a) damn is that a boring drive
b) wow, waterloo has some weird zoning laws in their downtown area - nice upscale restaurants and architecture firms next to an adult movie theater and used clothes store
c) throw back gyms are hot and sweaty
d) march weather in the upper midwest is unpredictable. We drove through rain, sleet, snow, sun and hail - all in a 4 hour period
e) to point d) people are not good drivers in Iowa, saw 5+ cars in the ditch
We drove down Friday night, got registered, grab a yummy dinner and then hit the hotel pool. Thats what away tournaments are for, right? Parent bonding (aka wine) and kid bonding (aka pool). Billy, Ace and Ese had a great time (remember, they call Billy and Ace Rush Hour after the movie with Jackie Chan and Chris Rock - it totally fits too personality wise)
Saturday morning was early and snowing, again. We were at East Waterloo High and it was like out of page of Hoosier - old brick building and single basketball court gym. They had the spectators in the balcony and, as you know heat rises, so as the day went on and the athletes sweated it got super stuffy and smelly.
Have we mentioned that TKD tournaments are not the fastest of events? The time your kid or kids from your dojong are competing are really exciting, in between, not so much.
The event check in was at 8:30 and we left at 3:30, 3 hours before it officially ended but once all our dojong was finished. Keep in mind, for those 7 hours, there was about 20 min's of intense activity as our kids competed - ~ 2 minutes for each pomsea pattern (x 3 kids) and 3 minutes for each sparring (1 minute of competing 30 sec of rest and 2nd round at 1 minute) I, went for a walk, got caught up on Facebook (tom's Facebook) read People magazine, chatted with other parents, wandered aimlessly trying to avoid the snack bar full of walking tacos, pizza, donuts and other temptations and basically stared into space.
Billy did well, 2nd in pomsea and 3rd in sparring. The kid that won 1st in sparring was amazing. Really good moves/strategy to learn from him. Billy said he was happy with his kicks and sliding in but wants to work on multiple vs single kicks and being more aggressive. He was really happy with how he did.
Then, after all that bleacher sitting, we got in the car and drove home (aka, another bunch of sitting around)
Needless to say, I'm a bit antsy.
Congrats on your 1st out of town tournament Billy, you had fun, were a good team player and worked hard. We love you!
The 3 musketeers, Esa and Rush Hour
Throwback gym
Silver and Bronze!!
