This year it’s been a lot of fun having the boys home all together again. Perhaps one day I’ll get to pull together a homeschooling experience post, but one of the blessings is that we’ve been able to commit extra time to the boys and their gymnastics training. Lucas began Preschool gymnastics in the Fall, Aidan continues once a week boys’ classes, and Alexander was invited to join the League Team at the gym. Coach Kurtis and the GA staff have been really awesome at understanding our Sabbath commitment. Though he misses Saturday practices and a meet this year, Kurtis has allowed him to practice on Fridays with another group and we do a private lesson every other week as well. Alex is really coming along in his training, and is a little ball of pure muscle. His favorite events are P-bars, and rings, and least favorite dome/pommel. His form is one of the best on the team, and while he’s one of the younger on the team, he’s keeping up with some of the 10 and 12 year-olds. This year he competed level 4 routines, but he’s working hard on his round-off back-handspring, and hopes to have it before the season is over.
The gym and coach have been so kindly conscientious to try and schedule meets that we can attend- either on Sundays or one Saturday night in winter. We’ve been able to do three, and only missed one! At his second meet Alex received all blue ribbons (the highest possible), and even a little medal. At first he was very nervous and unsure about the competing side of things, but at one point in the year, he said that the meets were his favorite part. Sometimes he gets frustrated repeating routines and would rather be focusing on learning new tricks, but his private lessons are his favorite and gets some one-on-one time to work on his favorite things. Driving to the gym 3-4 times a week can get a little old, but we’ve been blessed with having my mom to hang out with the little ones on Tuesday nights, so they don’t have to sit for two hours. It’s also been a blessing having a little help on the costs from time to time- Thank you heaps to amazing grandparents.
Awesome support crew- even good friends from out of town were able to come see Alex’s first meet!
I don’t know what the future will bring for our little tumbling crew, but we feel it’s important for the boys to find something athletic that they enjoy where they can train and discipline their bodies and their minds together. They will most certainly never be Olympic gymnasts, but if they can use it to honor the Lord, or participate in high-school or college teams we are thankful and blessed for this tumblerific opportunity. And… of course it’s a lot of fun to watch them doing cool stuff and having a lot of fun! For more pics from meets visit us at Flickr and click here!
