CELEBRATIONS: Head over heels

We want to celebrate with you!  — If you or your family has an announcement to share, please let us know. We’d love to hear about your engagement, wedding, birth, anniversary or any other cause for celebration. Email Managing Editor Michael Eng, [email protected].

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Even before the mats were in place and the doors were open, Lauren Flenniken had become a part of the Kids Supergym family.

The then-12-year-old, who was the gym’s first gymnast, began competing for Kids Supergym and immediately clicked with all the staff.

Well, almost all of them.

There was one coach Lauren tolerated at best — 15-year-old Russell Bolingbroke, son of gym owners Scott and Pam Bolingbroke.

“We did not get along,” Lauren says. “We fought like cats and dogs.”

“We were like oil and water,” Russell agrees.

“He would tease me,” Lauren says. “He found out I didn’t like feet, and he would put his feet on me.”

It wasn’t until several years later, when Lauren began coaching, that the two became friends. Over time what began as a friendship developed into something more.

And on Nov. 22, after secretly dating for two years, Russell proposed to Lauren. The couple, who will become the gym’s second Mr. and Mrs. Bolingbroke, plans to marry in May 2013 — much to the shock and delight of their gymnasts and their families.

FRIENDS FIRST
There was a point not long after she began coaching that Lauren contemplated leaving gymnastics behind. But Russell wouldn’t have it. Instead, he convinced Lauren to tumble with him.

The two workout partners began spending the majority of their time together, and eventually, they realized they had more in common than they initially thought.

“I realized we weren’t that bad together,” Lauren says.

The two began dating two years ago, and at first Russell’s parents didn’t know what to think.

“They were more worried about her than me,” Russell says. “They told me, ‘That’s our precious Lauren.’”
But, it didn’t take long for the Bolingbrokes to warm up to the idea.

GETTING HITCHED
Since they began dating, the couple bought a Belgian shepherd and moved in together last December. Living and working together doesn’t provide much alone time, but the two say they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It would be more weird if I had to say good-bye to her in the morning,” Russell says. “We both understand our job. It’s cool, because we can go home and talk about ideas for the kids.”

The couple began talking about getting engaged several months ago, but Russell hadn’t planned on popping the question until sometime next year. That changed when he found the perfect ring.

After buying the ring and deciding now was the perfect time to propose, Russell worked on devising the perfect proposal.

He went out and bought flowers and $80 in wedding magazines — a must for Lauren who had planned to buy them all the minute she got engaged. With the help of his parents, he set everything up without Lauren knowing.

As they drove home that evening, Lauren tried to plan the couple’s evening, but Russell wasn’t having any of it. Instead, when they arrived home, Russell went in ahead of Lauren to check the house after purposely leaving the lights on and getting the ring. When it was safe for her to come in, Russell turned out the lights — leaving Lauren alone on the stairs in the dark.

Lauren made her way into the kitchen and looked around, noticing the flowers and eventually eyeing the wedding magazines.

“I realized kind of what was going on,” Lauren says. “I started backing up and stumbling over my words. I didn’t want to think it was a ring and then have it be a necklace, but then I started crying.”

“I was a little nervous,” Russell says. “I tried to put it on the wrong hand. She’s my best friend, so it was really weird to keep it all from her.”

Later that evening, the couple went out to dinner to celebrate their engagement before going to visit their families — who live across the lake from each other in Summerfield.

“It was a very unexpected night,” Lauren says. “It was a big surprise, though.”

And on Black Friday and the following week, the couple began announcing its engagement to its gymnasts.

“They all started freaking out,” Lauren says. “I had a group of 20 to 25 girls around me all trying to guess my dress. They were just as excited as we are. The kids were the first ones to know. It was just neat that they were all excited.

“We’re just excited to move on and both of us are excited to see what’s in store for us in the future,” she says. “We just want to keep it fun for the kids.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].