Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Gymnastics

The kids have been in gymnastics off and on for the last three years. We’ve tried to be in it as much as we could, but sometimes it just didn’t work out with other activities. Lately, our gymnastics academy has become very competitive. And I’m not taking about the kids. I talked to another mom at church who also has a daughter in gymnastics. She said she had shown up the first day of registration to find the line stretched outside the office. I told her it was getting really full when I signed up on the second day, but I was able to get the kids in a class. During the next session registration, I couldn’t get to gymnastics to sign them up the first day. The kids had their class during the second day of registration so I wasn’t worried about not getting them into a class. Wow, was I wrong. I couldn’t even get Torii into a class. I’ve never had a problem getting him in. Cordelia’s classes fill up fast, but Torii’s I wasn’t worried about at all. The kids were really disappointed so we decided to check out the gymnastics across the river. So far we really like this gymnastics. The classes are smaller and they have more than one coach for each class. Torii’s previous class consisted of six boys and one coach. I felt bad for the kid trying to keep those boys on task. It would be tough for anyone. Torii’s current class has two other boys and two coaches. Not only do these coaches seem more enthusiastic about coaching, but having two coaches allows them more one-on-one time with the boys. Torii has been able to practice his skills more in each class and gets more advice from his coaches on how to improve. Cordelia’s class is the same size as before, but again with more than one coach to keep an eye on them all. While the facility may not offer all that the previous one did, the kids are really enjoying this gymnastics. I really like it too. I can actually watch most of their practice. (The previous place had an obstructed view). And the gymnastics is in an old building downtown so I continually marvel at some of the building’s features and construction. The only thing I don’t like is that they don’t have a time that Torii and Cordelia could be in gymnastics at the same time. It’s not that big of a deal to drive over there twice a week, but I could see it becoming too much. There are currently times that we are only home one day a week. While we hated leaving the other gymnastics, I think it was time for a change and this one seems to be working out.

Wordless Wednesday

Learning to ride a bike

Last summer Rion wanted to learn to ride his bike. So we tried to teach him. We spent countless hours trying to help him. There were many times that he seemed so close to taking off. And then he would fall. Then came the tears and the self-doubt. Rion doesn't do well when things are hard and riding a bike was proving hard. Many of our lessons ended with Rion crying that he would never learn to ride his bike and me frustrated that he gave up so easily. Meanwhile, Torii, who is never one to give up, was riding his bike all over the place. Near the end of summer, Torii's bike broke. Since Rion didn't look like he would be riding it any time soon, I let Torii use Rion's bike. More recently, we've been enjoying an early spring and spending a lot of time outside. A couple of weeks ago Torii took out Rion's bike since his bike was still out of commission. Rion had a fit. He wanted to ride his bike. Dreading a repeat of last summer, I asked Rion if he was really going to learn to ride his bike this summer. He said he would so I prepared myself for another tough lesson. But before  I could get another word out, Rion hopped on his bike and took off. I asked him if had been practicing lately and he said he hadn't. And just like that, my little bird found his wings and learned to fly.

Weekend with the boys

Not long ago, Fred and I saw Elton John in concert. After the concert I regretted not taking the boys. Sure, they only knew some of Elton John's songs from Gnomeo and Juliet, but they would have had fun. So when it was announced that he would be performing in Grand Forks, I had to get tickets. I wasn't really looking forward to driving to Grand Forks just for a concert, but sometimes I'm just not willing to say, "We'll do that someday, but not today." Plus how cool is it that the boys can say their first concert was an Elton John concert? Since the boys and I went to Grand Forks and Fred had to work, Cordelia stayed with Grandpa and Grandma for the weekend. That was nice for her since she doesn't get to spend a lot of time alone with them. And as much as I missed Cordelia, it was nice just hanging out with the boys. I always find it funny how removing one person from a group can change the dynamics. I especially enjoyed my time with Rion. We don't get to spend a lot of time together. Mostly because his brother and sister are such attention hogs. There were moments over the weekend that I looked at Rion and couldn't believe how big he has gotten. He's already changing into a young man. And he's such a smart, creative, thoughtful guy. Sometimes I forget that because he's often the source of my frustrations at home. It was great having that time together.

The boys really liked the concert. They started to get tired about 9:30. I figured we had to be getting to the end of the concert soon so I told them to hang on a little longer. Plus we wanted to hear "Crocodile Rock" before going. Well, he finally sang it at 10:40. It was the last song before the encore so we stayed to listen to the encore as well. The best moment of the night was when Elton John sang "The Bitch is Back." I don't think I've ever played that song for the kids. Not only because of the word bitch in the title, but it's not on either one of the Elton John Cd's I have. The kids might not have noticed the offending word if it had just been sung, but the word was also flashed over and over on the giant screens behind the stage. I looked over at Rion and his eyes were huge. "Mom, he said the "B" word!" We had a lot of fun and I'm glad we went.

Wordless Wednesday