reason Ainsley started calling gymnastics class the "gymnastics show" during her last round of classes at SKIES this fall. It always makes us laugh because if you know Ainsley you know that her life is one big show. And when she is at class it is taken up a notch - she dances and prances and twirls and skips through the whole hour. When its gymnastics day she is ready to go from the time she gets out of bed and is constantly asking if she can put on her "black" - her affectionate term for her leotard. (As I'm sitting writing this she walked up and asked me about it . . .she is on top if it today!).

On Friday they tried out their new classes at Sandhills Gymnastics - Ainsley in Tumblebears and Jake in Beginner Tumbling and Tramp. They had a blast. This gym is so fantastic - especially compared to SKIES where they had a blast probably because they didn't know any better and despite their incredibly apathetic coaches. Ainsley's coach here had her number within about 5 minutes noting that a walk from point A to point B is much more complicated with an aspiring gymnast such as Ains because any opportunity to jump or twirl or bounce that might present itself along the way is immediately jumped on. Another little girl in the class figured this out too (apparently she is the self appointed watch dog of the class and since she is easily twice Ainsley's size in body weight I guess it works out) and so the coach would walk holding Ainsley's hand while the little girl would walk behind Ainsley doing her best sheepdog imitation nipping at Ainsley's heals to keep her in line.

I don't know that I am crazy about the idea of Ainsley pursuing gymnastics as she grows (its a great sport but I have concerns about the prevalence of eating disorders and high injury rate) but if ever a kid was made for it its her. She has the spunk, sass, teeny size, fearlessness, energy, stubborness - the whole package - to be good.

And yep, Jake was there too and he had a great time and was very cute too but its hard to live up to Ainsley stories in this type of situation.

Well, I better wrap this up as its almost time for the show!