Real Gymnastics, Finally.

Eliza has been wanting to be a gymnast for years - I'm finally breaking her of the habit of doing spontaneous cartwheels whenever and wherever she wants, without checking for people or things that might not want to be kicked.  I put off signing her up for classes because she's so tall, hoping she'd change her mind and decide to learn a sport where her height would be more of an asset than a liability.  (Wouldn't she make a beautiful ballerina?)  But she has only ever really been excited about gymnastics.  At least she's ridiculously flexible.

Eliza tried a tumbling class over the summer in 2017 but I wasn't impressed with the gym.  So in the summer of 2018, we tried out a new gym, and this time Eliza took an actual gymnastics class, and she loved it.  The gym is much better than the first one we tried, and Eliza has had some really good coaching.  She spent about 4 months in Level 1 before being advanced to Level 2.  She now takes two classes a week, continues to learn and progress, and is beginning to talk about being on a competitive team.

Disclaimer: most of these pictures and videos were taken from the observation room, through dirty glass, using my phone.  I apologize for the poor quality.

These clips are in chronological order, so you might be able to see her progress over the first 6 months.  The second video (below) will show a significant improvement.

When Jack finished flag football I decided to let him take a class as well.

It worked out perfectly that there was a beginner class for older boys

at the same time as one of Eliza's classes.  Jack had a lot of fun with it,

but didn't take to it quite as naturally as Eliza and wasn't as passionate.

He only took classes for a few months.

Eliza (front-middle, black leotard with blue shorts) is probably the most flexible one in this picture.
Jack (back-right, neon green shirt) is probably the least.

Ditto.  Can you spot both of them?

  

In December, Jack and Eliza participated in a little meet for the recreational gymnastics classes.  They both did well and we enjoyed seeing their progress.  You can see some highlights in their videos below.