We Love Gymboree!!

Since Camryn won't be in daycare over the summer, we were trying to come up with some activities that she can do with other kids her age while we are on "vacation". Plus, we need to keep ourselves occupied and not bored, which happens pretty easily. We did get a pool membership for the summer, but that won't necessarily give her the opportunity to play with other kids. So, yesterday, Chris and I discussed trying out Gymboree. I went online to see if we could sign up for a free class and they had an opening for her age this morning. Because it was going to rain, we didn't have anything planned, so I signed us up. This morning, I told her that we were going to play with some new friends and she seemed excited. As soon as we parked the car at Gymboree, she told us she wanted to go play. The kids have free reign on the mats, ramps, slides, tunnels, etc before the class starts, so we took our shoes off and went on in. She was a little hesitant at first, but once she realized she was allowed to play on all of it, she was excited to explore. It killed me to not take a million pictures of her, but I didn't want to be an obnoxious parent on our first day. So, I discreetly took a few pictures of her jumping on the trampoline just so I had something from our first day. After that, the class started. We were extremely impressed with the class and her willingness to follow directions and participate. They all had fun pretending to be in a bus (her favorite), driving cars all over the ramps and tunnels, playing hide and seek and dancing and singing with Gymbo the Clown, chasing bubbles, playing with maracas, and playing with the parachute (mommy and daddy's favorite). Camryn enjoyed all of the activities and was very good with the other children. We all had so much fun! Before class was even over, we were sold. After class, all of the kids got stamps of Gymbo (Camryn chose to have stamps on her hands and her belly) and we talked to the owner about signing up. She told us that she has a discount for teachers in the summer, so we could get 3 months for the price of 2. The prices are so reasonable anyway, but this was even better. We don't usually make decisions so quickly, but this didn't even require any thought. So, we are all signed up for the rest of May and the whole summer. We have unlimited access to all of the Gymboree classes in her age group as well as free play times throughout the week. It was really a bargain for everything we get. When I asked Camryn if she wanted to come back, she yelled "yeah"! So, we are all happy!

PS Just a side note: This particular Gymboree is famous because it was where Jon and Kate Plus 8 took the sextuplets on an episode. Chris says I am obsessed with the show, so I had to mention it. He laughs at me whenever I tell him that I saw the twins in school (they go to one of my schools) like they are celebrities. I can't help that I like the show! :)