Genna and Daniel are very competitive, both with each other and with others. When they compete against each other, good things happen for the most part.
We've been back in the swing of school things for the last two weeks because they stopped jumping on the trampoline and playing outside and started wanting to play Minecraft again. One of the hardest obstacles to homeschooling is the mental block that we can't get everything done, so why try?
Once Genna figured out she actually can get everything done if she does a little every day, she has been very productive. I overheard her say that she was done with breakfast, so there was no reason she couldn't just get started on her math so she can go out and pick blackberries and get back to her experimenting (she, Fiona, and Daniel are experimenting with blackberry recipes). Daniel didn't want to be left behind, so he was quick to get through his work too...and upped the ante by wanting to be done first. They were out picking blackberries by 10:30 this morning.
We haven't added all our subjects yet; we are only working on math, spelling, and handwriting. Plus Latin for Fiona and grammar, history, and geography for Genna. Shane will start his schoolwork when Ian goes back to school. I'll write up my back to school post then.
Water fun abounds this time of year. So much for schooling year round. We can't even think during the summer, so I'll just keep heading down to the pond or to the porch to be the lifeguard.
Ian and Shane: The Pirates that Don't Do Anything...But Annoy their Siblings
Ian added a new rope swing down at the pond and the older kids have been testing it out. Maybe someday I'll get around to adding video links so you can see Daniel's first few go's on the swing...he looks like he just falls out of the tree and belly flops in the water. But...
Daniel has improved greatly!
I've come up with new rules for paddle boards, based on Lula's experience falling off in shallow water and freaking out. Anyone who wants to go on a paddle board must be able to float in their life jacket without screaming or whining. Lula and Heidi have been working, first in our wading pool, then in the pond, for the right to sit on a paddle board.
Jason came up with the back floating idea
They haven't made much progress...
Like Cats in Water
Is she 11? Or 16?
The patience this girl shows with her younger siblings and the love on her face as she gently propels her baby brother through the water simply melts my heart. She has almost never ending grace even for Daniel and is very good at telling him spiritual truths about treating people kindly and forgiving those who trespass against you.
Surprisingly, Heidi, the one that cries if a single drop of water is splashed on her, was the only one to remain calm enough in the water to SIT on the paddle board. She can't go anywhere yet, but with the weather forecast being what it is this week, I'm sure they all will have a lot more practice.
I can't remember if Summer Fest really is the name of the latest vaulting competition, but for this post, it will suffice. We were in Auburn, so not too far away, it was 85 degrees, and I had to bring Jason, Heidi, and Lula. Thankfully, I brought Fiona too. She was a great help.
We found a patch of grass, shaded by trees, that had a circle of sidewalk around it. I felt like this little area was designed JUST FOR ME because I brought bikes for the little kids to ride.
Lula cracked me up with her bike poses. You should see her water dance and her wind dance too. She has a lot of creative energy.
The funniest/worst part of the day was the potty issue. Heidi and Lula refuse to use porta-potties. We were there for six hours and this was their only choice. Every time they had to go, we would walk across the hot parking lot and look inside. The girls would see the pile getting higher and higher and freak out and refuse to go again. By the end of the day, when they couldn't hold it a second longer, and it couldn't get a degree hotter in there....they finally broke down.
Jason ended up spiking a fever when we were there! Lula had a fever a few days before that, so I shouldn't be that surprised. But it was already hot, so wearing his hot little body in an Ergo backpack wasn't very comfortable for either of us. But at least he was lethargic enough that I didn't have to drag him out of the viewing area of the arena. I actually got to watch several other girls compete, not just Genna.
Our girl brought home a blue ribbon for compulsories and a fourth place ribbon for freestyle. Combined, she received second overall. Her #1 competitor beat her and everyone else in freestyle. It looks like she decided Genevieve Downen wasn't going to beat her again and she creamed them all! Genevieve got 1st by the skin of her teeth, so the close scores in compulsory and the amazing freestyle score gave Ms. #1 Competitor First Place overall. Competition is good.
Genevieve scored very well at regionals this year. She competed with 26 other girls in her level.
She had two team events: compulsories and barrel freestyle. The team placed first in compulsories and second in freestyle and second place overall. The fairgrounds scheduled a heavy metal music festival at the EXACT SAME TIME as the vaulting competition. The "music" definitely interfered with the competition.
Team Compulsories (Genna is the last to go):
Team Barrel (heavy metal and f-bomb starts again around the two minute mark):
The Shannon Class is a just for fun event named after a vaulter that got sick with meningitis and died. The music is randomly assigned and the vaulter has a few hours to come up with a good routine. Everyone walks so everyone can compete together.
In Copper Individuals she scored third place for compulsories and FIRST PLACE for freestyle. This mama had a few tears over THAT. She has one team mate that is incredibly talented in freestyle that is very hard to beat. But the team mate had a little slip, just enough to lose enough points for Genna to win by 0.03 points. Genna came in second place overall in her group of 26. She lost to her friend by 0.008 points. A sliver.
There aren't too many things in this world more exciting than watching turkeys hatch.
Zipping: When the chick has pecked from the inside so it looks like a zipper
Mark started this incubator full of turkey eggs that he found here and there, abandoned in mud, left in the poop under the perch... he scrubbed them up, stuck them in, and hoped for the best.
Turkeys hatch head first and then wiggle free
Genevieve was glued to the incubator, watching and recording every pip and hatch. It would have been the perfect 4-H project for showing at the fair... but I guess after we get officially signed up we can do it again next year....
Awe, a newborn!
...or in 28 days. Yes, the incubator is full again with eggs Mark found out in the woods.
I was surprised, really. This was her first competition at Copper. A year ago she was still at walk! What is Copper? This means a vaulter can do both full 1 star compulsories and freestyle at canter. The level below Copper, the vaulter does an easier version of compulsories at canter and freestyle at walk. There were 21 girls competing at this level and many of them have been vaulting for years.
This is her compulsories (final score 6.013, first place out of 21 girls):
And her Freestyle (final score 6.467, third place):
Genevieve's final score was 6.240 and she took home the Copper Woman Champion prize.
She and three other teammates participated in a Two Phase Team. This is when all four are judged on compulsories going around the circle the opposite direction with a few different moves in a different order. I didn't record the whole team because Jason was a slight problem:
And Two Phase Freestyle:
There was only one Two Phase Team so they brought home all the first place ribbons.
I usually take a snapshot of Genna's scores after they have been posted so I can look them over later. This is the first time I've seen her sit down with her scores and the scores of her closest competitors and compare their strengths and weaknesses. Her only goal since the last competition (when she was disqualified) was to beat this one girl that is really good. And she did. So, goal met. I'm looking forward to seeing what her next goal will be!
Genna's birthday always sneaks up on me, no matter how many times she reminds me and tells me what kind of party she wants. Her birthday falls on Thanksgiving weekend, when friends are gone. This year she had a friend over on the Sunday before her birthday, she brought cupcakes to vaulting on Monday, and had a friend over on her actual birthday, which was Tuesday.
Sunday Present
Tuesday Cake: Don't ever buy the tie-dye cake mix!
This amazing young lady understands that we are investing much of our resources into vaulting, so she is content with her small parties and new vaulting shoes and socks as her gift from us. As long as she can keep participating in competitions, she is good to go. I just love this girl!
This weekend Genevieve had her first vaulting competition at canter. She was able to skip Beginning Canter because she can mount the horse by herself and she can also stand at canter. I was unable to go to Saturday's competition because of lack of childcare, but a friend was able to take her and she made a video for us:
Because Jet spooked and started bucking like that, Genevieve was disqualified from Compulsories.
Every day is a new day!
She persevered and didn't give up and wasn't even upset with Jet. Today I left the kids at home with Mark and went to see the Freestyles. We had to wake up at 4:30 and leave by 5:30 to be at the stables on time. I couldn't see a thing; it was so dark! But after we were there for awhile, the sun came up and revealed the beauty of the equestrian center.
A good sign!
Genevieve did great in her Freestyle:
And then I went and hung out with the horses for awhile:
Jet pretending he is a moose.
What I love most about vaulting is the camaraderie between the girls and coaches. I haven't seen or heard of any Mean Girls. If a girl needs help, someone is there to help her. If a horse is lame, four teams offer theirs. If a girl is disqualified, she is hugged and hugged. I even heard of an older sister that was so upset about the disqualification that she was going to plan a sit-in protest so Genna could have another chance.
After the Freestyles were done, it was time for the center piece of show! The Halloween Costume Freestyle! Genna's was great:
Genna is no longer a big fish in a small pond. She is competing with girls that are several years older than she is and that have been competing at Copper (her level) for awhile. Copper, I believe, is the most competitive level because this is where the greatest number of vaulters. Their talents and interest peak at this level and only the truly dedicated continue on to Silver and Gold...
So even though we do not vault for the ribbons, I was happily surprised when Genna placed 4th in Freestyle.
Hard to believe such a pretty smile needs braces! But if you look closely, you will see her front teeth are shifted slightly to one side. Genna has two adult teeth vying for one small space (created by a naughty baby tooth) and they are trying to dissolve each other's roots to claim the territory. The braces will shift her teeth over and make room and will be done in a year. Goodbye paycheck!
This year, Fiona and Genevieve were in the same class to help cut down on driving back and forth into town.
Ballet:
Tap:
They are beautiful girls and talented dancers! It must be really frustrating to be a dance teacher. You spend all year teaching a dance and the girls still don't have it memorized by recital night. Except one girl does have most of it memorized with perfect timing, so she looks like she is the only one doing something wrong-which gets her perfectionist gene fuming.
Two days after our cousins headed back to PA, Genevieve, Jason, and I headed north to Lynden for Regionals in vaulting. She moved up from walk to preliminary trot for this competition. At Genevieve's request, I took video instead of pictures. I apologize in advance for baby interference:
This first video is a Green Horse test where the horse is being tested and Genevieve is just the rider. The judges are scoring Ruger on his ability to listen and follow the directions of the lunger.
Genevieve works hard on her routines and has them down pat. She isn't the type of person who likes to make things up as she goes along. She likes structure, routine, and rules. So when the parent volunteer in charge of music started playing her HORSE freestyle music instead of her barrel freestyle music, she froze. Here are the videos:
I thought they were going to stop the music and let her restart, but the rules are once you start, you are going. So I turned the camera back on...
...and she did a great job of combining the moves that match the music with the moves that go with the barrel. I was so proud of her for going forward. And now she knows the proper way to signal that the music is wrong before she gets on the barrel. She won 4th place (of 11 girls) in barrel even with hiccup.
The next video is compulsories, which is the required series of movements held for a required time (one of these days I will know what everything is and then I will tell you):
She came in 4th place for compulsories as well. I have copies of the scores, but I haven't digested the awesomeness of the data yet. Genevieve and I will analyze them as a math lesson...
The pictures I have for freestyle are either blurry or boring. Getting good pictures of a trotting horse is much harder than a walking horse! Especially with Jason yanking my hair from the backpack!
Her music was right this time and Genevieve got 1st place for freestyle!
By the time the ribbon ceremony came around, Jason was so done with strollers and backpacks and places that weren't designed with babies in mind. I don't have any pictures of Genevieve earning
1st Place Overall!!!
How can that happen with two 4th places? The math. And barrel didn't count in the overall score!!! So the average between her two horse events gave her first place!
Sunday's event was just for fun. The vaulters hear a clip of music on Saturday and then think about a routine overnight and perform it. Coincidence that Genevieve's music was Cusco: Grandad and Mark's favorite to listen to together? On Father's Day??
This picture was taken a little over a month ago on the same day Shane built his can telephone.
See the string and baggy tied to the fence? Fiona and Genevieve had two camps in the yard and were writing letters back and forth. At the end of the day, they rigged a second letter carrying system up in their room linking their top bunks together. I dug up a pile of old stationary that was stored a decade or so ago and made it useful for something... finally. But I didn't realize a month ago how useful that stationary is/was! Every night when the girls go to bed, they write letters to each other. They. Write. Letters. To. Each. Other. I could just die. They are little glimpses into the girls' days: the desire for their own horse, a request for a Pokemon card trade, a complaint about a mean brother, a wish that Dad would come home early... all on beautiful vintage stationary written in their best handwriting. Genevieve corrects Fiona's spelling and sends her letters back. I love these girls.
Genevieve participated in her first vaulting competition over the weekend. We traveled to Lynden and stayed with our friends, so it was like going on vacation! Since this was Genevieve's first competition, she was in the Novice Walk category.
Her first event was Barrel Freestyle. The girls choose their music and their routines. Genevieve was pretty nervous, so a teammate gave her a quick hug of encouragement. The camaraderie between the girls on the team is just one of the many benefits of this activity.
Genevieve's song was Everything is Awesome from the Lego Movie. She modified the Supergirl Pose with a thumbs up to the judges, which they loved:
She got second place:
Sunday, she did her Novice Walk Compulsory. This event has seven exercises performed in the same order. The horse Genevieve is riding was having his first event too!
Basic Seat
Stand
Forward Swing
Backward Swing
Mill
She scored very high on Mill: a 6.8 out of 10! She placed second place in Compulsories.
Her last event was Novice Walk Freestyle. This is another event where she chose her music and her moves. She rode Joey for this one. He is over 18 hands high, so she needs a boost to mount:
She placed second in this category as well!
She earned Second Overall, for a total of four ribbons! Vaulting is both an individual and a team sport. Now that Genevieve has a baseline score, she can work to improve her moves and compete again. I had a pretty good time with the other vaulting moms, so I think we might be able to find a way to afford more than one competition a year....
Genevieve is improving in leaps and bounds at vaulting. She comes home, starry eyed and pink cheeked, bursting with her accomplishments. Tonight I got to drop her off and lingered long enough to get a few pictures... She is now doing her routines at TROT. This is bouncy!
Now you may see a ten year old girl, full of confidence. But I see:
MY BABY! Standing! She's balancing! She might fall! Quick, take pictures!
Oh, and guess what.... guess, guess, what??? She will probably be going up to Lynden the first weekend of April for competitions! Lynden, people! That means... YOU get to come see her too!
