This is a long post, but it allows for some parental pride. And someday it will prove to my girls that I did watch their gymnastics performances!

This week was "Expo Week" at gymnastics. After a full school year of practicing, we could see what they learned. Monday was Abby's night. Abby's been going once a week and this was her first time in class. Skills wise, she learned about what we expected. Watching her class, I was actually most impressed with her overall behavior and attention span. I'm not sure what was going on with the other kids, but of the 6, she was the most focussed and attentive - and that is NOT usually the case!

(Video of Abby not loading.....)

"My FIRST Trophy!" She was thrilled

walking on the beam

Tonight it was Katherine's turn. Katherine has been doing gymnastics at this gym since she was younger than Abby. This fall she was invited to try out for their team, and while she didn't quite make the cut for team, she was moved to the "Training Squad" --a smaller group of girls coached twice a week to prepare for team this coming fall.  Katherine loves gymnastics. She truly can NOT walk through our family room, she has to cartwheel. And there have been times when I have had to threaten consequences if she cartwheels,"just one more time!" She has LOVED going twice a week and working in a team setting with one coach and the same group of girls. And her skills have improved!

Here are the videos from tonight. You sometimes have to look past the strangers to find Katherine, as my view point was somewhat obscured, but you can see her pretty well in each video.

Katherine on the Bars: http://youtu.be/N4XaJUW_FfY

(Look past the other kid on the beam for Katherine on the bar to the right)

Katherine on Floor: http://youtu.be/SyaNOaQVlws

Katherine on Vault: http://youtu.be/Yo6THzozNlQ

(You might need to watch twice, she runs across from left to right and does a flip onto a mat)

Katherine on Beam: http://youtu.be/BF106Or1z1A

I was afraid she might not have the skills that her teammates did, as she joined this group halfway through the year, but honestly they are all pretty equal overall. I think Katherine was the only one who didn't fall off the beam! Most importantly - she was happy.

Ready to go!

Warm up

Warm up

Side by Side with her BFF Ashley - she's the one you can't see as well

On the bar - her favorite!

Coach Jill complimenting her form

With her trophy

Training Squad 2014

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People ask me all the time these days, "What will you do next year when they're all in school?" I have a variety of responses: work more/different hours, volunteer at school even more than I already do, celebrate, cry. But honestly, I'm sure that there will be days when I'm lonely!

Abby and I spent 2 hours doing errands today and she was cracking me up the entire time. Who will make me laugh next year?
We started at Barnes and Noble to pick up a birthday gift. But we can't get out of the store without a stop in the Children's area on the STAGE! Today Abby was thrilled to find cardboard cutouts of her favorite Frozen characters. I asked if she wanted to sing with Anna and Elsa, but she announced, "No Mom, today I feel like 'dahn-cing'" and she proceeded to do a rather interesting contemporary/interpretive dance routine.

 Next it was off to Bed Bath & Beyond. She was frustrated that we had to stop here, so I told her we would be getting a list to shop from (a registry) and it could be a treasure hunt. She was quick to correct me that if we were given a list of items we had to find, it was more of a scavenger hunt. She added that we would be going through spooky woods to find our items.  I'm sure the people thought we were beyond strange as she narrated our journey through the store. But it kept her entertained while we found our gifts.

 Our last stop was the grocery store. As we pulled into our parking spot, the radio changed and she squealed - "Don't turn it off!" I humored her for a minute while I listened and discovered it was John Legend, "All of Me." Before I could point out what I heard, she said, "Hey, it's the same song, but it's different! This has a beat, it's MUCH better for dancing!" Sure enough, this was a radio dance re-mix version of the song.   She took off her seatbelt and busted a move!

Once we finished her dance party, we went into the store to get a few items. As I was looking at frozen juice concentrate, she looked to the end of the aisle and shouted with excitement, "Hey Look Mom - It's BEER OF THE MONTH!" and took off skipping to the liquor area.  Thanks to endless Dora episodes regarding crowns, she correctly pronounced 'Corona' and I swear the 2 gentlemen who had witnessed this whole exchange needed a 'clean up in Aisle 18' because they were laughing so hard. The one man pulled himself together just enough to smile and say, "Enjoy this time, she's precious. My baby just graduated High School yesterday, time flies!"

We came home from our errands, had a nice lunch and then she read me "Put Me In The Zoo" before her nap.  As she was all snuggled and I was leaving, I asked if I could take her picture. "Why Mom?"
"Because, someday you won't be this little, and I always want to remember this sweet little Abby."
"Oh Mom, I'll always be sweet, I just won't always be little!"