It’s been a month since I’ve had time to fill in this journal!  Ugh, that makes me feel awful and sort of sad…a lot has gone on!  Starting with the most recent events, Reece finished up her first meet season as a competitive gymnast!

You just never know what activities/sports your kids are going to love and heaven knows we’ve tried just about everything in this family.  If there was infinite time and money, these kids would do everything possible.  When I took Reece through the doors of KGDC (her gym), 2 summers ago, I never dreamed she would develop an obsession over the sport of gymnastics.  I never realized that December through April was gymnastics meet season and that it would take over our lives.  Ok, that’s a little extreme, but it has been difficult to throw that into our family schedule.

This little one practices 7.5 hours a week and would go more if she could.The meets are important to show all of her hard work but I must admit, I’m so happy this season is over!  It is mentally exhausting to deal with a little 7 year old that is constantly unhappy with her performance…always wants to do better…never good enough…never enough medals or the right position on the podium.  I’m not kidding!  This little lady is her own worst critic and intensely hard on herself.  I think I’ve said this before…I lasted 1 week in gymnastics as a kid before I quit.  It’s way too much pressure.  These little girls are amazing!

We spent the first weekend of March setting up, tearing down, and working shifts for the Pink Ribbon Invitational which is a very large meet hosted by our gym and takes place on the campus at UMKC.  It completely monopolizes the weekend.  The girls wear special leotards, paint their hair pink, and wear pink ribbon stickers on their faces while their parents work like dogs.  Kidding (sort of)!  These girls train so hard, and these meets don’t run themselves!  It’s a big deal for KGDC.  I had to work the admissions table on Friday evening and got the wrath of crabby gymnastics parents who don’t want to pay $15 to get into the venue.  I get it.  But seriously, give me a break, I’m just a volunteer!  I don’t make the rules!  Here are a few photos from the PRI–don’t be fooled by any smiles…they’re all fake!  She only smiles if she has to for a split second on the podium.

Most of us hold our breath throughout the entire competition and find ourselves gasping for air and rushing for the door as soon as the girls put their warm up jackets on.

This past weekend we traveled to Wichita so Reece could compete in the final meet of the season, the Kansas State Championships.  Morgan did the driving on the way there…her first long distance highway experience!  Woo Hoo…way to go Morgan!  She did awesome!  Particularly since there was more traffic for the KU game and St. Patrick’s day.  We spent the evening laughing at our unusually large room at the Courtyard – many gymnastics passes could go on through there!We laughed to the point of tears telling riddles during dinner and proceeded to stand in the elevator forever talking before anyone pushed the button to move!  Maybe you had to be there, but out of 4 of us, you would think at least one would clue in that 5 minutes had passed and we still weren’t moving.  Dummies!!  We cracked up on that one!!  Before we called it a night, Reece gave Nanny strict instructions on playing “Rollers.”  She takes her game playing very seriously and her uncle Scott has taught her a lot of bad unsportsmanlike habits!

These girls are fun to travel with!  Until it’s time to get up at 7 for a gymnastics meet, then it gets a little rough.  Let’s just say that Reece is not a morning person, even when it involves gymnastics.  She achieved a personal best on beam and we were so proud of her!

She hoped for better of course but still came home with several medals and a cool new $65 sweatshirt.

Reecie, we are more proud of you than you will ever know.  Your determination and work ethic are incredible!  The hard workers will eventually end up on top.  You go girl!!