Kate's Gymnastics Birthday Party

Kate's birthday is June 3rd but for some reason I always have her party early.  A lot of people leave town once school is out but honestly, this time of year is SO busy that I am not sure this is the best time to have it either.  This week was a killer.  We had major things going on every single day and I am completely exhausted.

Kate had a BLAST at her party.  If you've followed our blog for a while, you know that I usually do pretty elaborate home based parties for her.  But this year, she wanted her party at the gym where she does gymnastics.  I will admit... it was a little hard to give up the vision we/she had had earlier of a nutcracker party at home.  But I let it go and let her have the fun party she ended up wanting.  I kept things very, very simple.

This gym is Kate's home away from home right now...she trains there 9 hours a week.  So, she was very comfortable there with her friends.


I will give you my standard warning....there are a million photos in this post and I am not apologizing for that. We are not usually allowed in the gym while the girls are training so I never get to take pictures of Kate doing what she loves best.  Needless to say, I took advantage of this opportunity! I am just preparing you;)

Kate was SO excited when her friend, Libbie showed up.  Kate LOVES Libbie so much!  In fact, Kate did not want to book a gymnastics party unless she was sure Libbie could participate.  So sweet.

Kate's favorite part of gymnastics right now is the bars (which is also the hardest for her due to upper body strength). She works extra hard on bars and would have spent the whole party there if she could have.

I wish a) that I had Kate's legs and b) I had video here...





Kate was showing me her dismount....





She really amazes me with her work ethic and determination.
She has only been doing gymnastics for a few months!

Again, I wish this was video but I never get to see her work on the bars and I want to document her beginnings in gymnastics...













Kate's coach came over to help her with a move she is very close to getting....

Untitled from Kim S on Vimeo.

Untitled from Kim S on Vimeo.

This next photo is dark and grainy but it shows how Kate is all the time with her friends...laughing and giggling with that big old dimple...

I love this shot of Harry and Libbie below.  All of the kids were zip-lining into the foam pit.  Libbie watched with great interest but I don't think she wanted to give it a try.  Harry gently (in his sweet Harry way) encouraged her to give it a go!

And she did!!!





And her sweet Mama (who was also celebrating a birthday) was there to catch her!





Kate had fun zip lining too....














This is one of Kate's favorite rec coaches, Coach Amanda.

  I wish she was a team coach.  She is very sweet.

A group shot of the whole gang...

Then it was time for cake and ice cream

Favors were white chocolate covered pretzel rods (olympic torches?) tied to a balloon.  

 See, I told you I kept it simple.  I made them the night before (easy, peasy)

Unfortunately, Will was working.  

He is a lifeguard at our local pool and was disappointed to not be at Kate's party.

After the party, Libbie and Shelly came over to help open gifts and hang out with us.

These girls are so cute together!

Meanwhile, who knew Shelly was a champion ping pong player?!  

She played both Dave and Harry in some heated games!!!




Whew...that was a lot of uploading!  It was a fun party.  I hope you enjoyed it!