Hanging Around at the Gym
Bouncing on the trampoline definitely beats bouncing off the walls at home! Earlier this week, amid a spell of spring rain showers, our play group met up at the open gym at the local gymnastics academy. The kids had fun running, climbing, jumping, and swinging.
I admit that I’m hoping Dani will take an interest in gymnastics when she is a bit older. I loved the sport as a kid, so much so that I was borderline obsessive. I remember like it was yesterday, riding my bike to do my afternoon paper route and visualizing my beam and floor routines over and over, and daydreaming about winning the all-around at regionals in glorious underdog fashion. (Turns out that the last year I competed, I bombed at districts, and barely qualified for regionals, but I learned a valuable lesson about “relaxing and doing my best”. Yep, sorry to say I was high strung even at the tender age of 12!)
Anyway, it was great to see the kids having fun, and to watch them gain confidence with each new thing they tried. I’ve put a temporary restraining order on Dani’s confidence, though, as she has more confidence than her little body can handle. Notice in the pictures that her nose is a bit red? That can be attributed to her latest chair climbing stunt, in which she went nose to nose with the pavement, and lost miserably. She’s fearless and strong--perhaps the makings of a great gymnast?
And yes, I realize that I clearly no longer have the muscle memory (or the muscle) to do a single back layout with a twist. (The only thing I can do with a twist these days is a martini.) But that’s the beauty of having kids-- now I get to live vicariously!