Ava's Tumbling Show

Ava in her bridge

Today Ava participated in her studio's tumbling show.  She was part of the preview a week ago, but this was the big show dedicated just to the tumblers.  If I have not said it before, I'll say it now...tumbling is Ava's niche!  She loves it and practices all the time!  She literally practices so much that Kelly and I have had to make her stop and rest.  On our way to one practice earlier this year, Ava complained that her stomach was hurting.  I told her that if she did not feel up to going to class, we could go home and rest.  She would have none of that and insisted on going to practice.  Once we got in the car after practice she started to cry.  When I asked what was wrong she said that she had not stuck a move at practice and was upset.  I assured her that it was okay and reminded her that she wasn't feeling well.  Then my child said, "I'm just upset because I didn't do my best."  Unbelievable!!  I have never been around a 5-year old child that was so highly motivated to be the best at something.

Getting ready for a kart-wheel

Her performance at the show was close to perfect!  She did some of the basics like front rolls, back rolls, and some balancing moves.  Then she went on to more difficult moves: kart-wheels, ONE-arm kart-wheel, hand stand into a back bend, back bend (then come back up), back bend kick-over.  She had just learned the back bend kick-over two days before and she nailed them at the show.  My flip video died before she got to some of the hard stuff so here is a video of her doing one-arm kart-wheels.

As an aside, this studio is awesome!  Ava started taking tumbling this past August when she was 4 and has learned so much in 10 months that it is absolutely unbelievable!  The instructors at the studio are very committed to the students and ensuring that the students learn the correct way to perform a move.  I'm very excited to see what she learns this summer and next year!