every day i'm tumblin'

the bean was so stoked to finally get to participate in the annual gymnastics showcase this year.  she'd been practicing hard with her class, perfecting their skills and learning a cute little dance.  in honor of this year's summer olympics, the theme was "the road to london."  check out the official leotard:

do you love the pose?  heh.  and the matching scrunchie?  oh, yes.

because it was a little on the cool side that day, i had her put on her faux juicy couture pants and jacket over her tumbling ensemble.

the exhibition was at nearby university of la verne.

she was excited to see some of her friends and took off with me chasing after her to get her to the check-in desk.

the lady used a sharpie to mark her group number on her hand, and as we walked away the bean was quick to point it out.  "mommy, you're not supposed to write on your skin. why did that lady write on my hand?"

she went inside to join her fellow gymnastics while i rejoined the hub, MIL, the teen and rock-ell in line.  it was nice to have the girls with us - it was the teen's week with her dad, but he allowed her to come out and watch her sister on her big day.  

the bean was happily sitting with her friends and gave us a big ol' kool aid smile as we passed her on our way to find spots at the top of the bleachers.

it was crowded and super warm in there.  the venue is a big ol' tent that always reminds us of boobs when we drive past.  this was my first time actually inside of it.

luckily, the program was quite useful as i fanned my sweaty self with it.

when it was time to warm up, the bean looked up and found us easily.  i guess i wasn't hard to find, right at the top of the bleachers and pointing my big ol' zoom lens at her.

there were lots of kids there to perform.  the girls in the big gym are really good, and some are super serious about it - i know that our gym has sent girls pretty far in the past.  i think a few have even gone as far as the olympics, but i don't think there are any in this year's games.  still - that's really cool.

can you see her?  she makes funny faces while she does her thang.

more waving.  we could totally read her lips as she shouted out "graaaaaandmaaaaa!"

finally, it was her group's turn to show off.  arms back:

kick the legs over:

land gracefully, sorta:

and off to the next obstacle.

she's got a pretty good sense of balance, for a 4-year-old.

time for a quick forward roll:

a hug for her own coach:

and then the line-up for medals and more waving.

"hey, look at my medal!"  "no, check out MY medal." 

and then it was over.  

i'm going to turn on the womens' gymnastics for her this summer when the olympics are on.  it's gonna blow her mind.