Day 3

Day 3 was spent with great grandma (although I did escape for a bit to have lunch with good friends/colleagues).  One of things Emily asked to do while at great grandma's was to play the table shuffleboard game.

And while I was away, those three went into downtown Claremont and spent some time at the library, eating lunch, and grabbing desserts.  After I returned we all went to iFLY in Ontario because Emily wanted to try indoor skydiving.  She was a natural and loved it!

And that was really the grand finale to our trip.  Tuesday morning we visited with great grandma one more time, drove back to Cable Airport to say goodbye to friends, grabbed lunch and headed to Ontario Airport to head back to Idaho!  Luckily we returned to melting snow, buds on trees, and tulips growing!  

Day 2

Emily's touristy pick for the vacation was real roller coasters, so that meant Six Flags Magic Mountain.  Now that she is 50 inches tall, she was only prohibited from riding only the extreme ones, and with the flash pass we were able to cut the long lines and get on every ride that she wanted to ride at least twice, some as many as 4 times!  She even chose the front seat a few times and the only one she chose not to ride again was Twisted Colossus, it was just to bumpy and she banged her head.

Goliath was her favorite of the day, Superman was another big hit.

She lasted from the park's opening, and was still going strong when we suggested that we leave an hour before closing.  She loved it!

That morning before getting to the park, we did take a detour and drove up to the Griffith Observatory.  It was a clear morning and we took advantage of it to show Emily the Hollywood sign.

Spring Break - Day 1

The Hughstons returned to California for spring break!
We flew into Ontario late on St. Patrick's Day.  After a short night's rest, we were up and ready to start our first day.  As we were meandering toward great grandma's place we showed Emily our first house in Rancho Cucamonga.

We stopped at our old favorite bakery, Some Crust, grabbed some breakfast and went to visit with Marjorie for the morning.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed sitting outside, playing Connect 4, and getting a tour of the facility.  

We took great grandma with us to open practice at Baldy View gymnastics so that Emily could show Marjorie her moves.  

The afternoon was spent at Cable Airport where Aaron used to have his hangar.  We met up with good friend Roger Bailey who took Emily for her first small plane ride in his experimental.  

 After her flight, she got a driving lesson in the golf cart and was zooming all over the airport!

The evening closed with about 15 of us gathering at Roger's hangar, old friends and new, for a bbq and conversation.  As we returned to the hotel for the evening, Emily told us that her battery was at 5%.  It was a great first day!

Xcel State Meet

Today we were at Danik Gymnastics in Meridian for the last meet of the season - state!

The day started off a little rough.  Emily started on the beam and just after the hand stand fell off.  Aaron and I were so proud of her that she got back up and finished the routine.  Unfortunately her day started off with an 8.0 and she didn't place at all in this event.  It was a hard start to the day.

Then she was off to the floor, another strong event for Emily, but this time she scored a 9.0. It seemed like the judge was scoring everyone a little lower with most scores in the 8 range.  Emily scored third in this event.

Next up was vault, usually Emily's hardest event.  However, she pulled of a 9.525 and scored first today!

Last was the bars, another third place, with a 9.525.

We weren't sure how the overall would go, but were so excited when she was awarded fourth place overall!  And the team scored fifth today!

It was a great first year in competitive gymnastics, and Emily has quite the collection of awards to show for it.  She was a little bummed after today's performance, but she is 4th in state and that is something to proud of!  Today she showed perseverance and good sportsmanship as she cheered on her teammates and held her head up high.

And after we got home, she already started planning her routine for next year!

BSU Open

Yesterday Emily's meet was at Boise State and it was another successful day!

The first event of the day was vault, and she ended up placing seventh.  

Then it was over to bars, in which she placed second.

Next up was beam, and she continues to prove she earned the title of queen of the beam because she placed first. 

The last event was floor, and it was a strong finish. Another first!

It was a bit of a nail biter with some tough competition yesterday, but Emily was able to once again get first in all around and the team placed second!

Next week it's off to the Xcel State competition and the end to this season!