Beau and Carmella Decide a Circus Life is the Life for them . . .

Saturday we finally had Carmella's gymnastic party to celebrate her 6th birthday. It is at the same gym that we had her 5th birthday party. When she said that was where she wanted to have her party again I was all for it because as places to have your kid's birthday party go this place is way cheap and way fun. The kids have a blast. And, as I said, it is cheap.

This year they made all the kid's parents sign a wavier.
Last year, I guess, we had the opportunity to sue them. Damn it. Yet another multi-million dollar waste and abuse the US legal system lawsuit opportunity missed. Sigh, someday I will get my McD's coffee millions and sue some corporate giant because I am a dumb ass and too stupid to use common sense. Oops, little soapbox aside.

Kid's party. Focus.

This is a real gym, by the way. No clean little My Gym or the Little Gym. This place has the real equipment and tons of dusty chalk particles to prove it.

It is funny but this is not where Carmella takes gymnastics. It is more expensive for classes than where she takes gymnastics. (Actually, even funnier, she doesn't take gymnastics this year but wants to go back to it next year. So took gymnastics. Not take, I guess, would be more correct.)


This gym is great because once a month they have an open house and you can come and play for free for a few hours. My kids love it. And I love it too because I get to practice my very rusty gymnastic skills on the safe plushness of crash mats and get a little extra ump from the spring floor for tumbling. Which at 35 is really stumbling, er fumbling, I mean bumbling. Whatever-- it is anything and everything but graceful and fluid.

Beau especially loves this gym.

And, surprise surprise, he is absolutely fearless.

In my opinion he was less impressive this year since he is now 3 1/2 and last year he was 2 1/2 and doing all the same stuff. But the parents of Carmella's classmates--who don't know Beau-- were shocked and impressed. This always happens when people don't know Beau's history. They are always shocked and amazed at how daring he is. The rest of us, who know him, are use to it, tired of the heart attacks and as he gets older find it less impressive-- since, you know, he was doing this stuff at one and now he is 3. It is old hat. He is, though, still, totally fearless. Wisdom has not come with age for him. And at least this year I didn't have to spend the party digging him out of the foam pit. This year he was able to climb out on his own. I was also less concerned about him being crushed by older kids since they probably only have 5-10 lbs on him at this point. Small favors.

Mid party the gym helpers called out "Who wants to fly?" And without hesitation I heard "Me! Me! Me!" from the pit.
And I knew he had no idea what they meant but was just totally on board with the philosophical question of who wants to fly.
In his mind, it is who doesn't want to fly?
So Beau?
Yep.
He was first in line.
Not many of the other kids were too keen on the flying and preferred to stick with the foam pit, trampoline and rope swing.

However Carmella--who would probably naturally show more fear but since her younger brother doesn't show any-- she saved face and sucked it up for the party and flew. I could tell she was nervous but I was less nervous for her than I was for Beau even though they lifted her higher. I was worried Beau would try a trick or slip out since he was so small. I knew Carmella wouldn't. This is a kid who has never trusted anything. I mean at 4 months old she could sit very well but always held on tight to the sides of things or me and always had this very worried expression that she might, given a horrific earth quake, could take a serious tumble-- or more likely, I might stumble and drop her. She has just never been very trusting. And for a girl? I think that is a pretty damn good trait to have. If only I had been so blessed. Oh the life lessons I could have avoided. Alas, I am like the boy and didn't believe the fire was hot till I got burnt.
After an hour or so of tumbling the kids had to be dragged off the floor to come to the party room for pizza and cake. They rushed through it so they could go back out for a few more minutes of running, swinging, jumping and flying. The party was suppose to end at 6 but I think they finally pushed us all out just before 6:30.
On the way home Carmella said she wanted to have the party there next year too. At this rate we will be having her graduation party there. Then we really will need that wavier.