Grandma and Grandpa came in for a few days to become sleep deprived like the rest of us. The weekend events included and not in any order of importance, Tom started the summer semester at George Brown (Mediterranean and BBQ), Jimmy had his first select baseball team tryout, Billy had Taekwondo sparring practice, Kay had track practice and her first gymnastics meet, Tracy had work and MS 150 training and that was just Saturday. Sunday was more school for Tom, and Mothers Day with an early celebration of Grandmas birthday. Heres a breakdown:
Friday was the quietest day of the bunch. The kids were off to school and Grandpa Jim and Tom have been wanting to try Wimpy's for breakfast and Grandma Bunny came along as well. To say it was good is an understatement, plates completely clean all three of us said " wow I didn't think I was going to eat all that!" What's not to like fat free, low calories, eggs, potatoes, french toast, bacon, sausage, all good! The afternoon was filled with hanging out and watching Billy practice his sparring. Tracy was able to get home early and we have a great family dinner. Curried Lemon Grass chicken, feast chicken, rice pilaf, all good. We caught up and Glee and hit the rack early Saturday was going to be a long day!
Saturday found Tom leaving at 7:30 for BBQ class totally excited for it! This class is full of awesome ways to marinade, smoke, steam, roast, deep fry, and of course BBQ not only meats,but fish and vegetables as well! Look out summer! Tracy was able to get a long dog walk and a bike ride to train for the MS150. Grandpa Jim took Jimmy to baseball practice, Billy was reacquainting himself with electronics and Grandma was busy with Kay's hair, yep this was Kay's big day, her first ever competitive Gymnastics meet. Nervous, well a little. After a bit of running around we all found our selves in the Vaughn Gymnastics Center. There were around 75 athletes between the ages of 7-9. Being this is Kay's first year she was in the group of level 2 gymnasts. Just a note that Kay practices at level 3 , but has to compete at level 2, where in Canada, Eh?
In any event the competition is set up as follows:
3:00-3:30 check-in
3:30-4:00 March in
4:00-4:30 warm Up
4:30-7:00 competition
7:00-8:00 Awards
We were all prepared for a long afternoon. Note: None of us, including Kay, have ever been to a competitive gymnastics meet, let alone a non-competitive one, meaning we had no idea what to expect and when we were walking out the door at 6:00 we were shocked! what the hell was that?
Here is a recap:
At around 4:00 all of a sudden there was a lot of activities, athletes swinging on the uneven parallel bars, floor routines, cartwheels, hand springs, the balance beam was rocking and the kids were vaulting them selves into the next room. The competition had started, no fanfare, no here we go, gun shot like track, just start on tumbling. On another side note, Kay asked me " Daddy you know this is my first meet and do you know what would make it really special?" "No honey I don't" " If when I get off the podium you had flowers for me!"
So Kay's first event was the vault, not the horse (that is for boys) the vault. She did a couple of warm-ups, the event has the gymnasts running as fast they they can, I am not sure of the rules but I think their tongue has to hang out of the right side of their mouth, the leap onto the vault thing, place their hands on the mat ( like a giant pillow) flip over land on their back, place their feet in the pike position and arms behind their head hands at a 25 degrees angle to the floor, then dismount, butt out, hands in the air, whew. Kay landed about 5 feet further than any other kid, not sure of that's good or bad?
Next up uneven parallel bars. Jump up swing around a few times hop onto the top bar dismount from 10 feet without breaking your ankles, butt out, hands in the air, piece of cake. The balance beam stood in the corner like the devils triangle. Kay's coach appeared out of now where and had Kay doing all these practice moves and such, not sure. After the event her coach said "you should have seen the look of determination on your daughters face when she approached the beam". Up she went immediately into the splits, roll over onto her feet, a couple of prances, a few spins, 4ft tall hops, and a cartwheel hand spring off the beam and stuck like glue, dismount, you know... the butt out, and hand thing by now.
Since Kay was at level 2 the athlete's do not get called to the podium as the judges do not want to hurt the feeling of the kids who may not have done well. So they simply call the kids by team give them a certificate and a medal stating to the crowd that the certificates have the place the kids finished.
To see Kay's face when we handed her the flowers was priceless. When she handed us her certificated well what's more than priceless?! Kay placed first in beam, first in floor, first in vault and second in bars and GOLD MEDAL FIRST OVERALL!! Way to go Kay!
Mothers day was another more or less quiet day. Another class for Tom training for Tracy and relaxing with Grandma and Grandpa. We had a killer French toast breakfast curtoeusy of brunch class and then Tracy created an out of the park shut the front door, dinner with smoked salmon, risotto, salad and asparagus. It is starting to sound like all we do around here is go from kid event to the other and then eat, not bad work if you can get it. The 2 mom's received several heart felt pieces of art from the kids and a few choice books, training gear and hours of massage, also more love than they know. We had a premature birthday for Grandma Bunny, her birthday was Monday, and a special pecan pie, her favorite.
A big thanks for Grandpa Jim and Grandma Bunny for coming not only for the chaos that is our daily lives but to share Mothers Day and Grandma Bunny's birthday!
To all of the wonderful Mothers out there we are blessed by all you do.
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY, LOVE, TTJKB
more to come...
