Today, I travelled with Elise's jump rope team to Virginia Tech to watch them perform during half-time of a basketball game. We both had fun, and I learned so much on this trip. I learned...
1. I love traveling by bus. Do you think I could just charter a bus next time we want to go on a family vacation? I was on that thing for 8 hours today and don't feel nearly as worn out as I feel after a three hour car ride. The seats were comfy. There was a movie playing. I could get up and walk around. I could even read without feeling carsick. Charter buses are my friend.
2. Next time Elise has a performance, I won't involve myself in the hair battle to get her hair braided. I'll just send her with brush and elastics in hand and let the moms and team captains take care of her. It looked like one big braiding party in gym before the bus arrived.
3. Basketball coliseums have a whole big practice court down on the same level as the main court, under the stands. Who knew? It makes sense now that I think about it though.
4. The Virginia Tech mascot is a male turkey. I would say that a turkey doesn't sound very tough or menacing, but I come from a high school where the mascot was a Scot (a dude in a kilt) and a college where the mascot was a deacon (dude at a Baptist church who helps out the minister), so I'm really not one to judge mascots... at least not whether or not they are menacing.
5. Last but certainly not least, I learned that I need a better video camera for these sorts of events. Clearly, my little point and shoot is not up to the task. I took some video anyway though, so humor me and watch it. Just try not to make too much fun of my videographer and video editing skills (or lack thereof).
6. Elise had a great time on this trip. Although she made some mistakes in her freestyle routine, she came off the court smiling and was happy with her performance. Her traveller routine got cut when they ran out of time, but she took that in stride too. Despite the many hours of travel, that girl was smiling and happy all day long. That makes her mamma smile too.
Similar to your bus ride...
When we lived in Buffalo, we took the train to NYC for Thanksgiving. Considering the difference was 9 hour car ride versus 12 hours on train, and then throw in $30/day for parking, well worth it. Like a bus, could stretch out, read books, walk to the dining car. If we head back, definitely doing it again that way.
Posted by: Armin | Monday, January 09, 2012 at 08:44 AM
Wow. What a great trip and experience! Loved the video. They performed for a long time! What great memories. Glad to see boys on the 'squad' too. Look like lots of fun. I want to join. Elise did a great job. Very hard to be out there on a big court with lots of people watching you! She looked great.
Posted by: SMcCoy | Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 10:31 AM
She did FANTASTIC!!!! Love it!
Posted by: Stephanie Overton | Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 07:50 PM