This week I got to celebrate my best friend’s 16th birthday and tonight I am with my friends at a Oscars party!
He said
With the new driver in the house, Emelia has taken every chance she has gotten to practice driving in the car with Danielle. First, it started with short drives around the neighbourhood, and then it graduated to crossing over the major streets and into the university until finally it turned into pretty much every single errand that they ran together, Emelia would drive. And by all counts, and for someone who literally just started driving last week, she is doing so great at it. But the real sign she is feeling comfortable and excited to show what she’s capable of is she actually asked me if I wanted to go for a drive with her! That says a lot.
At the cheer practice this week the team was focused on working on pulling out all the stops for their final performance for Season X for CheerStrike in the Canadian Cheer National Championships. Next week is March Break so as of practice on Tuesday they were off for a week from practicing so it meant the last two on Sunday and Tuesday were really focused on moving the performance forward. And they have! The performance has been adjusted significantly as they’ve reflected on the season and where they need to focus and all bias aside, this is probably the best version of their routine yet. And, in a month’s time in Niagara Falls, we’re excited to see how they do!
The other exciting news this week is Emelia has decided that she wants to try out for the Lucas Rugby Team. The first info session was this week on Thursday and the first tryouts begin after March Break. Last year she put herself out there and did wrestling which we were so blown away at her doing. But, going into the finally cheer competitions of the season last year and worried about injuring herself, she opted out. With those same concerns, despite being really curious about rugby last year she decided against trying out. Deep down we think she always regretted that decision so this year she is focused on not missing that opportunity and we’re excited to see her continue to put herself out there in high school and try new things!
And on the cycling front I have been able to make a dent into the month of March with some outside rides despite the weather being all over the board. The last three Fridays in a row where we’ve been graced with unseasonable amounts of snow which has brought about more shovelling in late February and early March than we want and has had taken a toll on my outdoor rides. But the good news is that this winter I really focused on getting more winter kit and that has paid off because I have been able to push rides outside a lot more than I did last year. And, even while it has snowed and the temperatures have been subzero, I have managed to still get in 5 of my 6 rides in March in the last week! And all of this is great news because as of the end of next month I will begin my bike race season with the legendary Paris to Ancaster race! Already this season I feel I am in such a better place in my prep for this race. And I might even do better than I did last year!
She said
This was a big and busy week. We started our week with celebration of the twin’s 16th birthday. Anna and Grace have been Emelia’s best friends since they were 4 years old, and since the first day of junior kindergarten they have been attached at the hip. As with all friendships there have been ups and downs but these three girls have each others back always even through the toughest times. I am so happy to see how strong their friendship has remained, they girls have been there through all the ups and downs of the pandemic, grades school and now high school. They had an amazing night on the girls’ actual birthday, they celebrated with a large group of their friends at the Factory. When we came to pick them up the girls were having the best time.
As John mentioned Emelia already Emelia has really taken to driving and is honestly a really great driver. Almost every time we go anywhere she wants to try to drive more. She has even taken on rush hour traffic and some of the busier roads in the city. This week she even drove herself to cheer and her friends to school one day this week. Not going to lie this stage of her growing up was nerve-wracking but she is a cautious and safe driver. After only just over a week she is doing amazing!
This week Emelia and her team were wrapping up training before the March Break when they would be off for a week. Over the last few weeks the girls coach Hailey had been making some changes to make sure the girls have the cleanest routine to take on the stage at Nationals next month. The changes look amazing and we know the girls are going to come back from the break working hard to make sure they are competition ready. Now Emelia the athlete she is not taking any real time off from training. This past weekend she was back in the gym to clean up her level 3 skills, she was able to have a session with her former gymnastics coach who coaches at the cheer gym. Between her timing on her ariel earlier this week and the height on her tuck she is looking great. We are so proud of how hard she works and how she never gives up taking on new skills. Way to go boo!
Speaking of sports, Emelia is signed up again for softball for the summer but that doesn’t seem to be enough for her. Now she wants to try rugby. This week she went to meet with the school rugby coach to hear about the sport and how tryouts would work. It is going to be a competitive group to make the team as there was a lot of turn out for the meeting and there are a number of girls from last year returning. But we are so proud that she is putting herself out there even more and fearless taking on a very aggressive sport. She is so excited! Tryouts start right after March Break so time will tell.
This week will prove to be a busy one for Emelia, she has a ton of hours at her job – she has already mapped out how much money she will make with her almost 30 hours this week. She will be busy for sure.