Gymboree Class 4 & 5

Claire thought she was in heaven when she realized we were going to Gymboree two days in a row. Due to our upcoming camping trip this next week, we had to schedule the last two classes in our package for Monday and Tuesday in the same week to avoid missing a class altogether. When we arrived on Monday, the room was setup a little differently than it had been previously because it was Gymbo's birthday! Gymbo, the nightmare-inducing hand-puppet clown that these little munchkins go ape over, is the mascot of Gymboree. Nearing the end of each class, teacher Laurie sings the "Time for Gymbo" song and all the kiddos scurry over to Gymbo's home and pound their chubby little hands on it while they wait for him to make his grand appearance on Laurie's hand. He sings songs, he plays games, we waves and kisses each child on the head. What's even better than the goodbye song from Gymbo is the stamp teacher Laurie gives the kids on their hands and feet before they leave. Claire looks forward to the stamp every class and points it out to everyone she sees for the rest of the day.

 As far as the class activities, Gymbo's birthday brought about some altered activities like a new parachute game with a colorful parachute instead of the typical star-covered standard chute. I think this change threw Claire for a loop because she loves to go under the parachute and point at the stars but there were no stars this time. She was miffed. They also played different rockin' tunes than the typical class songs and Claire loved the new jams. Man, does she love to dance! My girl is always the one shaking her booty on the magic carpet, running into other adult's legs and tripping over her own feet. She burns so much energy in those classes! Every class they do what is called the air log game where the kids sit on and bounce up and down to a frog song then roll off the back into their mama's arms. Claire always laughs and says "more! more!" Well, this time instead of being a frog, she was a birthday candle on the top of Gymbo's cake and would roll back when he blew out his candles. It was cute to see her get so excited. After three rounds of "more! more!" the activity ended and my sweet girl cried.

 Tuesday was a repeat of the same activities as the day prior with different children in attendance. Claire didn't seem to mind and it was fun to watch her anticipate some of the activities she would be doing in the class that day. I was sad to leave at the end of the class knowing we probably wouldn't be back for a while. It's not goodbye, Gymboree - it's until next time!