Open Gym-Basketball

Being homeschooled, our kids don't get regular "gym class", but in the winters, our local high school (just a few blocks away) has open gym time in the afternoon on Saturdays.  It's a couple of dollars to get in, and usually no one is there. So we hold our own basketball clinics with the kids (to be fair, this particular day there was one other person shooting--a 12 year old boy who loves Jesus and had three younger siblings at home, so he was very friendly to our kids). 

I think this is the most adorable basketball player on the face of the earth. (Sorry, Eric, I think you are cute, too, but I know you agree)

Before we left for the gym, Eric told all the kids to get their basketball clothes on.  This produced an array of emotions from our younger girls.  Lydi was thrilled to be wearing basketball clothes.  Ruthie was even more so, especially when she realized her basketball clothes included a jersey.  And when we handed her a ball, too, that was just her size, well, I'm near certain she would have regarded this day as one of her best ever.  And really, what is cuter than a tiny tot holding a tiny basketball wearing basketball shorts that nearly hit her shoes?

Sophia, now, well, that's another story.  She was thrilled to put on a "basketball outfit", until she saw the shorts I was handing her.  She promptly took them, scoffed at them, handed them back, and said, "No, Mama, I won't wear these.  I want to wear a basketball skirt."  So after much back and forth, with me trying to convince her there is no such thing as a basketball skirt, and her crying that there was no way she was going to wear anything but, we compromised.  She wore the shorts under a skirt that she dubbed a "basketball skirt" and she skipped merrily to the gym.

She had a great time bouncing her Sophia-size ball and running all over and visiting with the 12 year old boy.

Later I realized there is only one thing cuter than a tiny tot carrying a tiny ball...a tiny tot carrying a tiny ball AND trying to carry a big ball too.

Sophia had also brought along a dolly in case she needed something else to do, but she didn't really need it.  Ruthie decided it was worth checking out.

But when she couldn't figure out how to hold the dolly AND the ball, she chose to chase the ball.

Meanwhile, this whole time Eric kept the two older kids busy doing a lot of things like this.

All in all, we had a great time and look forward to going back on the weekends.  It was exhausting, so Ruthie came home and promptly found a quiet activity to relax.

But she still wanted to wear the basketball clothes.  Lydi, also still sporting her basketball shorts, preferred to relax on Grandpa's lap.