Grandstanding Handstanding Dova

About a year ago, Dova was asked to join the "team" at our local gymnastics place where she had taken tumbling classes since she was four.  I, of course, took this as an attempt by the gym to extort more money from us by raising the tuition.  She never really showed any skill at gymnastics and wasn't even able to do a decent cartwheel after three years.  But she had her heart set on it, so I shelled out the big bucks.  A few months later, they had their spring show and surprisingly, she demonstrated a pretty decent handstand.



After that, she started doing handstands just about everywhere imaginable.  Here she is at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA during the airing of "A Prairie Home Companion".



And at the beach.



This past November, Dova had her first gymnastics meet.  Now up to this point, our only involvement in Dova's gymnastics was to pay the big bucks and send her the practice twice a week.  We really had no idea what her level of proficiency was.  So it was pretty exciting to watch her in all events for the first time.  And sure enough, her handstand during the floor routine was nearly perfect.



Dova's bar routine lasted all of 15 seconds, but she scored an impressive 9.40.



And check out the height on her tuck jump on the balance beam



Such poise and confidence!! We were beaming with pride.



But the biggest surprise occurred at the end of the meet when Dova took first place in the all around competition for her level.  Wow, that's our girl on the top of the podium!



I guess all that money and chauffeuring paid off.  What a sense of accomplishment for Dova!  It was a proud moment for our entire family.  We are so proud of you Dova!