Gymnastics Season is Here

Ashley, Maria, Kate, Cici, Shayne, Emily

Yesterday the girls competed in Burley at the Let the Games Begin Meet.  This "practice" meet is done at the beginning of the season to make sure everyone has the required skills, so it's more casual than any other meet.  In fact, they don't even post scores!  The girls do receive a score card at the end.
Emily scored a 9.1 on vault, 8.725 on bars, 8.25 on beam, and 8.5 on floor.  Her all around score of 34.575 has already qualified her for state, so it was a great start to the season.

 Today was Community Day at the YMCA, so Emily took her friend Tobie.  The girls spent about an hour rock climbing and a couple hours in the pool.

Halloween

Emily went as a hipster Panda this year, although she regretted that costume and decided that she really would have preferred an inflatable costume.  She was also wishing she had an animal pajama onesie (a giraffe, specifically) because that's what all the "big girls" wore to gym.  Out of the group of 7 she practices with, only two of them are still in elementary.  The rest of the team is middle school and high school, so they're always referred to as the "big girls" and Emily really looks up to them.  She was so bummed not to have a costume like them that she even refused to put on hers for the gymnastics Halloween party.

She wanted her pumpkin to resemble Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Frightened Felons & Farmstead

On Friday we drove to Boise.  That night we attended the Frightened Felons at the Old Idaho Penitentiary, which is supposed to be the #1 haunted place in Idaho.  They had actors telling inmates' stories, a scavenger hunt, kids' games, and a haunted cell block #4.  It was so much fun!

The penitentiary opened its doors in 1872 and closed in 1973.  There were 129 recorded deaths during the 101 years the prison operated, including 10 executions.  This place was even featured on the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures!  

Cell Block 2

Cell Block 3

Saturday morning we went to the pumpkin patch.  It was a windy, cold day.  We made it through the corn maze, picked out a couple pumpkins and then headed for home!

 Emily recently got a new bike, and was happy to try it out by taking Gerda for a run.

 Lots of snow came last Saturday.  Emily and the neighbor each built a snow structure in the backyard and threw snowballs at each other.

By Sunday most of the snow had melted and Emily enjoyed riding Eleanor.

Ashley, Tobie, Emily

Free skate at the ice rink with Ashley (gym friends) and Tobie (skiing buddy).

Trail ride on bud, Emily is in the front, followed by Neve on Smoky.

Trying tennis, which she liked, but not the coach.  Not sure she'll go back.

 Brooke's party was a camp out theme.  Complete with a teepee in the living room and s'mores around the fire.

 Team building exercise at gymnastics, the girls created posters for everyone by writing encouraging messages to each other.

 Enjoying a three mile walk out Adam's Gulch.

Riding Smoky at today's riding lesson.  It was a beautiful day to be outside.  Emily was jumping Smoky and even enjoyed some cantering.  

After a long hiatus, Emily has riding lessons back in her schedule. She was so happy to be back riding Bud and jumping again!

Kennedy and Emily celebrated surviving the first week of school with Yellow Belly Ice Cream.  

During the second week of school, Emily and her classmates spent three days and two nights at Idaho Base Camp.  The kids had a great time sleeping in tents, learning outdoor survival skills, and participating in team building exercises.

We spent a day during Labor Day weekend at the Twin Falls County Fair.

Labor Day was spent in Bellevue, we watched the parade then hung out for music and food in the park.  It was beautiful weather!

5th grade.

 School started on the 19th.  Ms. Barron is her teacher, which she was very excited about.  And next week she's off to Idaho Outdoor Base Camp with the other 5th graders.  She'll be gone Wednesday to Friday, that's pretty exciting as well.

Our last hoorah to summer vacation was a morning hike at Adam's Gulch with Millie.