Homeward Bound

We left Friday morning for home.  This time The Adventuredome in Vegas was open so we stopped for a couple hours so Emily could ride.  She had a great time, and then slept most of the way to Salt Lake where we stopped for the night.  All of us were happy to be home (and out of the car) on Saturday afternoon!

California, part 3

Our reason for our California visit was to see Marjorie, but there was other stuff to be done as well!
Emily was able to go flying again with Roger.

And rock climbing at Hangar 18.

And Thanksgiving was spent with great friends, most we haven't seen in at least 10 years.  Emily enjoyed playing with the other kids while Aaron and myself got caught up on all the latest news.

California, part 2

photo by Emily

 On Monday morning we didn't linger in St. George, although it is a beautiful area.  We grabbed breakfast and hit the road with the intent of taking a break in Las Vegas.

But things in Vegas didn't go as planned.  The Adventuredome inside Circus Circus wasn't open and the roller coaster at New York New York she was too short for. So we settled for the arcade and lunch.

California, part 1

For the first time ever, there was no school Thanksgiving week.  We took the opportunity to drive to California.  We left Sunday morning and made it to Salt Lake for lunch and the opportunity for Emily to stretch her legs at a trampoline park called the W"air"house.  This facility also had a ropes type course that went above the trampolines.

Then it was over to Scheels, a sporting goods store, so that she could ride the Ferris wheel.  

Before getting back in the car (against her will) to make it to St. George where we stayed the night.  

Let the Games Begin Meet

Competition season is here.
And it was a great beginning!

November 18th was the first meet of the season called Let the Games Begin.  It was done locally, with just Emily's team, as a warm up to the bigger meets.

Emily was third in two events, first in two events, and first overall in her group.  This is her first year competing as Xcel silver, having moved up from bronze.  Her best event this time was the vault with a score of 9.7.  It was also the event she was most fearful of because now that she's silver she has to "use the big vault"!

It's that time of year, the time to pick up Emily's ski rentals for the season.

I may be in denial that opening day is in a week, but it will be awhile before Emily has time to ski.  Her first gymnastics meet is next Saturday, and then it'll be about two a month before that season ends in April.  Emily's not very happy that her ski weekends are limited this year, but she loves gymnastics slightly more.

Emily makes life the right kind of busy.

Our Saturdays traditionally start off with her going to open gym from 10:30 - 12:30, but this weekend  she was willing to cut her practice short so that she could attend the free day at the YMCA.  First it was swimming and turns on the water slide.  And once she had had her fill of the pool, it was time to hit the rock climbing wall.

Sunday morning dawned early, with Emily asking around 5 AM, "What are we going to do today?" 

Aaron declared with snow in the forecast that the morning had to be spent getting the rest of the leaves bagged (there were more than 5 bags filled, who thought planting about 20 aspens was a good idea?!?!?) and getting the rest of the winter prep done.  But by lunchtime it was done, and she decided to go swimming again.  The YMCA is closed on Sundays, so we were able to use the hotel pool.

Halloween 2017

Getting Emily a costume this year was a fiasco.  Let's just wrap it up by saying there is a company we will never order from again and that Emily did not get the costume she wanted.  However, she did eventually settle on something that she liked - an inflatable emoji!

This year Emily decided to skip the Halloween Hoopla, the event where downtown businesses pass out candy.  She stayed at Aaron's store and passed out candy for him.  Then we met up with her friend Brooke and trick or treated around the Foxmoor neighborhood in town, that's one of the hotspots for Halloween activity.  We ended our night back at Peter and Jane's house, who live in that neighborhood, so she could continue passing out candy.  That's really her favorite part!