This is the 9th installment in my wife’s blog series that she wrote for her personal blog a couple months back about her recollections of starting Athletic Lab. This is one of my favorites as it focuses on my daughter (the apple of my eye). If you missed the first couple entries you can catch up by following the link above. My wife’s account is far better than anything I could write up which is why I’m re-syndicating here. This is part 9 of her unedited recollection…

Eva at our first facility

I can’t believe I once worried about wasting hours of Eva’s life as we were busy building Athletic Lab. Her life has been so enriched by being exposed to so many different things and by meeting so many different people. She’s had such an interesting little life. I think I could write a novel based on her experiences at Athletic Lab. Sometimes, I have to stop to remind myself that she’s only five.

Eva with Rayna (one of our athletes)

Scholastic parents started asking to take Eva home with them and they’d bring her back an hour later when their kids were finished working out. Sometimes, I’d pull up to their mansions to pick her up. They’d ask to take her out to dinner with their families, to go to the mall or to run out for ice cream. She generally returned with an arm load of goodies. During the summer, she was taken to the Preston Country Club to go swimming several times. Thanks Jodi! Some clients would bring their kids to Athletic Lab to play with her. Anna even brought her bunnies to play with. The interns were almost always compliant with her requests to play. Jen would sometimes take her home after 5:00 classes, feed her dinner and then work on art, singing and dance skills.

Eva in line to “pole vault” with friends Anna and Rayna

I can’t imagine Eva’s life without Athletic Lab. She’s sat with Olympians and she has worn a gold medal around her neck. She’s raced on the track with National Champions and she’s “assisted” Mike in coaching collegiate athletes. She wants to grow up to be a coach, a paleontologist, and a dolphin trainer.

Eva doing our fitness challenge at a Carolina Railhawks game

Eva has learned the importance of physical activity and she’s mastered the proper technique of overhead squats. When people see her doing A and B skips or sprinting with near perfect form, they ask us if we taught her how to do all of it. No, not really. She’s just been exposed to it her whole life.

Eva racing some of scholastic athletes

She has more friends, both young and old, than anyone else I know. There was no empty space in her birthday card- it was completely filled with names and notes from friends. Thanks Stacey! Jack, Isa, Mateo, Marques, Nya, Abby and Smriti, the kids here in BC just aren’t the same. Matt, there are no flower pickers here like you. Drake, no one here can label a ZooBook quite like you do. No one has a set of keys quite as interesting as Stephanie’s. Jen, no one here has sick moves like you.Sunny, there are no gentle photographers here who can cuddle like you do. Julie, no one here understands the importance of dinosaurs like you. There aren’t any babysitters who like to watch movies while playing Halo like Eric. No one can make moving chairs as fun as Ruby. John Grace, there’s no one to chase down the track here and no one here can fit inside a tire like John Strang. Thank you all for the interest you’ve taken in her life!