The majority of our summer schedule was taken up by our YMCA membership. Between volleyball practices and games and ballet, gymnastics, and cheer classes, the Y has kept us super busy this summer. We started back in May so I included some of our first pictures then, but here is a recap of everything the girls have been doing at the Y this summer. Abby played on the 3rd and 4th grade volleyball team since it was her first time and she had just finished 4th grade. But since she had played some with me and her friends, she was one of the better players. She had a lot of fun. They were the Mustangs and had games every Saturday.
They won their first game. I decided to take pictures of the score after both sets. The first score is 19-25 and the second is 11-25. Abby was the server who scored the last point to win their first set. And she returned the serve to win the second set and game. It was awesome - the best way to start out the season. They lost a few games through the season, but won the majority of them.
She had fun getting to know her teammates and making new friends. We have signed Abby up to play the next season which doesn't start until mid-September, but now that she's in 5th grade, she had to sign up for the older division, 5th-7th. We're hoping she can hang in there with the older, bigger girls, but she's excited to work hard and improve. Here's her Mustangs team with her coach, Cristina.
Most Saturdays, Tyler and I had to divide and conquer because Abby's volleyball games overlapped with the girls' cheer class and they were held at different locations. Sometimes we made it in time for Abby to join them like she did this day. Abby was a good base with the teacher, Miss Shannon, to let the littler girls be the top of the stunts.
At the end of June, the gymnastics program at the Y put on a show. Since all of our girls were in classes, they were all excited to perform and be a part of the show. Here's Taryn lining up with her class to show off some of the skills that they learned in the parent/child gymnastics class like forward rolls and table tops. Taryn was excited to get her certificate as you can tell from her pose.
The older girls also showed some floor and beam skills from their gymnastics classes and then did all of the cheers and stunts that they had learned from their cheer class.
Our girls were 3 of the 4 girls who attended cheer, so they were the cheer performance. They did a great job yelling loudly and performing the stunts.
Aubrey has really improved on her gymnastics. She does cartwheels and backward rolls almost perfectly when she hadn't been able to do them at all before she started taking classes. The funny thing is she does left-handed cartwheels even though she's right-handed. I thought that was interesting, but she's really good at them now. Tessa has also greatly improved. She moved up to the Rollers class after one month in beginners and picked up their routines quickly too. Her class actually performed USGA Level 1 routines on the floor and beam. I didn't get any pictures since I was recording them, but we were so proud of her for performing in front of a large audience and for doing so well.
Here's a final picture of all the participants. All of our girls had a lot of fun performing. This was pretty much the end of Abby's gymnastic classes. Once we started limiting their classes after we couldn't spend 5 days going to the Y every week, Abby backed down to only one class along with her volleyball. The other girls kept gymnastics, but slowly cut back on ballet by the end of the summer, but they enjoyed getting some basic training in a variety of classes.
Later in the summer, Taryn and Aubrey also signed up for an art class. Since we were there already for one of Tessa's gymnastic classes, it worked out that the art classes were at the same time. Taryn's class was called "sticky fingers" and they created something each week. Here are a few pictures of her creations. They made a crown from egg cartons and pipe cleaners that they painted themselves. And they made their own slime one week after finishing their crown (which Taryn is wearing in the picture). Aubrey's class was called "creative mess" and they made some art/abstract pictures using paint and other items one week, and they also made things like slime, play-doh, and bouncy balls. They really enjoyed the art classes.
One month Abby tried the Dance Fitness class. It was pretty much zumba for kids, but she liked it. It overlapped with the other girls' ballet classes, but they liked to join in with the dancing once they were done with ballet. I thought it looked really fun. I wanted to jump up and dance with them, but I figured they wouldn't like that too much. It was good exercise for them.
I took this picture of Tessa and Aubrey one day before they gymnastic classes because they had decided to wear their cowgirl boots to and from the Y that day. I thought it was hilarious, especially because the boots were too big for the girls, but they love wearing them anyway. Tessa was not very flexible when she started taking classes, although she picked up the tumbling skills quickly. However, with regular stretching at the Y and at home, by the end of the summer, she can do the splits almost all the way. This picture was taken around mid-August, but currently she can go even further. We are very impressed with her hard work and dedication.
The final Friday in August, which happened to also be our last week of YMCA classes, they held another performance show. We decided once school started our days would be too busy, so we stopped going to the Y, so this performance was the last hurrah for the girls until possibly next summer. It had more of a show feel because they moved all the equipment into the basketball court and even glittered all the girls' hair.
I love the picture of Taryn because randomly, Tessa happened to be the one on the beam in the background during their warmup. I thought that was pretty cool. Grandma and Grandpa Black were in town that weekend right before they left for China, so they were able to be there in the audience. Abby took a selfie of us while we waited for the show to begin.
Aubrey and Taryn both performed with the intro class kids. They did rolls, cart wheels,and hand stands. They even took turns on the beam and vault.
Here they are with the three coaches, Shannon, Malorie, and Melissa. We loved these ladies. They worked really well with the younger kids and they were so good themselves, able to show the older girls exactly what they were supposed to be doing. It was a great experience for all of our girls.
Tessa's Rollers group was the main event of the show. They each did their Level 1 routines on the floor and beam. They did a couple jumps on the vault too. Tessa was the first one on every event. She performed perfectly. I was so proud of her! Here she is warming up on the beam and waiting in line with Aubrey and her friend Georgia.
Here's their final bow and a group shot with the coaches.
There were also some performances by the more advanced Rollers 2 group, and an advanced tumbling class of three boys. They all performed really well and it was good for Tessa to see what the next level is if she keeps it up. Here are a couple shots with everyone who performed. It was a fun night.
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