Gymnastics with Kelsey

What do you do with a 1 year old at a gymnastics birthday party?  You let her roam around I suppose.  (Check out those cheeks!)

I had lots of helpers though :)  Including several little girls that we met at the party.

There was the occasional bump.

...And fumble.  But most of the time, she was alright :)

She had fun with her siblings.

Hello in there!!!

Anybody home?!?!

Peek a boo!  I love brother's eye photo bombing in the background :)

There was also a bit of wrestling going on with her baby cousin.  This is a special hold her daddy taught her.

Which I am not sure is exactly fair.  Kelly is in the weight class below.  And she is so flexible, you can practically bend her in half.

"Eye!"

So we tried to even up the score a little bit, and gave her an opponent closer to her own size.

Pretty sure she liked that part too :)

Speaking of sweet faces (cuz that is what we were talking about....), Kelly seemed to enjoy the time at the gym too.  She mostly rolled around on the floor, and experimented with her hands a bit.

It is nice that she is so compact and can fit into little places.  (Told you she can fold in half!)

Makes her a pretty handy thing to take around :)

Gymnastics - Daddy

I am not sure who had more fun at the gymnastics place.  The kids or hubby.  (Love Dylan's face!)

The kids also thought it was super fun to wrestle with daddy on the mats.  Less chance of getting hurt :)

  Walking on the widdle beam :)

Dismount!  I give it an 8.2.

Hubby is still quite flexible and decently strong for an old man.  Every time I turned around, he was doing something.  Flipping, jumping, handstanding, etc.  Most of the time, I wasn't fast enough to catch him on film, and of course he wouldn't do it again for me to watch.

He also did the rope climb, for which he is somewhat famous for in his family.

All the way to the top.  (This is on his way down already)

See!?!?  Told ya!

Before you ask, yes, I did do gymnastics growing up for a while.  Did I try to get on a few things?  Yes, I did.  I was so disgusted with my flabby, out of shape self, that I didn't try for very long...  Its a shame we can't all stay young for ever....

Gymnastics - The Kids

Sunday we had originally planned to go horse back riding in the mountains.  However, the weather took a turn for the cold, and it was snowing in the mountains on Sunday morning.  Ergo, horseback riding = No Go.  As luck would have it, cousin Karley had been invited to a birthday party, and she allowed us to tag along.  This birthday party was at a gymnastics gymnasium.  They allow people to rent it out, with all the original equipment still intact.  The children.  Had.  A.  Ball!

At this point, I was (who am I kidding, still am) learning about my camera and lenses.  

But these were taken with my larger lens.  So, actually, I am decently far away.

Also, please forgive the lighting.  The flash doesn't really work that far away, and all the lights in the building are those weird fluorescent ones.

Kaitlyn got braver :) (Is braver a word?)

Dismount!

Like father like son.  I love, however, that hubby's knees are still on the floor :)

Tender moments.  Love that I was across the room and could still catch it!

Kari, of course, wanted to try and do everything.

Kaitlyn eventually got up on the big beams.  It took her a while, but she did it :)

Then, of course, Dylan had to follow.

Playing with the floor equipment.  I am sure that if I knew how to properly use my camera, this would be an awesome shot, instead of a shady, kind of green one.  Still love her face though!

Towards the end of the party, the kids (and daddy) got tired.  Hubby was relaxing a little bit on the floor, and Dylan just curled up right next to him.  It was rather sweet.

Then he made Daddy get up and help him on the rope again.

Kids can be so touching sometimes :)

Dylan on the Hill

Keeping in mind that I was playing with my camera,and therefore got a ton of pictures.

Lots of them seem to be of Dylan.

Who thoroughly enjoyed it.  I love the feet in the air!

Close up!

I don't know what he is talking about here, but it looks pretty serious.

It was hard work getting up the hill!  (Love the cowboy boots)

Last three pictures of the hill, I promise! 

A study in photography: What happens next?

I'll give you a hint:  It took her practically new pair of jeans, and the one and only pair without a hole in the knee, and turned them into pants just like all the others...  *Sigh*

Cousin Karley

This is cousin Karley.  We stayed at her house.

This is Karley's mom trying to convince her to roll down the hill like her other cousins.  I love the concerned look on her face.  Kari was going to catch her so she didn't go too far.

"Ok mom.  I'll be brave.  I can do it."

Turns out she loved it!

Just like her cousins.  I was barely able to keep her mother from saying "I told you so" ;)

It was so nice to be able to have the cousins play together!

Until it was time to go inside.  Then it was a little bit rough on everybody. :)