Our Little Olga Korbut
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Princess Monkeytoes took another step down the "growing up" path last night when she participated in her first gymnastics competition: "Crazy Cartwheels." In truth, Crazy Cartwheels is not a really a gymnastics competition, but an opportunity for younger pre-competition gymnasts to start acclimating to the experience of a gymnastics competition.
Zoe takes gymnastics instruction at Peninsula Gymnastics which is a serious gym with competitive teams who do very well at the state and regional levels. But Zoe is just at the "Pre-Team" level at this point - meaning more serious than the "recreational" program, but she hasn't been yet descended upon by the Russians (yep, its a Russian and Ukrainian dominated faculty). And the "routines" she's doing at this point pretty much consist of a mount, dismount, salute and maybe something basic in the middle. But they're learning the form along with a lot of strength and basics skill development. Oh, did I mention that the lil' monkey really loves it?
A big shout out to Katherine for give Zoe amazing French braids in her hair. Preparing the kids for the whole competition thing, they got competitive leotards (two sizes too small by design; underwear is a no-no), and have to have their hair completely secured. How Katherine managed to get four rows of French braid AND enough in the back for a bun, is beyond me. But Zoe was quite proud of her braids, and is going to see if she can keep them all week.
The "competition" was a bit of a zoo...probably like real competitions. It was chaotic, stressful, loud. And Zoe was champ. Clearly nervous, she was focused. All the little girls were adorable and little champions. It was hard getting decent pictures, but these were the best I could produce. Enjoy.