Luxembourg

 

Dave just returned from a work trip to Luxembourg!

The bad news is I couldn't go with him.  The good news is that he wants to go back and take me 😀

Goodnight, Luxembourg.  Thanks for hosting Dave for the past week.  But we're glad to have him home!

Go Navy!

 

Yesterday was a home game for Navy Women's lacrosse and they invited Riley's club Lax team to be their special guests.

Riley with her teammate Elizabeth (and Elizabeth's younger brother)

All the teammates lined up on the field ready to greet the players before the game started - so cool!

Let's go Navy!

There are 126 D1 schools for Women's lacrosse and all these ladies are hoping to play at one some day!

Dream big, girls.  Dream big! 

Tanner's Sparring Competition

 

Tanner had a sparring competition yesterday.

And he won!  Way to go, Tanner!

And a big thank you to Nana and Grandpa for taking him and staying to watch and support him! 🥋

Free Throw Competition - State Level

 

As a recap from before....  all the elementary and middle schools held free throw competitions a few months ago.  Ella won in her age group and advanced to the next level.  So, several weeks later, the winners from all the local schools int he County had another free throw competition.  Ella won that as well and advanced to the "District" level, which was held a few weeks ago in Towson.  She ended up winning that as well and advanced to the State level, which was held yesterday.  She has been practicing her little heart out.  I snapped a few pictures here and there of her practicing. 

We arrived to the competition early to  practice some more.

And then..... the competition began.  Each contestant shoots 10 free throws, then gets back in line and shoots 15 more.  Whoever makes the most out of the 25 wins.  At the end of the first round, Ella was tied for 1st with 7 baskets.  However, a girl that got six baskets the first round came up to the line and just kept sinking them during the second round and ended up with 17 total.  Ella made 9 of her first 14 shots, so she needed one more...... she shot #15 and it circled around the rim as we held our breath waiting for it to fall in.... until it fell out.  And that was that.  Her total was 16 and she lost by just one basket.  

But we were still super proud of her!  A lot of pressure for a young kid!

Here she is being presented with her 2nd place trophy by the sponsors of the event.

I know you wanted gold, and to advance to Regionals in Charlottesville, VA with the next stop being Nationals in Chicago, but I'm super proud of you and that big silver trophy!  🥈🏆🏀

A Taste of Japan

 

Each year, the 5th grade Girl Scout troop chooses a country and puts on an event that highlights the culture of that country.  They spend the whole year planning the activity and then invite all the younger troops (Kindergarten - 4th grade) to attend.  So, after attending for the last several years and exploring all sorts of countries, it was finally Ella's turn to do the planning and presenting!  Her troop chose Japan. 

My little Geisha 

Here we are welcoming the younger troops.  Each girl had a few lines to tell the girls about life in Japan before splitting up into rotations. 

Each troop rotated through all five stations.

They ate Japanese food with chopsticks....

They did crafts (making their own Japanese lanterns)

They learned a Japanese dance and played some Japanese-themed games

They got to pose with props in front of the photo booth with "Japan" in the background.

And sumo wrestle!

Ella and two other girls were in charge of "Japanese sports" and of course they chose sumo wrestling!  We found these sumo-wrestling tubes on Amazon,  made a little "arena" with tape and sumo wrestled!  It was a big hit!!  Here is Ella referring the match.

And here she is doing a demonstration at the start of one of the rotations.

At the very end, we gathered as a large group, sang the "Make new friends but keep the old" song and traded swaps.

It was a lot of work but a big success!  They did great!  So proud of all these Geishas and what a great job they did putting on this big event.  I had a lot of fun volunteering to be over the "Sports" with Ella and her troop-mates.  Japan now has a special place in all our hearts 🎎🏯

Basketball Season..... That's a Wrap!

 

Basketball season just ended for both Riley and Ella.  Riley's team made it all the way to the semifinals and were winning the entire game with only five minutes to go when the other team caught up and shot a 3-pointer to win the game.  But, just two days later we played in a  Presidents Day Tournament and won the whole thing!  Their coach entered them in four tournaments this season and they won three of the four, so that was pretty awesome!

And Ella's team finished the season undefeated!!  Pretty cool!  Go Arden!

Love is in the Air!

 

We woke up Valentines Day morning to see that Cupid had arrived 💘

And then I styled the girls hair in their tradition heart-braids.

Dave bought me roses.... 🌹

And then we ended the day with heart-shaped pizzas for dinner 💗🍕

Happy Valentines Day!