The Patton Press: The Little Gym

Back in June, we decided the girls need some recreational activity, so I signed them up at the Tulsa World of Gymnastics. They loved it. The teachers were great, the facility was great, but after watching a mother scold her three year old for not doing her forward roll correctly again, I started to think that maybe it was a little more hardcore than what we were looking for. Plus, the way the gym was set up, I couldn't see what the girls were doing for well over half of the class. I wasn't worried about them, but I'm selfish and I want to be able to see EVERYTHING. So, we decided to try something else.

I'd heard of The Little Gym several times and had even been there for a March of Dimes meeting, but I'd always thought of it as too expensive for us. Turns out, it's the same price as Tulsa World of Gymnastics, but a lot more our speed. I knew within 2 minutes of the girls' free trial class that it was the place for us. They do something different in their warm-up every week, from running around with scarves to doing tricks with swimming noodles. After warm-up, they move onto the equipment. The teacher shows them what to do, then the kids do it. Cadie and Maddie have learned so much since they started in July, but most importantly, they have so much fun.

January 15h was the end of the fall semester, so the kids put on a performance show for parents and relatives. We invited all of the girls' grandparents, aunts & uncles, and more. It was during the day, so not everyone got to come because of work, but the girls were thrilled with everyone who made it (Daddy, Nana, Poppy, Grandma, and Aunt Kimberly). They ran around giggling, I'm sure excited and hyper from their extra audience. They'd been practicing a routine for the performance class for a few weeks, so when class started they went in for one more review. Then, it was time for us to join them. They took turns doing their floor routines (forward rolls, "tabletops", "donkey kicks", "candle sticks", and "monkey jumps"), balance beam routines (including standing on their tippy toes and bending down to touch the beam), and bar routines (with pizza hangs, straight arms, and flips). Neither of them got performance shy until it came to the bar routine and Cadie refused to do anything but her pizza hang. She rocked that pizza hang, though!

After their routines, each of the kids got a medal for completing the semester. Both of the girls were so proud! They've already started the Winter/Spring semester, so I'm sure we have more "tricks" to look forward to.