Farewell to gym

After five months of intense work, Caroline has decided she has had enough of the competitive gymnastics scene. At least for now. I struggled with whether or not to let her quit. But she's not happy there anymore. And I don't feel like I should force my five year old if this isn't a sport that she loves. So, with mixed emotions, we said goodbye to her teammates and coaches.

A few pics of how far she's come in her few months with

Coach Thomas and Coach Jami

 Chin-ups

 Handstand

 This one is in a part of the gym that I can't get a good pic of.

But she hangs from the top rung of a ladder and lifts her legs up

until they touch the rung. 

 I love to see her straight legs and pointed toes.

I think I saw the most progress with her on the bar.

In the beginning, they just worked on front support, like this.

But by the time she left she could whip her little body around the bar

with no problem at all.

Like this.

 

 More leg lifts, this time on the bar.

Vault hand stand

This was thing that most blew my mind.

She's in the background with Coach Thomas.

Doing handstand push-ups.

What?

Even back in my weight-lifting, running, closer-to-being-in-shape-days,

I could never see myself doing a handstand push-up. Ever.

She will miss Coach Jamie a lot!

But she will not miss doing splits,

which was the factor that pushed 

her over the edge in wanting to quit.

"It hurts, Mommy. I hate doing splits!"

We'll see what the future holds for Miss Caroline. She's taking the month of December off and we have talked about returning to ballet, or going back to recreational gymnastics, or playing soccer next year. She's got some options.