There’s another 4 to 7 inches of snow headed for the Roxiticus Valley tonight and tomorrow, so I’ve decided to warm things up by reviewing London and Maddie’s summer camp options. While I will write about ballet, tennis, singing and acting camps in the coming weeks, today’s focus is gymnastics summer camp for kids 5 and up.

London and Maddie are in the midst of another great year of weekly gymnastics lessons at Randolph Gymnastics.  The new session started the week of February 8th and runs through May 1st. If you’d like your child to get started right away, they’re very flexible about pro-rating the session cost for the remaining weeks.   Since the kids have off from school today (Monday, February 15th) for Presidents’ Day, Randolph Gymnastics is hosting an open workout from 1 to 3pm. It’s a great chance for you to see how your kids like it while you meet the instructors. For $10/person, you can turn them loose at Randolph Gymnastics, where instead of jumping on your sofa, kids can go crazy on the inflatables (giant slide and bouncing castle), as well as the trampolines, balance beams, and other gymnastics equipment, all supervised by a staff of professional instructors.

A few weeks ago, Rex and I had the chance to stop by and see our girls in action during a Friday make up lesson, and we continue to be impressed when we see Maddie cartwheeling on the balance beam and London’s back flips on the trampoline.

Over the summer, starting the week of June 28th and running through August 27th, Randolph Gymnastics offers a 10-week Summer Day Camp Program for aspiring gymnasts age 5 and up to learn or maintain their gymnastics skills during the off-season. Both a full and half day camp schedule is available. The full day runs from 9:00am through 4:00pm and half day runs 9:00am through 1:00pm. Before care starting at 8am and after care until 6pm is available if needed for $5/hour per child. Some of the camp’s activities will include: recreational gymnastics & open work-out, arts & crafts, games and races, swimming, non-contact team sports, and a climbing wall.

The awesome climbing wall shown in the photo on the left is right next door at Randolph Climbing Center, where London and Maddie have enjoyed several rock climbing birthday parties.

The Randolph Gymnastics Summer Day Camp schedule is flexible, and you’ll find rates on the Randolph Gymnastics web site for one to five days per week and one to ten weeks of camp.

Call Randolph Gymnastics at (973) 584-4111 to learn more about summer camp, group classes, private lessons or birthday parties. If you let Shannon know that Roxy sent you, she’ll arrange for an age and skill appropriate free trial class for your child.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like the last month or so of holidays was both relaxing and a blur… while we had plenty of family time, including Rex’s terrific holiday meals, with London and Maddie’s brothers, sister, niece, nephews and grandmothers, we got away from our usual routines… ballet, modern dance, gymnastics.  Now that we’re back at school, we’re off to a great start in the New Year 2010, and the girls are happy to be back to their after-school classes at Randolph Gymnastics, including a couple of fun Friday night make-ups with Coach Jordan for the classes we missed during the hectic holidays.

Our Friday night make-up sessions have become a big event for the whole family, since instead of having our nanny drive the girls to class, Rex and I go along to see the progress they’re making in their classes at Randolph Gymnastics, followed by dinner at Pizza Pub in Ironia or Redwoods in Chester, NJ.  Even though our girls will never be Olympic champions, we are always impressed with the moves and positions they’re able to perform… Maddie has become a master of the “bridge” and is practicing the back walkover… a position that demonstrates her incredible flexibility, while London loves the back bend kickover so much that she’s writing a “how to” for her third grade class.  Both of the girls keep working to improve their flips, handsprings and carthweels on the in-ground power tumble track.  Whenever I see them bouncing down the track, I want to jump right in! Even though many of the moves are quite challenging, with Coach Jordan there to “spot” the girls (and catch them before they fall), we never have to worry that they’ll hurt themselves by doing something they shouldn’t.  A reminder that if your child is really talented, Randolph Gymnastics also offers private lessons with many of their coaches.

Even though we’re just past ten days of Christmas holidays, on Monday, January 18th, London and Maddie and kids all over New Jersey are looking forward to a day off in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Instead of having the kids running around the house, bouncing off the walls and looking for something to do… why not let them burn off that energy with an Open Workout at Randolph Gymnastics? For $10/person, you can turn them loose at Randolph Gymnastics, where instead of jumping on your sofa, kids can go crazy on the inflatables (giant slide and bouncing castle), as well as the trampolines, balance beams, and other gymnastics equipment, all supervised by a staff of professional instructors. Open Workouts will be offered at Randolph Gymnastics from 1:00 to 3:00pm on Monday, January 18th (MLK), and Monday, February 15th (Presidents’ Day).

The next session starts February 8th and runs through May 1st, with open registration starting on January 25th. So if your children love their Open Workout, you can meet the instructors and sign up for weekly classes, available for all ages and abilities. London and Maddie have been attending classes since they were toddlers, and while they’re not likely to make the Randolph Gymnastics team, they’ve progressed to Novice II and Novice III and show no sign of stopping.

Call Randolph Gymnastics at (973) 584-4111 to learn more about group classes, private lessons or birthday parties. If you let Shannon know that Roxy sent you, she’ll arrange for an age and skill appropriate free trial class for your child.

While London and Maddie may never be strong enough gymnasts to make the Randolph Gymnastics team, that doesn’t stop us from admiring their achievements and aspiring to greatness. Tonight — Tuesday, December 1st – from 4:00pm to 7:00pm, the amazing Randolph Gymnastics Team will host a Lia Sophia Designs Jewelry Open House. 20% of orders placed tonight will go directly to the Randolph Gymnastics Team. If you’re able to participate, your support will be greatly appreciated by this terrific group of gymnasts.

Bring a friend…share the fun! There truly is something for everyone at the Lia Sophia Jewelry Fundraiser for the Randolph Gymnastics team.

Date: Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Time: 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Place: Randolph Gymnastics
3 Middleburry Blvd.
Randolph, NJ 07869
Contact: Shannon Moretti: 973-584-4111

London and Maddie had a blast yesterday during their Halloween Week make-up class at Randolph Gymnastics… I was going to wear my pirate costume to try to sneak onto the giant inflatable slide, but my girls told me the staff would realize that I didn’t fit in as soon as they saw my attempt at a cartwheel.  Everyone loves the special tricks and treats the have at Randolph Gymnastics for Halloween Week, and it was sooo funny to see London climbing the rope and doing roundoffs with her purple rock star hair flipping right along with her.

Coming up in November, London and Maddie and kids all over New Jersey will have two days off — Thursday, November 5th and Friday, November 6th — for the NJ Teachers’ Convention.  Pumped up on Halloween candy, they’ll be running around the house, bouncing off the walls and looking for something to do… why not let them burn off that energy with an Open Workout at Randolph Gymnastics?  For $10/person, you can turn them loose at Randolph Gymnastics, where instead of jumping on your sofa, kids can go crazy on the inflatables (giant slide and bouncing castle), as well as the trampolines, balance beams, and other gymnastics equipment, all supervised by a staff of professional instructors.  Open Workouts will be offered from 1:00 to 3:00pm on November 5th, November 6th, and November 27th (Black Friday).

The next session starts November 16th and runs through February 6th, with open registration starting on November 2nd.  So if your children love their Open Workout, you can meet the instructors and sign up for weekly classes, available for all ages and abilities.  London and Maddie have been attending classes since they were toddlers, and while they’re not likely to make the Randolph Gymnastics team, they’ve progressed to Novice II and Novice III and show no sign of stopping.

Call Randolph Gymnastics at (973) 584-4111 to learn more about group classes, private lessons or birthday parties. If you let Shannon know that Roxy sent you, she’ll arrange for an age and skill appropriate free trial class for your child.

During the month of November, Randolph Gymnastics will be selling gymnastics equipment for the holiday season. It’s a great way to bring some of your kids’ favorite Randolph Gymnastics activities into your home… one year, Rex and I remodeled our basement gym and gave London and Maddie a set of paralette bars, a pink balance beam and matching gymnastic mats for Christmas.

Randolph Gymnastics also has a few team fundraisers coming up. On Thursday, November 19th from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m., they are doing a Cash for Gold event and will have a professional jeweler here who will buy gold, silver and platinum; the customers will receive cash and the Randolph Gymnastics team will receive 15% of what the jeweler makes. On Tuesday, December 1st from 4:00 - 7:00pm Randolph Gymnastics will hold a Lia Sophia Jewelry open house, where the team receives 20% from orders placed that night.

We’ve just enjoyed the annual Halloween parade at Mendham Township Elementary School, and London and Maddie are still posing around the house as their all girl band, the Butter Bites. It’s Halloween Week at Randolph Gymnastics, and the girls missed a class earlier this week in favor of pumpkin carving with the Brownies, so we are on our way over in our costumes for a make up class with Coach Jordan.

I’ll be back in the next day or so to report on a lot of upcoming events at Randolph Gymnastics, including a $10 Open Workout from 1:00pm to 3:00pm on Thursday and Friday next week during the NJ Teachers’ Convention that will have all of little goblins running around the house, pumped up on Halloween candy, looking for something to do during their two days off from school.

When the weather is nice, there’s nothing better than a day off from school and a long weekend at the beach.  However, once the leaves start to fall and cooler, drizzly or rainy weather sets in, a school holiday can have London and Maddie whining, “Mooooommy, we don’t have anything to do!”  Here’s the good news:  Randolph Gymnastics just set up a brand new open workout program. On every holiday that the schools are closed and Randolph Gymnastics is open, they are offering an open workout from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. for $10. The two hour program will include gymnastics, rock climbing and the inflatables (a giant slide and a bouncing castle). The first one is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 12th on Columbus Day. Randolph Gymnastics will also offer open workouts on Thursday, November 5th & Friday, November 6th, during Teacher’s Convention and on Black Friday (burn off the turkey!), November 27th.

London and Maddie are happy to be back to school, but even happier to be back in their after-school classes at Randolph Gymnastics.  One night this week, Rex and I came home from work early for Back to School Night at Mendham Township Elementary School, and to see Maddie in her Novice II class and London in her Novice III class for the first time since they advanced in their classes at Randolph Gymnastics.  Even though our girls will never be Olympic champions, we are always impressed with the progress Maddie and London have made… this time, we learned that Maddie has become a master of the “bridge”… a position that demonstrates her incredible flexibility, while London is working to improve her back flips on the in-ground power tumble track.  Whenever I see her bouncing down the track, I want to jump right in!  London has a new coach for this session… Sino, one of the amazing male gymnasts she remembers from our early days at Randolph Gymnastics in morning toddler classes.  A reminder that if your child is really talented, Randolph Gymnastics also offers private lessons with many of their coaches.

Coming up next week, Maddie and London are looking forward to “Bring A Friend Week” from Monday, October 5th though Saturday, October 10th.  It’s a fun way for them to share one of their favorite activities with their friends from school.  Another Randolph Gymnastics special event my girls enjoy is Halloween week.  From Monday, October 26th through Halloween Saturday, October 31st, Randolph Gymnastics will have the inflatables (a huge slide and bouncing castle) blown up, the kids can wear their costumes, and they get special (tricks and) treats.

The current Randolph Gymnastics session runs until November 14th.  Depending on your schedule, there are still a few openings in classes for all ages and abilities, and If you’d like your child to get started right away, your tuition would be pro-rated for the remaining classes in the session.  The next session starts November 16th and runs through February 6th, with registration starting on November 2nd. 

During the month of November, Randolph Gymnastics will be selling gymnastics equipment for the holiday season.  It’s a great way to bring some of your kids’ favorite Randolph Gymnastics activities into your home… one year, Rex and I remodeled our basement gym and gave London and Maddie a set of paralette bars, a pink balance beam and matching gymnastic mats for Christmas.

Call Randolph Gymnastics at (973) 584-4111 to learn more about group classes, private lessons or birthday parties. If you let Shannon know that Roxy sent you, she’ll arrange for an age and skill appropriate free trial class for your child.

With about five weeks to go in the summer of 2009, our family is in no rush to go “back to school.”  We don’t even know who London and Maddie will have as teachers or as classmates for the third and second grade yet.  However, when I get a rainy Sunday like today, I can’t help but use it to do unpleasant tasks like paperwork and planning out London and Maddie’s Fall schedules.  It looks like they will be taking ballet and dance classes two days a week at Garden State Ballet in Randolph, NJ, which leaves two days each week to schedule in the girls’ lessons at Randolph Gymnastics in Randolph, New Jersey, and Pavan’s Tennis Academy at Fox Chase Tennis in Chester, NJ.

The girls have improved their skills and are ready to move up to the next level in both gymnastics and tennis.  Last Spring, Maddie came home from her gymnastics lesson beaming with pride. “Maddie’s got news!” her sister, London, called out. “I’ll tell you all about it at dinner,” Maddie said secretively. Turns out that after training for a couple of years in Novice I, Maddie is ready to move on to Novice II, while London will step up to Novice III in the Fall. Just when I had started to fear that Maddie had inherited my can’t-do-a-cartwheel gene, she proves me wrong and moves ahead… one step closer to the Olympics and celebrity product endorsements. Congratulations, Maddie… way to go!  Congratulations are also in order for one of Maddie’s rising second grade friends, who’s spending five days a week training at Randolph Gymnastics this summer and is now on the official Randolph Gymnastics team.  Way to go, Ava!

You should know that while there’s little to no chance that either of my daughters will be headed to London, England for the 2012 Summer Olympics, I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that Randolph Gymnastics is fully outfitted with Olympic grade equipment. The photos in this post include three in-ground trampolines, balance beams at several heights, a spring floor, parallel and uneven bars, and an in-ground power tumble track. Randolph Gymnastics offers group classes for every age and ability, starting with a 45 minute Mommy and Me toddler class for 18 months to 2 1/2 year-olds. Pre-schoolers step out on their own for 45 minute classes starting at age 2 1/2, and are broken out into groups by age: 2 1/2 to 3 year-olds, 3 to 4 year-olds, and hour-long classes for 4 to 5 year-olds.

Two main types of classes are gymnastics classes (using all equipment) or tumbling classes (focusing on floor, trampoline and tumble track). Girls’ gymnastics programs (Novice I, II, and III, Intermediate and Advanced) and tumbling programs (Beginner I and II, Intermediate and Advanced) are offered to girls ages 5 (entering kindergarten) and up. The children work on all the girls’ Olympic events as well as the trampoline and tumble track to help build strength and coordination. Boys’ programs (Intro Boys, Beginner Boys I and II, Intermediate and Advanced) are offered to boys ages 5 (entering kindergarten) and up. The children work on all the boys’ Olympic events as well as the trampoline and tumble track to help build strength and coordination. All of these programs are based on both age and ability. New students will be evaluated to determine which level is appropriate.

London and Maddie have been taking weekly gymnastics lessons at Randolph Gymnastics since we discovered the Olympic-size facility as a birthday party venue when the girls were pre-schoolers at Westmont Montessori in Mendham, NJ. They started with morning pre-school level gymnastics classes. Both girls moved up to Novice I when London started Kindergarten, but London quickly progressed to Novice II at the end of her first grade year, while her younger sister Maddie spent another year with the less experienced gymnasts.

Open registration is going on right now for the Fall session, which runs from August 31st through November 14th. The most popular/convenient days and times fill up quickly, so pick up the phone and reserve your child’s space as soon as possible.

In addition, there are still four weeks left of the Randolph Gymnastics Summer Day Camp 2009 program.  While most camps are winding down (London and Maddie finish up with the Big Show at Annie’s Playhouse in Far Hills, NJ this Friday, August 7th), kids can still get their ya yas out and enjoy air conditioned day camp at Randolph Gymnastics through Friday, August 28th. Both a full and half day camp schedule is available. The full day runs from 9:00am through 4:00pm and half day runs 9:00am through -1:00pm. Before and after care is available if needed. The minimum age for Randolph Gymnastics Summer Day Camp is five years old. Some of the camp’s activities include: recreational gymnastics & open work-out, arts & crafts, games and races, swimming, non-contact team sports, and a climbing wall. The schedule is flexible, and you’ll find rates on the Randolph Gymnastics web site for one to five days per week and one to ten weeks of camp.

Call Randolph Gymnastics at (973) 584-4111 to learn more about Fall lessons or summer camp. If you let Shannon know that Roxy sent you, she’ll arrange for an age and skill appropriate free trial class for your child.

Roxy’s always telling you about the cool and impressive things the Randolph Gymastics team can do, and now you don’t have to take my word for it. Instead, take your kids out to the ballgame — Somerset Patriots vs. Long Island Ducks at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater, NJ, this Wednesday, June 17th at 7:05pm. The Randolph Gymnastics team has been invited for the third year in a row to perform before a Patriots game. Be sure to get there early to cheer on the gymnastics team and the minor league baseball team.

Hi Roxy,
Looking for any additional suggestions for a place in the area for my four-year-old’s birthday party (boys and girls). Last year I had her party at Stuff-A-Roo, the year before was at Sun High Orchard Farm in Randolph. I am really stumped this year and the party is coming up at the end of July. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Kristen

Dear Kristen,

When my girls were in pre-school, we went to lots and lots of birthday parties (both boys and girls) at Randolph Gymnastics, and years later, we still go there for gymnastics lessons: http://randolphnj.roxysbestof.com/2008/11/11/kid-stuff/tell-em-roxy-sent-you-and-save-50-on-sunday-kids-birthday-parties-at-randolph-gymnastics-in-randolph-new-jersey/

If you call Shannon at Randolph Gymnastics (973-584-4111) and tell her Roxy sent you, you’ll get $50 off a Sunday birthday party.

If that doesn’t work for you and your daughter, here’s a link to my Morris County birthday post, with lots of different indoor and outdoor suggestions in the area: http://newjersey.roxysbestof.com/2008/11/08/kid-stuff/feels-like-kids-birthday-party-season-is-in-full-swing-in-morris-and-somerset-counties-new-jersey/

Please be sure to tell ‘em Roxy sent you, and do let me (and our loyal readers) know where you end up.

All the best,
Roxy