Katie Anne's Gymnastics Class

Tonight is Katie Anne's last class of summer gymnastics.  She's spent each Monday night this summer at the gym, and she has absolutely loved it!  We've really been impressed with what she has learned and what she can do - she's really great at gymnastics!  Since she enjoys it so much and it is a great way for her to run around, stretch, and get some energy out, we've signed her up for fall gymnastics, too.  She'll take next week off, and then start back - at a new, bigger gym - on August 9.  She is very excited about continuing to take gymnastics classes and going to the "yellow gym" in a few weeks!

My camera doesn't take pictures in the gym, so my mom took some pictures with her super camera of Katie Anne doing all her gymnastics things in class!

First Day at Gymnastics Class

Today was a BIG day for Katie Anne - not only was it her first day of ballet camp, but she also had her first gymnastics class tonight!  She's taking the three-year-old class one night a week for the summer.  The joy of ballet starting kind of overshadowed the whole gymnastics thing, but I knew that she would love gymnastics - and it would be a great way for her to learn some new things, have some active play at a new place, and get some energy out.  When she woke up from her nap, she was very excited about going to gymnastics class!

In her gymnastics leotard:

 

Wearing her matching sunglasses in the car:

(I didn't get any pictures of her in class - the lighting in the gym totally throws off my camera.  My mom's going to come to a future class and take pictures with her big Nikon, so I'll post some pictures of KA in action later this summer.)

Katie Anne had a great time in gymnastics class - I was very proud of her!  (I got to stay and watch her this time from the observation deck upstairs.)  I brought a magazine to read during the thirty minute class, but I never even opened it because my kid was so darn cute.  I know I'm biased, but she was totally the cutest kid in the gym.  I loved watching her do her warm up dance and stretches.  She looked like such a little tiny athlete in that leotard!  She was one of two girls in the class that had never taken gymnastics, but she caught on very quickly.  It only took her one time to get the hang of the forward roll, and then she was flipping down the incline like the girls who'd been in class before!  She really did a great job of listening and following directions.  She had no fear on the balance beam and walked like a little champion.  The only thing I saw that she struggled with was that she's not very flexible.  However, she comes from two not-too-flexible parents, and hopefully her stretching will help with that.  It wouldn't hurt for me to do some stretching before labor - I stretched a lot more when I was pregnant with KA than this time - so maybe that's something she and I can work on this summer.

After class, we met up with Daddy, and Katie Anne got to pick where she wanted to eat to celebrate her big day of "firsts".  Although Daddy was pushing for Longhorn's, Katie Anne wanted Cici's Pizza.  

 Who can blame her?  There's nothing like a piece of pizza and a plate of gooey cinnamon rolls to top off a big girl kind of day!

Happy Birthday, Lily!

Yesterday, Lily celebrated her fourth birthday with a bunch of her friends at a gymnastics studio, and the kids had such a great time!  They spent about an hour out in the gym with the gymnastics instructor, playing parachute games, jumping in the ball pit, running through an obstacle course, walking the balance beams... and - Katie Anne's favorite part - was swinging in the giant swing!  All the kids had a fabulous time.  Then, we headed upstairs where the kids ate cake and ice cream, and then Lily opened her birthday presents!

I definitely wish I'd brought my mom's big-dog camera, because the lighting in the gym completely messed up my camera - and there would've been some great shots because there was a ton of laughing, flipping, jumping, and smiling!  I think the lights in the gym messed up the camera, because even the pictures of the cake and present-opening phase of the party weren't clear.  I tried lots of different settings to get some decent shots, so here are just a few that I was able to make.

Lily and Katie Anne on the monkey bars

In the ball pit

Lily opening our present

Lily, Katie Anne, and Emma showing off their ribbons and water bottles!

Katie Anne completely loved the whole party and the whole gymnastics scene.  She was so excited for several days leading up to the party, and all she could talk about after we left was the different gymnastics activities.  So, I think some gymnastics classes are coming up in our future!