Premier Showcase 2015

Each year to kickoff the competition cheer season, Premier Athletics hosts a showcase in Pigeon Forge.  There are 11 (Premier gyms all over the country, from Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida and Michigan.  It's a good opportunity for the girls to get on stage to showcase their routines and get feedback from judges, without the pressure of placing.

This year we decided that Clint doesn't have enough vacation time to head to all of the girls' out of town meets, so I knew Aubrey and I would be going solo to this one.  Madelyn gets pretty bored at the all-day events, so we decided she could stay here so that she wouldn't miss gymnastics.  Friday after work Aubrey and I headed down to my friend Kristie's house to catch a ride with her and her daughter Emme, who was on Aubrey's team last year.

We packed up the van with us, Kristie's sister Michelle and her daughter, Campbell and Kristie's college aged niece.  It was quite an adventure with all those girls in one van!!  The trip seemed long, as we lost an hour going and didn't leave until later that we expected.  Kristie's family is from East TN and her parents have a place in Sevierville, not far from Pigeon Forge.  The original plan was to stay there, but about a week before we left Kristie told me that we were going to stay in her sister's motor home instead.  Aubrey was so excited she could hardly contain herself.  She had never even seen a motor home before.

We finally arrived about midnight local time, got settled in the motor home and went to sleep.  I was surprised how well we slept, but we were exhausted!!  We woke up Saturday morning and didn't have to be at the conference center until after lunch.  We hung out in the morning, relaxing and everyone showering and getting ready.  I dropped Aubrey off with her team and coach and hung out for a while.  The event was set up really nice.  Everything was very organized and ran well.  The girls warmed up and we finally were able to see them on stage.

Ready to go!!

Aubrey's team and coaches

It's so funny to me how much Aubrey lights up as soon as she steps on that stage.  This girl definitely loves to perform!!!  She hit all her stunts, and the team looked great!  We stayed a while to watch some of the other Nashville teams, then headed back to the motor home to change clothes.

 

 

 

There's a place right by the convention center called "The Island".  It's a huge area with all kinds of restaurants like Paula Deen's, Margaritaville and a few others.  They also have a ton of shops, a big arcade, rides and activities.  As part of the Showcase we received discounted tickets so we decided to head over and let the girls have a little fun.  We put our name on the wait list at a restaurant (the wait was over 2 hours!!) and went around playing games.  After dinner the kids played in the arcade, and next thing we knew it was midnight!

Aubrey, Emme and Campbell

Sunday Aubrey had to be back for warm-ups by 10:30, so we were pretty rushed in the morning. Again, the girls looked great and Aubrey was pretty happy with her performance.  We headed out of town about 4:00, and headed home.

It was a super exhausting but fun weekend.  Definitely indicative of how weekends will be from now until April!!!

Fall Break

October has been super busy, with both girls gearing up for competition season.  We haven't been back to Memphis to visit since Christmas,  so the girls and I left Thursday night after school to go visit friends and family.

Thursday night we got in town about 7:30 and went to mom's house.   The girls were do excited to be there and just ran around the house like crazy.  Friday was a day filled with old friends.   Aubrey had a bff in Memphis who has called several times to see if we were coming to visit anytime.   I dropped Aubrey off at Jessa's house and they spent the entire day playing at the zoo.  So fun!

Madelyn and I did a little shopping, then I dropped her off with Nana so I could catch up with old friends.   I had a long lunch with my dear friend Joey, then went to FedEx to visit my former colleagues and friends.   It was so good to see everyone again!
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Me with Bridget, Noki and Adam

The girls decorating cupcakes at Nana's

The girls and I went to visit Granny in the nursing home that afternoon.   It's always difficult to see Granny in her current condition,  but we love her so much and the girls always ask about her.

After dinner with Nana and PawPaw we went to my best friend,  Emily's house.  The girls and her boys were so happy to see each other and ran around all night.  I can't even explain how much I love and miss this sweet family!

I love Mason's pose in this pic.  So funny!!

Saturday morning the girls woke up pretty early and we ate breakfast with Nana and PawPaw.  Then we headed out again to go see my sweet friend, Erin and meet her newest son.  We weren't able to stay very long and I didn't even get any pictures.  But it's always so much fun to see her :-)

We made it to Mimi and Poppie's house around lunchtime and headed out on a mission to get Halloween costumes.  Aubrey knew she wanted to be Spider Girl but Madelyn had no idea what she wanted.  She didn't like anything that I said was "cute" and finally decided on a Broken Doll costume.  She thought it was a little creepy but not too scary.  We went home, got dressed and headed out to eh Zoo Boo.  There are so many things that I love about middle Tennessee, but the zoo here is nothing compared to the Memphis Zoo.  We really have missed it and were so glad to be back.  it was so much fun riding rides, trick or treating and just hanging out.

Dressed and ready to go!

They sure love their Mimi!

We even got Poppie in a picture!

Madelyn thought the mummy was hilarious!

Being silly late at night after the zoo.  Aubrey always wants us to take selfies!

Sunday was busy as well.  While we were driving into town, Gisele called and asked of the girls would be interested in going to the Orpheum to see Cinderella.  They've never been to a musical like that before, so I knew they would love it.  We relaxed all morning then headed out to the mall to get some new clothes for the show.  I think we spent 3 hours in the children's department at Dillard's, bu both girls finally found outfits that they loved.  We headed downtown around 4:30 and walked to Kooky Canuck's to eat dinner.  The show was absolutely incredible, and we loved every minute of it!!

Pretty girls....

Excited for the show to start!!!  Aubrey has been begging for "fake" glasses and was happy to finally get some!

Fall Break really just flew by.  That was the last weekend before competition season starts, so the madness has just begun!!!  

Fun Stuff

Goodness,  we are always so busy that I haven't had time for anything!   The last few weeks have been fun.  Last Tuesday night I was able to go to the Ryman to see my all-time favorite group,  the Indigo Girls,  perform.  What made it even better is that I was able to go with 2 of my favorite people, Marta and Mary Ann.  We really enjoyed the show,  and had a lot of fun!!  But it took me the rest of the week to recover .

Last weekend was busy, as usual.   We got up Saturday morning to go watch some friends at a school cheer competition at Ravenwood High School.   Straight from there was Madelyn's conditioning class, then cheerleading for the Blaze in the rain!  Aubrey went to the American Girl store and a sleepover with her friend Julia from cheer.  Madelyn and I headed to Gallatin to watch some friends in a gymnastics meet.   We didn't get home until midnight!

Here are some pictures of the week.  I'm hoping this weekend will be much more calm!!

The girls and I at the Ryman!!

Indigo Girls!!!!!!

Madelyn and her buddies.  They all did incredibly well!  There's Macie, Emma Kate, Lily Catherine and Raegan.

Julia and Aubrey

Sweet girls

Center Hill Lake

Since moving to middle Tennessee,  I have a new happy place.  When Amanda and Houston invite us to the lake,  I know we are in store for a day of fun and relaxation.  Some of my best memories ad a kid are on Lake Ouachita with my aunt and uncle.   I love that we are creating similar memories with the girls.

Labor Day weekend we hung out on the lake all day, not getting home until after 11:00.  Clint and Houston wake boarded together,  the kids went tubing and I relaxed safely in the boat :)

The lake is definitely Clint's happy place!!!

Happy kiddos

It was really fun watching the boys wake board together!!

Miss Sassy pants!

The girls are ALL about taking selfies these days :)

Finally headed home after an exhausting day!

V-O-L-S Go Vols Go!!!!

After being out of town and missing Clint and the girls,  it was nice to have a long weekend for Labor Day.  When we found out that UT'S season opener was going to be played at Nissan Stadium here in Nashville we had no reason not to go!

Amanda and Houston  (and Huddie,  of course) came by Saturday around noon and we all piled into the Expedition to head downtown for some tailgating fun.  We had wings, snacks, drinks and everything.   We found a place to park, set up our test and chairs and really enjoyed the excitement.  The girls have never been to a UT game, and they were loving all the orange!

About 5 minutes before we wanted to walk to the stadium a rain shower came out of nowhere.   Actually the rain felt nice to cool us off.  It was HOT.

Houston was able to find us dome great tickets so we had an awesome view of the Power T and all the pre-game fun.  Aubrey didn't know what to do with herself, she was so excited!

The kids did awesome,  despite the oppressive hest in the first quarter.   By the second quarter,  Amanda took all 3 kids to the shade and into an air-conditioned Titans store in the stadium to cool off.  There was no complaints,  but you could tell the poor kiddos were melting. 

We enjoyed watching the Pride of the Southland band perform at halftime,  but we're disappointed that the cheerleaders didn't come out and do anything.   We were at the opposite end of the field and couldn't see them during the game, so Aubrey was sad they didn't perform.  A few minutes into the 3rd quarter Clint and I took the girls for snacks.  We were gone a while, so we fully expected the 3rd quarter to be almost over when we walked back to our seats.  Instead we learned there was a weather delay!!  Apparently there was lightning within 8 miles of the stadium so they had to stop the game.  The weather looked clear, but the delay lasted over an hour!!!!  Again,  the kids never complained once and when the play resumed the sun had started to go down and the weather was beautiful!  

It was such a fun day and an awesome experience for the girls!  We've decided that we want to try to go to the UT versus Vanderbilt game each year to start a new tradition.

Here are the pics from the day....