First travel meets

And, here we go . . . .

We originally planned to only have Kaiya travel to one out of state meet for her first level 7 season.  The gym plans 3 of them each season for levels 7 through 10, so we will have plenty of time to travel as she gets older.  We decided to pick the Minnesota meet in early March and to skip the Dallas and Chicago meets.  However, one of the girls on her team injured her foot and a spot was now open in Dallas.  Thanks to buddy passes from Papa Jay and wide open flight loads, Kaiya and I were able to go to Dallas.  It was really a great trip and I'm so glad we were able to go.  

One of the moms had arranged a Hummer limo to pick everyone up at the airport on Thursday night and that sure was a treat.  Turns out it was cheaper to go that route than to get a shuttle to our hotel.  Watching a bunch of giddy girls was pretty cute.

We stayed at an Embassy in downtown Ft. Worth, which was walking distance to the convention center where the meet was held.  When we walked into the arena, I could see Kaiya's eyes get big.  Inside was an arena with 4 separate gyms set up--4 sets of each piece of equipment.  It was nuts, but definitely action packed.  We watched the level 8's compete on Friday morning and then Kaiya's group started in the afternoon.  Kaiya had a good meet and the mistakes she made were all because she was being aggressive--something her coach was actually proud of.  She placed 6th on vault (best vaults of her life) and 14th in the all-around.  

The rest of the trip was spent in the hotel pool with her buddies, visiting the Cupcakery, and going to an NCAA women's gymnastics meet in the same arena.  She is so bonded to her teammates and we also got a lot of good mother/daughter time.  Unfortunately, we had to miss Kinley's basketball game.  She continues to play well and is sad that she only has one more game to go.  She is making baskets in every game and making her Uncle Brandon proud by getting some fouls as well.  Kinley made the cutest sign that was waiting for Kaiya when she got home.  Love seeing my kids support each other.

Family photos

We are not a photogenic family.  Period.  Most of the time, I don't really care except when it comes time for family photo shoots.  I dread them.  I only do them every 2 years and even that is hard.  I hate trying to pick out what everyone should wear and a location.

Well, we hit the jackpot this time!  A good friend of mine insisted on 'paying me back' for helping her son recover from a ruptured appendix last year and when she offered to take photos for us, it was hard to say no.  We actually had them taken in the fall, but it took my friend a bit of time to edit them.  She doesn't do this for a living and was playing with the software she had. I think they actually turned out a-ok.  :)

A day in the life of

Today was one of those dreaded days where Doug and I had to divide and conquer to make it to all of our kids' activities.  Oh, and throw in a 12 hour work shift for me and a Brownies meeting before it all started and that was one busy Saturday!!

5th all-around

Ready to go on floor

1st place team!

Kaiya's first level 7 floor routine

I know I may have mentioned how hard Kaiya worked to get to today, but it's worth another mention.  The only thing she wanted was to be here at this meet on this day.  Well, she did more than that.  In her first ever Level 7 meet, this girl did so good.  She had a few goofs (narrowly missed her giants and fell once on her hardest skill on beam), but overall looked so confident and definitely showed the world that she deserved to be there!  No scores below an 8.0 and QUALIFIED for the state meet on her first try.  Add to that a 4th place finish on beam, 6th on floor, 5th on bars and 5th all-around and I'd say she had a pretty good day.

Had to also include the video from Kinley's first ever piano recital.  She practiced like crazy and was definitely ready.  She was riding a high from her basketball game earlier in the day where she had 6 of her team's 16 points and 3 fouls.  A good day for both of my girls indeed!!

Not the greatest video, but you can still hear it.  Her piano teacher always does a Christmas recital after the holidays are over to save everyone the stress of one more thing on the calendar in January. :)

Happy 15th, Cooper!

I feel sorry for Coop.  The poor kid is going to turn 40 and 50 someday and have to endure a phone call from his blubbery mother telling him she remembers the day he was born so clearly and how scary it was, blah, blah, blah.  Sorry, dude.  You better warn your wife.

Cooper had a low-key birthday.  No real surprise gifts and just a really nice family party.  Can't argue with that.  He picked the menu and we had a really nice night and then finished his online driver's ed program in the hopes of getting his permit on his birthday.  No dice.  Dumb affidavit of completion had to be mailed to us.  Grr!

I posted a super mushy Facebook post about him and he actually thanked me.  Whoa!  Sure proud of this kid--4.0 student, works hard at all he does, and is gaining an impressive sense of humor (just please don't tell him that).

Sporting a new Kindle

Cooper's new hat . . . on Brandon . . . long story.  Still gotta work on being gracious. 

Cookie dough filled cupcakes was his birthday dessert request . . . . 

. . . . . with a raw cookie dough ball on top.  

He finally got his permit today, Jan. 14th.   Poor kid can't even escape my sentimental nature today.  As we navigated through the horrible, inefficient, unfriendly, crowded and confusing maze at the DMV (I could post an entire story about our experience there), I looked at the clock and realized 15 years ago at that moment, Cooper was just getting out of open-heart surgery and there he stood taking his permit test.  He will be eligible to get his license on Jan 14, 2014.  Between now and then, I either need to take up yoga or start taking Valium.  I let him drive from Walgreen's to our house after he go his permit.  2.1 miles.  I only hyperventilated twice.  I'd say we are off to a great start!

Temporary driver's permit until the real deal arrives in the mail.  Firestone residents beware!