One-Handed Handstand

Yes, she is 9 years old.  And, yes, she is doing a handstand on ONE HAND! 

2 Week Break...

Rylee has 2 weeks off from gymnastics and tumbling before her cRaZy summer schedule starts... she's busy riding her bike, playing outside, shopping, baking, playing games and watching movies, playing with her sisters and brother and enjoying being a 9y/o! I am LOVING having her home with us... she's such a fun girl.  Always smiling and laughing and ready for some FUN!

Rylee qualified for JUNIOR OLYMPICS

Rylee participated in the AAU IL State Tumbling Championship today, placed 2nd and qualified for JUNIOR OLYMPICS!  I am so proud of this girl!  She is heading to Virginia Beach to compete in August!  Lots of work ahead for her to be ready ... but wow, what an incredible experience this will be for her.

And look... she made the paper!!  LOVE this shot!

She Loves Roman Numerals

No school today but that really means nothing here 😋 Rylee wanted to do a spelling challenge so I told her to number her paper from 1-50 while I started some laundry and I would be happy to tell her words from the challenging book while making some veggie soup for lunch.

Walked back upstairs to find her paper numbered 1-50 in roman numerals. I was like, "Rylee, what is that?" ... and she said, "I just love roman numerals"! Love her!

10.0 is an A+

This is how you grade a gymnasts school work. Rylee understood that a 10.0 was the *BEST* before she even cared about what grades she was getting on her school work (and yes... other grades are written like 98 = 9.8, 92 = 9.2, 85 = 8.5). 

The first time I graded one of her papers and handed it back to her she literally CRIED because she didn't get a 10.0 😄 I remember this moment clearly because it was a *big deal* ("this will be your first recorded grade!!"... YAY, exciting) and she took one look at her 100 and broke into tears 😱 

I have graded her papers like this ever since. 

Box Jump PR!

Rylee nailed a 30" box jump today!  SO proud of her!

Making Her Own Music

Rylee while stretching this morning: "Do you know how I know if I'm on or not when I'm doing my skills? I can hear it ... as I flip around the bar, tumble across the floor, do my big skills on the beam, and sprint down the vault runway and hit the springboard. I just know it .... I hear it before I feel it. I LOVE the rhythm I can make"...