Ada Gymnastics Meet and Random March 2019

Ada has been doing gymnastics for a while out of the Elmhurst Park District and we are now in meet season. This was her first and she was quite nervous but did great, which for me means she did not get hurt and was pretty much smiling throughout. I took a few videos but I think this is the my favorite as I didn't know she could do this. 

Smiling!

Starting her floor routine which was her first event. Waiting her turn she was visibly nervous but once she got going she did well and getting it under her belt settled her nerves for the remainder of the tournament. She starts out her routine with a little jazz hat tipping maneuver - gleaned from one of her dance routines. 

Floor routine.

On the beam which is her most difficult event. She works on it a lot at home on a ground level practice beam but being several feet off the ground adds a whole different dimension.

Yaayy. 

First gymnastics meet selfie. 

Celebratory bubble drink and lunch at the Asian food court. 

Ada next to her practice beam dressed in her peace outfit for St. Patrick's Day - orange and green - get it? Po is participating in her own curious Poish way. 

Train - corn products going to Chicago.

I chaperoned one of the programs at NT where kids partner with kids from another school and do stuff. This was a trip to Brooklyn Boulders, an impressive climbing gym down near Greektown in Chicago. Reaaly cool walls, all rated, and lots of bouldering options - and a full climbing specific gym, and cafe to hang out in. Neat day and got to climb a bit.

Kids doing an intro activity.

Fun Time with the Kittens

One of my colleagues scored some cat weed off of amazon and the kitties had a bit of a go. Neko kind of laid down on the stick and Po, as per her typical excited self, was rather animated to say the least.

Emmerson's Birthday Season!

Emmerson is following in the path of her mom and is now celebrating a birthday season. It started on Wednesday, the day before her birthday as Alicia was going to be out of town on her birthday. So we did family presents then. On Thursday, her actual birthday, we went out for Noodles and Company - butter noodles of course, and since it is not only Emmerson birthday season but also shamrock shake season, we stopped for a brace on the way home. Friday was the party with all of her friends. They convened at our house around 630 and then ate pizza and doritos and lays potato ships and soda and one of the friends likes milk so lots of milk was consumed and then a giant chocolate chip cookie cake and chocolate ice cream with peanut butter cups and cookies and cream ice cream and then they all went to sky zone to jump on trampolines!!! Sounds like a grand plan! They all survived and most went home as they had things going on the next day but a few stayed over for the night.

Fabruary Ski Trip

The school overnight ski trip did not get the required 7 kids so it was a bust. Not too much of a surprise as it is a long weekend and lots of kids extend the long weekend to make it almost a week and venture off to holiday destinations. So I decided to take Emmerson for an overnight up to Wisconsin. Devil's Head and Cascade are about 20 minutes apart and about 3 hours north so the plan was to ski one each day and get a hotel in the general vicinity of the resorts. Unfortunately, I had to get a hotel right smack in the middle of Chicago ski land at the last minute on a holiday weekend so not much available. I ended up going by cost and booked an old school 70ish looking motel which was very close to the ski places. Then I read the reviews .... ouch. So I was definitely a bit concerned until I did a reality check and did a little trip down memory lane to all the absolute dives I have stayed at in my earlier years out and about. We skied at Devil's Head first and it was fine but not all that challenging for me skiing so I switched over to my snowboard and finally got up the kahones to hit the jumps in the terrain park which felt good to do. Then to the hotel. It definitely needed a makeover but the room was absolutely fine and I am glad I ignored the reviews and stuck with it as the price and location were great. The next day we skied Cascade and it snowed all day which made for some nice conditions. Emmerson had never skied while snowing and she of course got a kick out of it. Unfortunately, she was feeling a bit under the weather so we left around 3 which was good as the drive home was quite epically unpleasant - about 5 hours of a 3 hour trip.

6 a.m. departure on a Saturday morning and Emmerson's response to such ridiculousness. 

Obligatory selfie at Devil's Head. Nice sunny day. 

One the way from Devil's Head to Portage, WI where the hotel was, the route was quite rural. On one county road I spotted this fellow who was scratching himself on a tree. Emmerson and I both agreed he was adorable so I did a U-turn so we could go and have a closer loot at him. Immediately after I pulled over to say hi, he grumpfed and headed off to protect the herd off in the background. They were Scottish Highland cattle. 

Off to the herd. 

Safe and sound. 

One of my favorite things about hotel living, especially if it is a one night stand and not a whole lot else to do is getting take out and eating in the room with some quality hotel cable. I always like to indulge and encourage others to get whatever they fancy - get stuff you would not typically consider.  So Emmerson went for it and got KFC and ate it in bed. 

Lonely bowl of KFC mashed potatoes .... 

Outside the hotel - it was snowing a lot harder than it looked thus the squinting. 

Emmerson is getting pretty good for the amount of times she has been skiing. She is a speed demon but stays in control and turns well. 

Obligatory selfie at Cascade. 

Lunch at Cascade. They have some nice lodges up near the top of the "mountain" which are nice - not quite as chaotic as the base and a bit of a view and such. Emmerson just wanted a quick something and went for the hot dog. Interesting that all the ingredients were printed in your face on the bag - might be a Wisconsin thing. Anyway, she got her money's worth with all those ingredients - more bang for the buck! Good choice, Emmerson!

Fabruary Basketball

Emmerson played with her middle school team but did not get a whole lot of play time as she has never played the sport before. But she loves sports and is always willing for a go at it. Fortunately, the Y has a league with a lot of other clueless kids who just want to play and learn a bit. So she gets more playing time and is kind of learning the ins and outs of the sport. 

In a tussle. Lots of tussles in this league .... 

Rebound?

I do remember this sequence - she skyed for a rebound - sort of - got the ball and powered down the court and dunked - two handed, tomahawk, 360 - shattered the glass. 

Setting up for the dunk .... 

Her 10th 3 pointer. 

Getting things started - Emmerson in the jump off - not sure about the terminology for this part of the game.