winner winner chicken dinner

Mary had her huge National cheer competition in Las Vegas in the middle of February.  It was one of the most fun trips we have had!!!

We stayed in a super nice timeshare with Alina and Kelly Posaki, our good friends.  They were so much fun to hang out with.  We shopped and shopped and ate and ate and laughed and talked, and Kelly and I screamed our lungs out while our girls cheered their hearts out up on the big stage.  Team Level 2 nailed both routines both days!  It was so awesome.  They came away with 2nd place.

Team Level 4 had a mess up on Day 1, but they nailed day 2 and they won!!!  The awards ceremony was unbelievable!!!  They had lights all over, smoke, confetti, a cheer and tumbling show, music, a red capet, and the works.  It was a night Mary will never forget.  It was amazing to see them crowned National Champions, get the medals and their Jackets, and live in the moment.  There are not really words to describe it all.

The four of us had so much fun together, and the girls came away as National Champions.  It was about as perfect a trip as we could ask for.  We can't wait for next year!

We had to find a place to stay the last night, because the awards were so late, and the only place that had a room was Trump tower. ha!

Yeah baby!

getting their awards and walking the red carpet

National Champions

Tumbling show during awards ceremony

 

 

vegas baby!

 In the middle of February, Mary had a cheer competition in Vegas.  It was a National Competition, so the team was really excited.
   Mary has three best friends on her cheer team, and I am great friends with their moms, so we all decided to go together.
   It was so much fun!!!
Alina's mom, Kelly, had  a timeshare that we stayed at.  It was really, really nice.  We had two fully furnished kitchens, 4 bedrooms, two living rooms, and a really nice pool and hot tub as well.  It was awesome!
   It was a two day competition.  The first day the girls did amazing!  They loved being on the huge stage with all of the lights and the big sound system.

 It got them so excited and pumped. They held every stunt, and they were all in sync for the dance and their jumps.  The girls were so excited!  It put them in a great place going in to day 2.

Mary and Laynee warming up

"stretching"

Team Black Ridge on the warm up mat

Mary and Laynee

Mary and Alina

Nailed their stunt!!!  Mary is the top left flyer.

Coaches: Tausha, Christina and Amber

  Unfortunately, day 2 wasn't so great.  They had to make some changes the night before, and they treated Mary and a few other girls very unfairly with the changes.  It ended up hurting the team, and was a big source of frustration for Mary and I and a few others. This was something that had been happening already, and was getting really old.
  A stunt fell the second competition day, and the girl that fell, pulled down the girl next to her.  It was the stunt Mary should have been in, and has always held solid in. She was not it that stunt on this day, and it proved to hurt the team.  It was a tough pill to swallow, and a big lesson learned for the coaches, unfortunately, it was learned at the expense of the team and to Mary.
  The girls were pretty upset, and Mary was bummed, but it actually didn't really ruin the trip. Mary is a great kid, and she held her chin up and didn't complain when things were unfair, and when it greatly hurt her and her team.  She is a team player and she was willing to put herself and her hurt feeling aside in order to pump up her team, smile, and not cause drama.  I was so proud of her for her grace and her good character that she showed.  I, on the other hand, was ready to rip someone's head off.  Mary held me back...but my word...argh!!!!
   We were having so much fun with our little group, that it was easy for the girls to get over their disappointment and just have a good time.
   We walked all up and down the strip, shopped our hearts out, ate a ton of yummy food, explored lots of the hotels/casinos, and ate the best cupcakes and cake pops we have ever had.
   Mary, Alina, Laynee and Hadley got along really well, and had an absolute blast.  Kelly, Mandy, Krista and I had just as much fun.

Team bowling party

the Coke store

the M&M store

   It was such a great trip for us girls.  I loved having that time with Mary where we could just have fun.  She is an amazing athlete, and it was fun to watch her compete and do something that she loves.

 

first cheer comp.

Mary had her first Cheerleading competition with Tumble Central All Stars on Saturday.  Her team is awesome, and they definitely are a team to contend with.

Mary and her friend Alina got ready at our place.  Getting ready for these things is quite the undertaking.  It requires A LOT of makeup, A LOT of curling irons, and A TON of hairspray.  It was no joke.  Molly was mesmerized by it all, and loved that Mary and Alina let her wear some make-up and be a part of it.

Unfortunately, on the day of the competition, one girl had a broken foot and could not compete, two girls had Influenza Type B, and 4 girls had Strep throat. 

The team looked like death warmed over during warm-ups.  We were all just holding our breath.

Aside from a pretty significant drop of a stunt, the team nailed everything else!  All of Mary's stunts held strong.  They got hit hard with the scoring for dropping a stunt, but for how sick they all were, we were VERY proud of them.  It was obvious to everyone, that they are a really good team.

These were taped to the windows of the Building about every 10 feet.  haha!!!

Mary is on the left.  Ah yeah!

The girls were happy that they at least pulled off the performance with no one passing out.  They could care less that they dropped a stunt.  It was so proud of how positive and supportive the team and the coaches were of everyone.

Mary and Alina

LOVE!!!!

Laynee, Mary and Alina

This has been such an awesome experience for Mary so far.  She is learning a ton with teamwork, stunting, dancing, flexibility, flying and her tumbling is still improving too!

Go TCA!!!!

seattle

A few weeks ago, My mom, Kelsey, Mary and I had our first ever girls trip!!  It was so much fun it was ridiculous!

My mom, Mary and I flew to Seattle, where Kelsey picked us up at the airport.  She had the cutest little basket in her car set up for us.  It had treats, chocolates and matching bracelets in it for each of us.  How cool is that!

We grabbed lunch and drove straight to Leavenworth.  It was a good 2.5 hour drive, but TOTALLY worth it.  I have never seen such a magical town in my life.  It was unbelievable!  I felt like I was inside a snow globe.  To top it off, it was lightly snowing the whole time we were there.  Everything has a Swiss feel to it, and EVERYTHING has lights.  It felt like a whole different world!  The shops are adorable, the town is adorable, and everything is magical.  We had a blast there.

We drove back to our Hotel after that, and ate ourselves silly and crashed.  The hotel was awesome too!  The theme of the hotel was pineapple, and the décor was so cute, bright, and fun.  The blankets on the beds were the best I have ever felt.  We all snuggled into the beds and vowed to never get out.  We fell asleep watching Hallmark Christmas movies and eating chocolate.

The next morning we ate at this cute little breakfast café; in down town Seattle.  It was old, quaint, and perfect. It was so freaking good!  Best crepes ever!!

 

nutella hot chocolate, with a cute little leaf design in the cream

After breakfast, we headed to the Space Needle.  It was so cool to be able to look at Seattle from being up above it all.  It was absolutely freezing, but totally worth it. It is gorgeous City.

 

 

 

After the space needle, we headed to my Pikes Street Market.  I immediately fell in love with this place too.  WOW!  Best fruit, calamari, flowers, market, EVER!  It was so much fun.  We even visited the gum wall.  So gross, but cool at the same time.

Home of the best cheese curds and tomato soup ever!!!

 

Pikes Market was so fun.  We shopped, ate, watched the dudes throw fish, put gum on the gum wall, and ate the best fruit we have ever had.  It was so cool.

After the market, we went back to the hotel to get ready for the Nutcracker.

The Nutcracker was put on by a Professional Ballet Company, right in downtown Seattle.  I have never, ever, seen anything like it.  The costumes, the set, the live orchestra, the beyond talented dancers.  It was unreal.  Truly unreal.  We all had our jaws on the floor the whole time.  It was so cool!!!

My mom surprised us with bracelets too!  They were the same brand that Kelsey got for us!  How cool is that! 

We crashed that night after the nutcracker.

The next morning, we rode bikes to breakfast.  It was so fun!  It finally stopped raining, so it was perfect.  Riding Pineapple bikes through Seattle to breakfast...doesn't get much better than that.  Except for a little incident, where my mom fell.  :(

A big reason we did this trip, was to celebrate Mary's 13th Birthday.  Yup, she will officially be a teenager next week!
She was so much fun on this trip.  I love her fun-loving personality.  She kept us laughing and on our toes the whole trip. I am so glad I have such a great kid to share trips and experiences like this with. 

In the elevator

After Breakfast, we headed to the airport, and made our way home.

It was definitely a trip none of us will forget.  It was special and fun and magical in so many ways.  I am hoping that it will be the first of many Belnap girls trips to come.
Happy Birthday Mary girl!