Kate's (aka Mommy's) new favorite outing

Kate and I have started going to a new place to play the last few weeks. My playgroup introduced us to the Ecke YMCA gymnasium for open gym playtime. Every day for an hour, they open their gym (not the kind with treadmills and ellipticals but with fun things like balance beams, trampolines, bars, rings, and foam pits) for free play on all the fun equipment. They have the items mentioned above as well as lots of squishy things to climb on and parents can let their babies have free run of the place. It is a blast and Kate seems to really enjoy it. I think she is really going to love it when she starts walking.

Today we went to the gym for the second time and were joined by Auntie L and our personal photographer, Daddy. Here are the highlights from our baby workout at the gym.

We usually start out the day on the baby trampoline. Kate really loves crawling back and forth at top speed. I know this because she squeals happily with every "step" she takes. You might notice Auntie L in the background checking her phone
...though she will claim that she was trying to take pictures.

Once Kate gets off the trampoline she takes off across the gym and makes use of the ample floor space to work on her crawling. At least a quarter of her time at the gym is spent cruising around the room on the soft ground.

Today, Kate was fascinated with the rope hanging from the ceiling. I don't know what it was but she loved pulling and throwing the rope and watching it swing past her.

Here she is taking a little breather before she takes off across the room again.

Off again across the room. This time she took off towards the short balance beams. Maybe someday she will be as great as this olympian. Though, I don't know that she will meet the height restrictions to be a competitive gymnast.

The gym sets up obstacles for the kids to climb on and through.
Kate has pretty much got this one mastered.

Auntie L tried to help Kate swing on the rings. She would grab on but then immediately let go.
Perhaps it won't be her apparatus.

Auntie L really loves this picture and it really epitomizes Kate's pouty face. I promise she was having fun. I am sure that we will become very familiar with this face as Kate gets older.

Our final stop of the trip around the gym is in the giant foam pit. Just to give you an idea how big this is, Daddy jumped into it feet first, all 6'4" of him, and didn't hit the ground. Once you are in it is pretty hard to get out, and watch out for your socks.

Kate isn't 100% sure about the pit but for the most part has a pretty good time sitting in the foam, playing with the squares, and having us toss her (very lightly of course) into the pit.

Perhaps my love of the foam pit comes from a movie that I adored as a kid. This clip will bring back some great memories for those of you who watched the TV movie Nadia when you were little girls and dreamt of being an Olympic gymnast someday.