Finally getting to post about my girls’ achievements at the 2018 Swimacon Invitational. This three day event is held every summer. All the teams in the league come together to find the best of the best!

Friday and Saturday were preliminary rounds. Both girls made it the finals in all of their strokes! Kennedy swam freestyle, breaststroke, and butterfly. Jules swam freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke. I love their huge smiles when they get out of the pool – they come straight to their mom and dad for congratulatory hugs.

On the day of the finals I was a nervous wreck. I knew it would be extremely close judging from the preliminary times. I told the girls to just have fun and swim like a fish!

Jules did not place; however, she improved drastically over the season. She even won the award for “most improved in backstroke” – we are so proud of all the hard work she has been putting in at practice.

Kennedy’s freestyle race was one of the best races I’ve ever watched her swim. Everyone was screaming for her…she was behind most of the race (as you can see in pictures) – she came back right at the end and placed first overall in freestlye! We were jumping and screaming when she got out of that pool!

Jules swam backstroke next. She went a little sideways and hit a ladder towards the end. She must have thought she hit the finish wall, because her feet came down and she stood up (which is a disqualification in backstroke). Aunt Lisa just so happened to be stroke judging that session, and had to write a slip for Julesy. I just smiled, because that is so Jules. The girl still doesn’t realize…she walked out of the pool and headed straight for the snowball stand.

Kennedy’s next swim was breaststroke. She placed 3rd overall!

We knew the final points would come down to her butterfly swim. She placed second overall!

While we waited for the all-around high point awards to be tallied, we watched the alumni relay races. The girls enjoyed cheering for Daddy who swam butterfly!

At 7 years old, Kennedy won the gold high point trophy in 7-8 girls! We are extremely proud of how she has grown in the past year, and how much work she puts into everything she does! (while we were in a rain delay, she apparently drew all over her body)

It was long and hot, but a wonderful weekend! Thanks to everyone who kept Easton busy at home while we were watching Kennedy and Jules! GO GATORS!

 

 

We packed the car and headed on a 3 hour road trip to the gymnastics state championships in Lake Charles. Jules came along for the trip; however, we left Easton with his grandparents. He’s not a fan of sitting and watching :)

We arrived Saturday afternoon (she competed on Sunday morning), so we spent our time in the arcade and by the pool area.

We had breakfast with some fellow gymnasts the next morning, and then we were off to the arena. It was a lot bigger than her normal meets. She seemed fine, but my nerves were all over the place!

The first event she competed on was beam. I was shaking. My husband does not understand why I get so nervous. I said you grew up playing baseball…you don’t understand!

She looked so smooth, and she scored a personal best on the balance beam….a 9.600! She tied for first place in this event.

Her next event was Floor where she scored a 9.375…placing 3rd overall!

By the time she got to Vault, we could tell her nerves were really starting to show. After the vault, the gymnast should go into a handstand and hold it…and then fall flat on the mat. For Kennedy’s first vault, instead of going into a handstand…..she did a cartwheel! I was just staring…what in the world did she just do!? She quickly recovered and did the handstand to finish the event. LUCKILY, the gymnasts get two vaults…and the judges take the highest score of the two. She rocked the second vault and ending up scoring a 9.650 placing her first overall for vault!

Later that day in the car she told me, “Mom I was so nervous…all of a sudden I realized I was doing a cartwheel!” I told her at least she got up and finished!

The last event was bars. She had a little slip on one foot (you can see clearly in the picture), but she had a GREAT save and recovery. She basically did her discount using one foot! She scored a 9.325 placing her 5th on Bars.

When award time came around, she was all smiles. She scored All Around 2nd Place for Level 1 (E)! We are extremely proud of all of her hard work. Not too shabby for her first year competing!

Here she comes, Level 2! Jules says she can’t wait to compete herself!

 

 

 

 

Kennedy competed in her fourth gymnastics meet over the weekend. She started out on vault, where she had a little fall (out of her handstand). She scored a 9.150 and placed 5th overall on this event.

Next up was Bars where she scored a 9.500! I thought she would be nervous from her vault, but she didn’t let it rattle her next event!  She placed first overall on Bars.

Balance Beam was the next event – I think I hold my breath at every meet for this rotation. She scored her highest score on beam so far…a 9.550, placing first overall on Beam.

Lastly, she competed on floor where she scored a 9.125. She placed third overall on this event.

Out of 11 girls in her group, she placed second All Around! We are so proud of Kennedy on her first year of competing – she is surely rocking it out at every meet.

Nana surprised the girls with long stemmed roses…Jules received one too since she is a good cheerleader for her sister. She comes to every meet and is so well behaved (wish we could say the same for brother ;)

Congrats to the Level 1 team who took home the first place all around team trophy!

Jules could not contain her excitement – she was finally able to show off all her gymnastics skills she’s been learning. Kennedy was also able to perform her team routines. We decided to bring Easton (for once) to watch their performances. We quickly realized why we don’t bring him to meets :) He was not happy until he was on the floor himself!

Jules was so excited to show off her beam routine she has been working on. I love watching her grow into the little gymnast she is becoming. Jules is super strong!

Sister could not stop smiling when she received her first gymnastics trophy. Kennedy also received one for Level 1 Team.

Easton was just excited when it was over – he told me, “my turn!”

Awesome job, girls, on an amazing gym year! We are so proud of everything you do :)

Kennedy competed in her third gym meet this weekend! Her scores are climbing with every meet, and we are so proud of the confidence she is building. Jules loves watching her just as much as we do, and she can’t wait to compete herself!

Kennedy competed out of 12 girls in her age group (7 year olds). She started out on floor where she received a 9.300 placing 4th overall on floor.

Her next event was Vault where she scored a 9.325 placing 2nd overall.

On Bars she scored a 9.625 placing first overall!

On Balance Beam she scored a 9.250 placing first overall!

When she realized she won first place all-around, she could not stop smiling. Her hard work is really starting to show!

Congratulations to our Level 1 team who placed first overall as well! We are some proud parents!

 

 

Kennedy had her game face on for her second gymnastic competition. As she stretched on the barricades before the meet, her biggest fan Jules was right behind!

The first rotation was floor – she scored a 9.475 and was the 1st place gold medalist in her division!

The next event was Vault which she scored 9.050 and place 2nd in her division.

Next rotation was Bars. I thought her bar routine looked pretty good! Judges found some deductions, because she scored a 8.875. I guess that’s why I’m not a judge….gold medals for everybody! LOL She placed 7th in bars.

Lastly, she competed on Beam. She had a little fall and still managed to score a 9.00! She placed 5th in balance beam.

She could not stop smiling when she received her first gold medal (for floor). She told me her neck hurt from all those medals! The icing on the cake when their Level 1 team won first place!! They have such a good group.

3rd place all-around is not too shabby for her second meet! We are so proud of you, Kenn!

Sweaty palms, nausea, weak knees, upset stomach, the shakes….and those were just MOMMA’S symptoms! Even though my girl was super nervous for her very first gym meet, she rocked it out and had so much fun!

When we walked into the arena, she could not stop looking around and taking it all in – she was wide eyed and smiling! She kept jumping with nervous energy. Biggest fan, Jules, was right there with her experiencing it all, too. We left Easton home, because (A) Momma needed to concentrate, and (B) he would have been on the beam with Kennedy.

I have been through t-ball games, dance recitals, school plays, and swim meets. This was BY FAR the most nerve-wracking performance to watch. I don’t know if it was the people or the judges…..I just knew how much she loves gymnastics and how hard she works. I could not even eat! Remind me to hide a flask in my purse next meet (kidding).  She definitely eased my nerves with every event. She became more and more comfortable as the meet went on.

The biggest challenge of the entire day was my camera – grrrr. Thank goodness I was prepared with video camera backup – ya’ll know how I like my action shots, though! I’ll get my pictures next meet!

She made us so proud on all of her events.

• Bars: 9.25 (Fifth Overall)
• Beam: 9.050 (Fifth Overall)
• Floor: 9.100 (Fourth Overall)
• Vault: 9.325 (Third Overall)
• Fifth All-Around Champion

Here is a video of all her events – and the hair process before we get there ;)

Good job, Love Bug!

 

 

 

Everyone looks forward to the 3 day event put on by the hosting team each year. It’s long and hot days, but it really is a fun time to be around your teammates!

The swimmers love to get painted on and have team tattoos put on their backs!

Easton came for the preliminaries – he was all over the place :) The rocks kept him entertained for a minute!

This was Jules’ very first invitationals, and she did great! She did not qualify for the finals, but we are very proud of her for swimming!

Kennedy was up next in preliminaries – she qualified first overall in freestyle, and third overall in backstroke. When it came down to butterfly, she had a mishap with her goggles – she did not qualify for butterfly :(

One highlight of the invitationals is when the swimmers parade around the pool by teams. This years theme was “Swim Wars”, so every team was STAR WARS themed. We were Darth Gators :)

On the day of the finals, Kennedy was still nervous and worried about her goggle mishap from the day before. She ended up not swimming the freestyle competition. It was disappointing, but I had to remind myself that she is only six. I know it’s a lot of pressure. After a couple of pep talks, she did manage to swim backstroke!

Another highlight of our weekend was watching DADDY swim! Seth swam butterfly in the alumni relay at the end of the weekend. Kennedy and Jules were screaming from the sidelines – it was priceless :)

Even though we had some bumps along the way, we are so proud of our Gator swim team for finishing strong! It’s a wonderful weekend to bring the team closer together!

 

This was an exciting year, because Jules was able to join the swim team! She was so excited to swim in her very first swim meet. She is now able to swim the length of the pool without holding onto the rope!

Kennedy kept us proud as she swam freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly all season.

The highlight of their year (which they are STILL talking about) was the girls spa sleepover the coaches put on for the girls on the team. They painted nails, did makeup, hair, facials, manicures, & pedicures. They had an absolute blast!

They had a great season, and we are very proud of them!

 

After our t-ball tournament the weekend before, Jules dusted off her tennis shoes to put on her dancing shoes! We pampered her all morning with hair and makeup – I barely recognized her without her curls!

Big sis was playing momma herself…and had to put on makeup as well to watch from the audience this year! She ran to the dressing room with me after Jules’ performance to help change her to the next costume – she was a big help!

Since only Jules danced this year, it was a lot easier on Mom! I only had one ballerina to dress, so I was able to enjoy a lot more of the show!

It was a super cute performance where the toys we know and love came to life! There were army men, jumps ropes, legos, kites and porcelain dolls just to name a few! Jules’ first performance was BUBBLES. At first, she did not see me and kept looking and looking….but when she found me, she could not stop smiling!

Next we put on her tap shoes for her performance in HULA HOOP! My favorite part of that entire day was watching Jules swing her hips like she was pretending to hula-hoop. That girl gave it her all in that one move. We could not help but smile at her determination in that step!

Congrats to Jules on her 3rd dance recital! We love to watch her shine!