Somersaults

Look at this cute group of little gymnasts! Can you find a familiar face in there?  Try the far left, on her knees. Yup. That's Nicole! 

We started Nicole in Preschool Gymnastics this year and she has loved it. They have so much fun and Nicole adores her teachers. (Even though we're a small town, we have an amazing dance and gymnastics program here.) Nicole loves to come home and show her brothers and dad her cool new tricks. 

A few weeks ago Nicole had her first gymnastics recital. She was SO excited and not one bit nervous. There was a full crowd in the high school gym but she seemed to just eat up all the attention.

The preschool class did their performance to the genie's song from Aladdin, "You Ain't Never Had a Friend Like Me."  My favorite part was when Nicole and her little friend Hallie locked arms and danced in a circle. The song also included all of the little gymnasts showing us some of their tricks at the same time, like this:

And this: 

And this:

The parachute was the perfect ending to the song. They went up and down and up and down. 

And then all ended up inside. So fun! They did a great job. 

(Side note:  Back when the kids started practicing with the parachute in class, I was joking with another mom about how I loved playing with the parachute when I was in elementary school - except that the boys never paid attention so they always ruined it. We laughed about it. Then when Nicole's class was over that day, she came out all excited. I asked her if she had fun with the parachute and she replied, "Yes! It was so much fun! Well... except that the boys don't do it right. That always messes us up."  Ha! I love her.)

Anyway, back to the performance. After the song was over and the kids were inside the parachute, each of their names was announced one at a time, and they came out to do some tricks all alone. And now you get to watch Nicole's turn!

Here's the video:

(Link: http://youtu.be/Xl9sY89K_TU )

My favorite part was her giggle as she stepped off the balance beam. I want to be that happy when I make mistakes in front of other people! She works so hard and just keeps on smiling. 

Nicole came up to sit with us after her performance. She was so happy! I had fun watching the older groups with her too. She was amazed by all the tricks they could do. She definitely wants to keep learning gymnastics next year, and maybe even dance too. 

We're super proud of our little gymnast!