Bama vs UCLA Gymnastics
I took the reds with me when I ran Tuscaloosa, so they could hang with Jay and there was an Alabama Gymnastics meet on Friday night. They played UCLA, who was actually pretty good.
We met Jay at the coliseum(I never spell that word correctly.), and then grabbed some dinner at Newk’s. Where Addy not only, ate her sandwich, but finished off my bowl of soup, and Claire ate an entire child’s pizza and then ate Addy’s chips. These McPhillips know no bounds to eating off my plate. She highly enjoyed the lobster bisque.
We had excellent seats for the meet (Thanks Uncle Jay!).
Addy was so stoked. And I think it’s safe to say, this kid has figured out competition… a UCLA girl didn’t stick her landing and Addy turned to me and said, “Yes!” and I questioned her, and she replied, “That means she gets point taken off! Her score won’t be as high.” Dang. I didn’t know whether to scold her or hug her.
Claire wasn’t looking forward to the fireworks that they do on the introductions…
But Uncle Jay talked her into digging it and then she was ready to see some more.
“Hold up, Mom. I’m watching gymnastics.”
Addy wanted to meet some of the gymnasts post meet and while we were down on the floor waiting, she started pitching a fit, and I had had enough of it, so I pulled her into the hallway to explain that we were leaving because of her attitude, and she didn’t get to see any gymnasts because of her choices and actions… and low and behold if Kim Jacobs and Ashley Priess don’t walk down the hallway. This child has tears in her eyes 2 seconds before this picture was taken.
Oy. Drama. But they loved it and had a great time!! Bama beat UCLA by one point, which in gymnastics, is huge. So glad we are able to bring them down to fun things like this!
Ginger Flippers
As y’all may know, my little Addy is a gymnast. Our competition season is in full swing and we have had zero home meets. We travel for our entire season.
We headed to Atlanta for Addy’s meet last Thursday night (Yes. the night after Claires birthday and the same week as I got back from Miami. Oof.)
We started out with an awesome breakfast at the Hilton Inn by Gwinett Arena.
McKenna went and cheer Addy on.. where she informed me that I was McKenna’s grandma. Seriously?
Addy and her team were ready to start stretching…
Addy competed against 13 girls in her Age Group.. normally it’s just 2 or 3. There were also 97 girls who competed on her level.
During my down time, I spent 30 minutes brushing McKenna’s hair. I wish I had a dollar for every McKenna doll I saw at the gymnastics meet. I could have bought a new McKenna doll!
At this point, I can’t remember what she placed in. I know she got a 6th place, a 4th place and a 3rd place. She didn’t place in Vault. And she got 4th overall in her age group.
Supe proud of my little ginger flipper… it was the best competition that we have seen her do. She stayed focused through the whole thing and was by far her best beam routine. She has improved so much since last season.
Did I mention that she got her medals handed to her by a 3 time World Champion and Gold Medal gymnast? Yep. Svetlana Boginskaya.. a Russian gymnast from the 1996 team.
I think she loves gymnastics even more this year, if that is possible. And I love watching her do something that she loves!
My mini Shawn Johnson…
After my race, we had to book it to Huntsville for Addy’s first gymnastics meet of the season…
I really dug the set up.. you could see all events going on.
Too bad I had to encounter these bad boys to make it to my seat. They almost had me in tears.
But, Addy completely dominated her events.
She places 1st on Bars, 2nd on Floor, 4th on beam and 2nd All Around for her Age Division.
She informed me that she got more medals than I did… modest, that one.
We went out to dinner afterwards to celebrate GiGi’s birthday, and Claire fell asleep in the booth.
And I got the world’s perfect fortune.
I mean, Duh, fortune cookie!
Have you ever gotten the perfect fortune? Or what was the worst fortune you’ve ever gotten?
The Gymnast turns 6.
Sweet little Addy turned 6 a couple of weeks ago. We celebrated with dinner at Carlton’s.
Yep.. about right for pictures. PS Chances are photographers have terrible pictures of their own kids. No patience left.
Getting her American Girl doll.. McKenna.
We celebrated her party the following Sunday at the gymnastics place.
Splits… Can’t everyone do this?!
There may or may not be video of me doing this…
I’m sure this isn’t why Pa Bill’s knee hurts…
Honey Badger don’t care that her underwear is showing.
Family pic.. Imagine. Claire wasn’t feeling it.
So, we all made pouty faces. Except for J. He is making a 13 year old girls duck face.
Happy Birthday to my sweet and sassy 6 year old!!
Gymnastics… It’s a commitment.
Gymnastics.. what can I say about it?
It’s been two practices a week totally 4.5 hours every week.
It’s been entertaining myself as well as a 3 year old during those practice times.
It’s been early morning Saturday meets, in sometimes, far away places.
It’s been hundreds upon hundreds of dollars spent.
It’s been trying not to turn into a Toddler and Tiara mom when your child half ass does a competition that you have driven 2 hours one way to compete.
You know what else it’s been? It’s been a complete joy to watch my child do something that she loves and has a real natural talent for.
I know, she’s 5. But Addison’s athleticism has been present since she could walk.
We have watched her competition scores and attitude steadily decline over this Spring. It’s been hard to watch.
We had numerous talks about making sure that we do our best.
But. We resorted to bribery to get the kid to take her competition seriously. We told her if she got one blue ribbon, she could get her ears pierced. (She’s been asking me to do it for a while.)
We talked about staying focused on our event, and remembering what we were supposed to be doing. Having straight legs and pointed toes. Showing those judges our “muscles”.
What Philly does at gymnastics meets…
Her bar routine has come a long way…
She is totally in her element here.
Maybe now is where I tell you it paid off. I have never seen her so focused. I am SO SO SO SO proud of her. She ROCKED her floor routine– it’s her best one. 8.80 got her a blue ribbon!!
Chatting with Daddy about her first place in the floor routine.
Talking to Nana.. “You’re taking me to Five Guys, right? And then Yogurt Mountain?”
Now that competition season is over, they have already started working on more tricks.. She came home tonight and can do a handstand roll.. Yep. Craziness.
If they had a rotation for spunk and personality… she’d get a perfect 10 every time.
Getting my Olympic Outfit Ready
Either way, I am super proud of her for this opportunity. She loves gymnastics so much and it’s a thrill to see her face accomplish something. Untitled from Rachel McPhillips on Vimeo.
Untitled from Rachel McPhillips on Vimeo.
This weekend deserved a Ta-Da!!
I had Dad video it, so you can see the Olympic goodness in my 4 year old. She dominates every event except the beam. Which I can’t blame her, that thing freaks me out too. Instead of posting a bazillion pictures, I’ll just post the shortened video. Dad took to heart when I told him I only cared about her being on it. He literally videoed her sitting and watching the other girls perform. Well done, Boompa. Well done. I now have 40 minutes of precious Addison video, of which I am only going to post about 5 minutes on here.
The part she was most excited about was her medal. Seriously. The running medals are rubbing off on her because she couldn’t wait to tell me about it.
Gymnastics…
