Five more practices until my first competition. I’m getting nervous but excited too!

He said

With more than a week with Gabby in our family things have really settled down. I won’t lie, Gord’s initial hissy reaction left me worried deep down if things would be okay. Emelia was even in tears, worried that she had ruined Gord’s life. A few days in and they were getting along quite famously. And really that is unsurprising as Gord has been such a friendly, loving cat and so sociable. As the week has worn on, they sleep together in our bed and we’ve have even caught moments of Gord cleaning Gabby like a good, big brother. Order has been restored in the pet realm in this house and everyone is happy we have another kitty – and Gord especially as he has a playmate.

After two whole weeks off gymnastics practice with the Christmas break, Emelia returned to practice this week. She definitely felt the lapse in muscle training and was sore and rusty. On the way home from her practice on Friday night, she confided in us that she had lots of trouble with her kip and that she was worried she was going to do terrible at the competition. We had to talk her off the ledge as in her mind everyone else had perfect kips and were competition-ready. We reminded her they still had six more practices before competition and that each one was four hours in length. And that most of all, as much as she thought that everyone else was perfectly ready in her mind, they likely weren’t.

The good news is that tonight’s practice went much better and she got her kip back! When we got there to watch the end of the her practice she seemed in a much more confident place and her form looked back on track. After the practice, her coach Alex told us it went very well for her, and that her floor routine went very well. Emelia echoed that sentiment and let us know that she felt much better after this practice. And the good news is, she will be right back at it tomorrow too. Three practices in four days is pretty compressed and a lot, but it will certainly get muscles going and will get her competition ready! We’re excited to see how she does this year because she certainly looks back at the videos from last year with a much different eye picking apart her routine with the deductions she now sees.

Aside from that, the only other exciting bit of news, albeit early, is we’ve started very preliminarily mapping out our 2019 camping season. Our season last year began the May long weekend. We had Emelia’s gymnastics competition in Mississauga that weekend, so our first camping trip was worked into that. But, this year there is no competition so we will be free to have a full weekend in camp. But added is we’re going to try and sneak in one camping weekend earlier than we ever had in April as Easter is much later this year and I have the fortunate situation of some special vacation days that need to be used by May if possible. We of course will have the mainstays of our summer in Arrowhead in July, and Bon Echo in August with Wolfe Island Music Festival. And September is always reserved for Sandbanks Music Festival.

With the snow on the ground the camping season always seems so far away, but at least the calendar year finally reflects the one we will be planning camping for. And it feels so much better when we reach the place of planning and actually booking. We have some planned gear additions to our filming this year which is exciting for me as much as it is Danielle (I’ve moved away from wanting a drone much to Danielle and our bank account’s delight, and am looking to get the Osmo Pocket to be able to capture our adventures more conveniently) While we will get a lot more focuses on Emelia’ gymnastics season and competitions from here on out, the reality is every post brings us that much closer to camping season!

She said

What a busy but wonderful week. This week was a bit of a mix bag of activities. The week started out with the celebration of the New Year. About a month ago our friends Stephanie and Danielle and I were chatting at one of the girls gymnastics practices about what everyone’s plans were for New Years Eve. John and I had been invited to a friends gathering but said we were open to suggestions because we could make both work. A few days later plans were hatched for a gathering at Stephanie and Justin’s house with some friends.

Earlier in the day New Year’s Day we had something special planned for Emelia and her two best friends. Over the years we have received a number of movie passes as gifts, so many that were able to treat Emelia and her best friends to a fun afternoon at the movies. The girls chose the new Wreck it Ralph movie, and man was it great. Lots of funny parts and there were giggles all around. It was an amazing way to spend the afternoon of the last day of 2018.

Once we got everyone home we had a light dinner and planned to head over to our friends. We were originally trying to attend both gatherings but it the earlier things were starting the more we realized that we were going to be heading straight to the Sherwoods. Emelia was delighted were heading so early so she and Olivia would have lots of time to play. Shortly after we arrived their other gymnastics bestie Kathleen arrived with her cousin. The 4 girls were off and spent the entire night playing and entertaining each other. The adults all shared some food and beverages. The night was so much fun, the kids all made it to midnight and then some. By the time we got home and all in bed it was pushing past 1:30!

The rest of the week was getting back a bit more into the groove of things. Emelia was still home enjoying the last of her holiday break and being an extra set of hands with me and the kids. The big event for the daycare kids was the introductions of Gabby to everyone. They all got along amazing and Gabby has adjusted so well to the chaos that is our life. I will say the addition of extra toddlers in the house has made for a tired kitten but she seems to love the attention. We are happy to say that the two cats are getting along amazing and everyone is pretty happy around here.

By the time Friday came and went it was time to get Emelia back to gymnastics training. She had a long break over the holidays and it was a bit to get back in the swing of things. Friday night she came home a bit frustrated because she was very sore and things didn’t go as well as she hoped. With the pressure of her first competition of the season weighing on her she was putting even more pressure on herself to be ready. She was convinced she was never going to be ready and it was all going to be terrible. Today she was back at the gym and things went much better, the skills she was convinced she lost were back to form and her coach said she had an amazing practice, so much Alex told her that her floor routine was her best yet. So needless to say things were much better.

Tomorrow we are back to reality, back to school, back to routine, back to life. I have loved our time together but I think that we are all ready for the regular routine of life and I know Emelia is really missing her friends – and maybe even school but you will never get her to admit that.