For their first gymnastics recital, Samantha, Amelia and the Tumblebee squad transformed into squeezable little polar bears for their part in the “Who Let a Zoo Loose?” show. Getting a hundred kids dressed in costume, in and out of their performance, complete with equipment and set changes was really impressive on the gym’s part– they’ve obviously got this down. My favorite part was not shelling out a fortune for a recital costume we’d never use again; instead, they have you show up, find a costume that fits and rent it for the performance. Easy and fun!
We sent Jake as our family representative to Cousin Ben’s law school graduation that morning, and I had a babysitter watch Meredith, who would not have lasted more than a few minutes at the show, so it was a Mommy Twin date! I was really nervous sitting and waiting for the girls to come on, imagining that they would flat-out refuse to come out, be paralyzed with fear as soon as they saw the crowd, or have a meltdown with all the blinding lights, loud music and general sensory overload. They were one of the very last groups in the 45 minute show to perform, so I can’t imagine how their coaches were keeping all the kids busy backstage, but I didn’t hear a peep.
To my shock and relief, the girls seemed completely unfazed when they crawled out of their polar bear cage and took the stage. Since they didn’t really have a routine they practiced during their regular gymnastics class, the kids pretty much just followed what their teacher was doing, and some of the little bears lost their way. They were still adorable! In the video, Samantha is the second to come out of the cage and Amelia was one of the last ones. Love the near-polar-bear-cage-fail at the beginning.
Even for the older performers, the recital did not really showcase all the skills the kids practice in class, like the beam and bars, but with such a short performance and having to herd 15+ groups of kids in and out, I can see why they made it simple.
It was fun watching the other gymnasts perform to see what they do at the higher levels and I wish Samantha and Amelia could have watched. But the very best was the babies! Everyone let out a collective “AWWWWWW” when the toddler class came out in plush tiger, lion and bear costumes and “performed” (i.e. sat on their parents’ laps and did a few somersaults) and swayed to “Rainbow Connection.” Not a dry eye in the house. After the performance, the girls were proud of themselves and thought the whole thing was worth it just to get a cake pop from the treats table afterwards. 
Meanwhile, in San Diego…. congrats, Ben! 
Lots of love,
