Y State 2017

Miss E spent most of the 2017 Spring season nursing injuries. She was well enough to pull everything together and compete for the last meet of the 2017 Spring season; Y State. Here is her meet.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Finishing the Winter Season

Conference Championships

&

Level 4 State Championship

Little Man finished his first competitive gymnastics season strong. We did have a few learning moments in his last two meets though. One very important skill for men's gymnastics is counting. When you do more swings on the rings or high bar or more turns on the mushroom than is required your score will get dinged pretty heavily. He lost two ribbon colors with these mistakes. He took everything in stride, his coach was disappointed, I said live and learn, other parents were really upset that the extra 'effort' was not rewarded **big smiley face**. Now that everything is settled from the season, we move on. Little Man leveled up, he will be doing level 5 this next season with bonuses!!

Ribbons
Green = Superior
Purple = Outstanding
Yellow = Excellent
Orange = Good
White = Fair

BlackJack Men's Championship, Las Vegas

Meet #3 had us traveling again, this time out of state to Las Vegas!! This meet was HUGE!! The BlackJack Men's Championship & Winter Cup Challenge is a national meet. There are two parts to the meet; Junior Olympic and National Team. Little Man competes at the JO level.

We stayed at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino where Elvis definitely has a presence.

Little Man did a great job. This time around he was given an actual score, for simplicity I adjusted his score to the ribbon color he is used to getting. He did get two medals; vault and parallel bars.

After Little Man's meet we were able to watch the Winter Cup finals. It was really cool to see some of the Olympians we heard about from Rio compete. The Men are intense and so much fun to watch.

Ribbons
Green = Superior
Purple = Outstanding
Yellow = Excellent
Orange = Good
White = Fair

Blessings,

Elizabeth

First Season Level 4 Highlights {Fall 2016}

Here are the highlights of Miss E's Fall Season; a little late. The season was rough, but she made it through. Miss E had three preliminary meets. Her goal at each meet was to get an All Around score of at least 30. With an AA of 30 she advanced to Sectionals in which she needed an AA of 32 to move on to state. She hit her minimum AA scores and competed at the state level. The state meet was rough. As Mom, I wished we were afforded the option to sit it out.

All of that is now behind us. She worked really hard and has improved immensely over the winter and spring months. Right now we sit at the cusp of summer and have a lot to look forward to. She will compete in the fall again as a Level 4, but she is stronger and determined to move on.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Funnest.Meet.Ever.

West Coast Team Challenge 2017

When you get the list of meets before the season starts and you see there are two meets in which traveling will be required you experience a little bit, or a lot of, trepidation. The cost of just the meets is high and then you have to add travel, food, hotel, etc. it can be a little bit overwhelming. Bakersfield is several hours away from us to the north and although we could have done the meet in one day, we decided to take two.

This meet was a blast! It was loud! It was fun! It was an experience that I wished we had more often at our meets. As parents we took 2nd place for parent spirit. Being that we only had 5 families and the team that took 1st had at least 3 times as many people, we were pretty proud of ourselves.

Little Man is competing Level 4 in a division that offers bonuses. Bonuses are just extra skills that are added into the routine. There are 10 bonuses and he executes 7 of them. Vault is the only event that does not have a bonus at level 4. 

Here is the breakdown for the ribbons:

Green = Superior
Purple = Outstanding
Yellow = Excellent
Orange = Good
White = Fair

Our next meet is in Las Vegas!!

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Boys Gymnastics {1st Prelim}

Welcome to the world of boys gymnastics!!

Little Man is enjoying himself and is learning a lot. Boys gymnastics is quite a bit different from girls. The events, scoring, and the way meets are run is quite a bit different from what I'm used to with Miss E. I will admit that it is fun to see another side of this sport.

Little Man is competing Level 4 Division 2 right now. His goal is to be competing Level 4 Division 1 by the end of the seaons. The difference in divisions hings on certain skills which are called bonus in scoring. I'm still too new at all of this to completely understand what is going on. His meets right now are scored with colors instead of numbers. The following is the break down.

He did a great job at his meet. You can tell me if you think he had fun.

Blessings,

Elizabeth
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Gymnastics #1 {2016 Back to School}

Miss E's fall competition season has started.

The first meet:
 South Bay, YMCA Chula Vista, CA
September 10, 2016

Competing Level 4

The meet was rough. There were a lot of extenuating circumstances leading up to just getting to the meet. Traffic was bad due to a middle of the night fatality which rerouted traffic across the county. She was also struggling with one of her skills and had the thought of having to scratch the floor going through her mind. She pulled her skill together and was able to compete at the last minute, YEA!! Growing involves learning and sometimes you just have to start somewhere. Until next time...

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Gymnastics #10 {Y Nationals}

Y Nationals is a huge meet that I believe is open to all the YMCAs across America. Our gym does not travel as a rule so when Y Nationals came to Long Beach this year it was our opportunity to participate.

It was a fun event and pretty overwhelming. We were at the Long Beach Convention center. There were three different levels competing at the same time. We got to watch from the stands for a birds eye view.

This was not Miss E's best meet, but it was her last meet as a level 3 gymnast. She missed a skill on the bars and she later told me that sometimes that happens. She wasn't upset, she just said her facts and moved on. I'm proud of her.

She ended the meet with several medals and overall, feeling good. 

Changes Better Called New Opportunities

Changes... sometimes they are hard and sometimes they are just a part of life; sometimes they bring anxiety and sometimes they bring excitement. There are times in life when people come and go. Our recent experiences with 'see-ya's' are to people who have had a great impact on our lives who are moving on to better opportunities. The most recent 'see-ya' has helped me to see the Lord open doors to new opportunities for one of the kiddos.

This guy has been doing gymnastics since he was 3 1/2. He started a little bit younger than his sister, but he showed great skills early on. Due to schedule conflicts he was never able to 'move up' in the program. At roughly 5 1/2, the boys coach invited him to join the 'big kid' class. Technically you are not supposed to join the 'big kids' class until you are 6. It did not take long for everyone to see that he had skills beyond the beginner class and we moved him to the intermediate/advanced class. During this same time, talk was going on about starting a boys team at our gym. 2 years have passes since the beginning of those discussions and there is still no movement in that direction. I've had many talks with Little Man and he would love to compete and be a part of a team like Miss E. So, we are taking him out of our current gym and moving him to a gym with an established boys program. 

I took Little Man over to a gym to 'try out' and he was invited on the spot to join their team. We've got a few more steps to take before he is officially a part of that team, but I am seeing the Lord moving us in this direction. It is an exciting time for this guy!!

Miss E will stay where she is. I will become a literal taxi. Schedules are going to be crazy for awhile, but I'm excited to see the growth in both kids. 

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Update #1: The first 'try-out' class went really well. The coach was impressed with Little Man's strength and skills. He was really tired and didn't have too much to say. We will do one more class in a couple of weeks before we make our final decision on what to do.

Update #2: Our second 'try-out' went really well. The new coach actually said that they would like Little Man to compete in their in house meet the end of July. I said thanks but we would not be able to. This is going to be a great move for him. August 1st, he will become a part of a team and will be a boy's level 4!!

Gymnastics # 9 {YMCA State}

Our gym had the privilege of hosting YMCA State. The only gyms that participated in this meet were YMCAs from the greater San Diego area and a couple from the greater LA area. As a mom, the meet was a lot of work and very tiring, but I think the girls enjoyed being at home.

Miss E had an amazing meet and finished the season really strong. Like I've said all season, I'm so very proud of my daughter. She has a goal and she is fighting for it. She dug deep and came out on top. I'm so excited to see what is next for her.

Miss E started the meet off a little bit shaky. As she was warming up for Beam, she fell off. She shook it off though and finished the meet on the Bars. She got her highest score for the season on the Bars and that pushed her to 1st place All Around. She was shocked!!

The meet was June 4, on Friday June 17 it was announced that she will begin practicing with the Level 4s. WOO HOO!!!

Gymnastics # 8 {Flower Cup Invitational}

The second meet of the season was her best meet to date. The Flower Cup Invitational was held at the Cameron YMCA in Santee on May 15, 2016. For our gym, she actually received the highest All Around score. I wished I was able to record her reaction as she saw her scores after each event. Excited is not a strong enough emotion. Miss E has worked really hard and it has paid off. I'm a really proud gymnastics mom.

Gymnastics # 7 {Spring Fling Invitational}

Here is the first meet of the spring season.

ENJOY!!

Spring Fling Invitation was held in Chula Vista on May 1, 2016. Miss E did a fantastic job. She improved all of her scores from the fall except for vault, which she still did great on. Her goal was to get an All Around score of 35. She exceeded that score and also had her first meet with three 9s. As we were leaving she asked me what celebration we could have because she did so well. I asked her what she wanted, preparing myself for something huge. All she wanted was a snowball from Baltimore Snowball. Easiest celebration ever!! (however, I was ready for Disneyland to be on the table.)

4 years at the YMCA

Facebook has an 'on this day' reminder and I was looking at my past memories from January 7.

4 years ago we joined the YMCA. Miss E was 4 1/2(ish) and Little Man was 2 1/2. Neither kid was in any kind of organized sport, but both kids were highly active. I remember walking through the YMCA and looking at the child watch place. Back then it was located in the gym. Someone told us that we could do one gymnastics class for FREE. Who would have ever guessed where that one class would lead us...

 January 2012

 This is the first gymnastic picture I could find, dated August 2012.
Miss E was 5 and in Super Tots.
Super Tots is a 'by invitation class only'.

Fast forward 3 1/2 years and Miss E is competing Level 3.

Here she is before her first meet, August 2015.

She promoted to Team in July 2015.

Wow!! In 4 years we started gymnastics and then progressed to team. Today, January 7, 2016 Miss E is starting her second season as a Level 3 competitive gymnast. I'm not sure how long we will ride this train, but I did say all those years ago that we would ride this as long as she wanted. I'm really proud of her and how much she has grown both in her ability and as a little person.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Gymnastics #6 {State Fall 2015}

The culmination of all of Miss E's hard work comes down to this one meet; the state meet of the season. There were 96 girls in her session so they split the session into three divisions of 32. Miss E held her own and did a fantastic job. She ended up with a medal for the vault, tying in 10th place and getting a personal best score. She also ended this season with a personal best score on the bars.

** I apologize that the videos are so jumpy.**

SoCal South State Championship

San Diego Convention Center

November 21, 2015

Level 3, Division 8

So, what is next?? We have a break from competitions until the spring. She will still be in the gym 10 hours a week and will be working on improving her skills. I wished that I had a way to record all the conversations that go on with her. One of the coaches shared how she can take a situation and find the positive in it. She is a natural when it comes to encouraging others. My heart is full. As a mom, I'm looking forward to seeing what this next season will bring... after this long awaited break. 

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Gymnastics #5 {Sectionals}

This girl...

qualified for State at the sectionals meet. She had her best meet of the season!!

Our gym ended up competing in Torrance, CA. Torrance is over 100 miles north of us. I will say it is in LA but people who knew the area will disagree with me. We made really good time getting up there; it took just under 2 hours. The trip home was a little bit longer.

Miss E was the only girl from our gym competing in her session. One of her teammates decided to make the meet extra special and gave Miss E a teddy bear with a sweet little note. This teammate was able to sit with us as we cheered Miss E on and then we brought her home. This momma's heart was filled to see the love these two have for each other.

Saturday, November 7, 1015

West Sectional Championship, Studio West Gymnastics, Torrance

Vault

Due to the placement of the vault and where we are seated, I didn't get video of her vault this time.

She got a 9.025, which made her extremely happy. This is the second time she scored a 9 on the vault.

Bars

This routine was not her highest scoring routine of the season, but it reflects a lot of hard work over the past few weeks. Her score improved over 5 tenths of a point from the last two meets.

Beam (PR)

Unfortunately the camera ran out of memory and I only got the beginning of her routine.

Of course this would be the time she received her highest score.

Floor (PR)

This is her best scoring floor routine of the season.

To advance to the state meet she need an All Around score of 32.000; she scored 34.275!!

The last meet of this season is State. The state meet is the culmination of all the hard work she has put in this season. She will be competing solo again with over 90 other girls in her session. Stay tuned for updates...

Gymnastics #4 {Spooktacular}

Sunday, October 18, 1015

Spooktacular, Cameron Family YMCA, Santee

This was Miss E's third preliminary meet. This was a pretty good meet for her. Overall she finished right in the middle of the pack as far as scores go. She was pretty happy.

Vault #1

Vault #2

Bars

Beam

Floor

The next meet is sectionals. To qualify to compete at the sectionals meet, the gymnast has to have a minimum all around score at one of the preliminary meets. Miss E qualified at all of her meets!!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Gymnastics #3 {Tricks 4 Treats}

I feel like I need a mommy confession. I had a bad week prior to this meet. I was very emotional and distracted and I firmly believe it rubbed off. Miss E will say that the decorations for Halloween messed her up. Who really knows. We all know that you have good days and bad days; good meets and not so good meets. This meet was really rough. It is all apart of the process so we take it, we learn, and we move on. 

Sunday, October 4, 1015

Tricks 4 Treats, Oceanside Gymnastics

Vault #1

Vault #2

Bars

Beam

Floor

Next meet is 10/18. It is another early one, about 45 minutes from home. I'm expecting great things...

Gymnastics #2 {South Section 2nd Prelim}

We started our morning super early for this meet. We had to leave the house at 6:30am to be in Chula Vista (East Lake) by 8:00am. I don't really like the early morning and we had fog. The fog was so thick near the gym that it was hard to see stop lights. Let me just say I'm not a fan of fog in areas I'm unfamiliar.

We made it to the gym and found out that Miss E would be competing by herself. She is the only 8 year old competing Level 3 on our team. One of the other girls showed up at the wrong time (long story) and decided to forfeit getting ribbons to compete with Miss E. She was so sweet in saying that all she wanted to do was gymnastics and the ribbons/medals didn't matter.

This turned out to be Miss E's best meet. She raised her overall score by over a point from the Judge's Cup and had two PRs!! Overall she finished 12 out of 25.

Sunday, Sept 27, 1015

South Section 2nd Prelim, Chula Vista YMCA

Vault

 No video of the vault. I turned the camera the wrong way...

Bars (PR)

Beam

Floor

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Gymnastics #1 {Judge's Cup}

Miss E's first team meet with Cal Gold.

Sunday, Aug 30, 1015

Judge's Cup at Palomar YMCA

First Event: Vault (PR)

She tied for 8th place and received a medal!

Second Event: Bars

Third Event: Beam

Fourth Event: Floor

This is the event we were all a little bit nervous about. She just mastered her round off back hand-spring and had to do it without a spot for competition. She nailed it!!

 

One of many meets under her belt!!