State Gymnastics

We survived our first competitive gymnastics season! Cali qualified to participate in the state meet fairly early in the season. Each meet she got better, more confident, and enjoyed each experience. 

This year the Rock Springs Rec Center hosted the meet, so it was nice not traveling for a change. The afternoon of the big day I picked Cali up early from school so she could make her 4pm warm up time. Of course, there was hair and makeup and packing up snacks and filling water bottles and trying to calm the nerves. 

We made it to the rec center in time to get a good seat, and we settled in for the evening. As a mother of three children, I often find it hard to be present in the small moments of life. I've never been a space cadet, an air head, or lacked in the attention span department. It just happens that with three kids going in three directions, my abilities to play a solid zone defense are sometimes lacking.

As I wrestled Caleb (physically) and Carter (emotionally) during the never-ending warmups and all the waiting that comes with a gymnastics meet, I tried to focus on watching Cali and connecting with the emotions that she must be feeling. After 2.5 hours of sitting and watching, the boys had finally had enough. Thankfully,  Christian made it there just in time and Marissa came bearing a cute candy poster to give to Cali.

 

Cali gave a great performance on all of her events and ended up taking 6th on the bars, 7th on the beam, and 11th overall. It has been so rewarding to see her grow personally through the competition experience. She will be training hard this spring and summer, and we'll see where next fall takes us!