Sun Valley

This year Hero competed in her first out-of-town skating competition.  It was a mixed bag, due to a lot of back-and-forth between Sun Valley and Boise, and two ER visits (!), but it was very interesting, and it's fun to get away, even if it's just for a long weekend.

Skating Mom

While I love watching my kids in all activities, my favorite mom designation is probably "Skating Mom".  I really enjoy the sport, and have made a lot of wonderful friends through my involvement on the board of the Boise Figure Skating Club.  The annual Boise Ice Classic happened in early April, and was a great success.  It's exhausting to put it on (I'm the Volunteer Chair), but really thrilling to see it all come together at the same time.  And it's always a pleasure to watch Hero skate, although nerve-wracking too!  We were very proud of her bringing home one gold and one silver medal in the two events she competed in.

Hero's Turn in the Spotlight

On December 8th, Hero performed in her third Holidays on Ice show.  It's so much fun to watch and help out with.  This year she skated in three group numbers and did a solo to Kari Jobe's rendition of O Holy Night!  It was gorgeous and she totally nailed her axel in the evening show (which was the one the whole family came to see).  It's so inspiring to watch your children do something completely amazing and I'm thankful for the resources to make that happen.

Allegra - Freeskate 1

This was Allegra's first time out of the Basic Skills class and she did great.  She's a natural performer and you can totally see her hours of ballet training.  She skated to a selection of songs from The King and I.

Hero - Pre-Preliminary

The Boise Ice Classic this past Saturday (4-20-13) was Hero's first "big" competition where she competed outside the Basic level.  Apparently the first competition you have where you have to land an axel is a big deal!  She was nervous but she stayed up on her feet and made a respectable showing.  In being on the competition committee I discovered that I really enjoy the sport.  It was a lot of fun (although I still don't know half of what I'm supposed to be watching for). 

The Star

 

After many weeks of preparation, Saturday was finally the day of the Holidays on Ice skating show.  We don't actually get much chance to watch Hero skate, because of how our schedules work out, so it was fun to get to see her.  She progressed so much in a year.  Last year she was just part of a group number, but this year she was part of two group numbers and also had a solo to the Christmas song "Man with the Bag".  They make a big deal out of the soloists, introducing them as the stars of the show, and individually announcing them.  You can't help but feel a surge of parental pride when your child is called a star.  How Hero loves skating!  She wishes she could attend a full-time skating boarding school.  Because we are not millionaires, she's stuck with us and Idaho Ice World for now, but we just keep impressing on her that her hard work will pay off, in some way, in the future.  We've ordered a DVD, and I hope I can extract the video of her solo and put it online after the DVD arrives.

Our Fearless Firecracker

Did you guess who I'm talking about? It's Cecily. That girl is crazy strong, crazy bold, and crazy determined. I have a feeling we are in for quite the ride as that little girl grows up, but that she's going to accomplish great things when she finally gets there. This summer she made her first go at ice-skating (inspired by her big sisters, of course). She took a Learn-to-Skate class and was by far the youngest kid there, but she was so up for the challenge. Her legs were flying everywhere, but she clung to the little tripod and scooted back and forth with obvious glee. It didn't hurt that Hero and Allegra were allowed to be on the ice (their summer teacher was the head of the ice-skating program) during the session for extra support and encouragement. I can already picture the adorable outfits and routines (and James will no doubt groan when he reads this).

 

 

 

 

1st Place x 3

I'm not sure why I go in spurts on the blog. Actually, I think you could use my posting frequency as a measure of my state of mind. While I'm feeling good and on top of things I tend to post more, but when I'm feeling anxious and chaotic I stop. Well, I wouldn't say I'm feeling on top of the world right now, but I think I'm going to try harder at convincing myself that everything is under control by doing the external things first LOL.

Hero and Allegra competed in their second figure skating competition last week. They've worked much harder this year than last year - especially in the last two months. We've been at the rink SO much (I wish it was closer!). During the school year, they had to get their at 6:30, which meant a 5:30 wake up call, and usually they didn't complain. All that hard work finally paid off, as they won gold medals in all of their events. Hero did two events and Allegra one. I'm so, so proud of them, and I'm hoping we can do more competitions, because this one was fun!