Author: Ruth

Ana had her first concert today with the Children's Festival Chorus.  It was a small concert, at the Providence Point Retirement Community.  Sort of a warm up for the younger and newer kids, I beleive.  But it was very nice – the music sounded great, and Ana had a wonderful time.  

Here is a portion of one of their songs, from the on-site rehearsal they had right before the performance.

 

Jenya got her “Axel” today — her new pet bunny, which she named Axel.  We’ve spent the last few weeks researching, reading, and preparing to get her bunny.  Building a cage, getting supplies, and general preparation.  And today we went down to the local humane society, and she spent time with several different bunnies, until she found just the right one.  This one came right up to her and climbed in her lap, so I think the bunny picked the girl.

Here is Axel, the bunny:

 

The figure skating club runs a learn-to-skate program at an outdoor rink at Schenley park, and the girls have been volunteer assistant coaching most saturdays.  It's really cool, and a great opportunity for the kids to learn how to teach. 

Today was the end of term ice show, and they all got to perform.  Ana and Ben skated their pairs routine for the first time, and Jenya did her competition program, plus they all did Theater on Ice. It was *very* cold, and rather windy, but they were troopers and skated well despite the skimpy costumes and frigid conditions.

Here's Ana & Ben's pairs skate:

 

Gymnastics meet again, this time artistic.  De competed Level 4, and had a very nice time.  She got 7th on beam, 7th on floor, and 9th all around.  Here is her floor routine:

 

Lunn's parents joined us for the weekend at Keystone State Games, and got to watch the girls skate.  This is the third year we've done that competition — ISI the first year, USFS the last two.  It's a really nice one, tho they have the *coldest* ice rinks I think I've been at.  Which is kind of annoying because it means no one really hangs out in the bleachers — you go in, watch your kids skate, and run back out to warm up. 

Ana had very nice skates – she got 2nd (out of 9) in her PrePreliminary Compulsory, and 3rd (out of 11) in her No Test Free Skate.  Here is her Free Skate:

 

Jenya competed her axel for the first time — a really big deal!  She got 3rd (out of 8) on her PrePreliminary Compulsory, and 6th (out of 9) on her PrePreliminary Free Skate.  Here is her free skate:

 

De has been on the Rhythmic team as well as the Artistic Gymnastics team this year, and she just had her first rhythmic meet, in Columbus, Ohio.  She competed floor and ball, and got 2nd place in each, plus 2nd place all-around.  She looked great and had a wonderful time.

Here is her floor routine:

 

And her ball routine:

 

Ana successfully auditioned for Duquesne's Children's Festival Chorus back in December, and she had her first practice today.  And I had this strange sense of deja vu.  30 years ago I was frequently sitting around during singing practices reading a book, listening to all the funny warmup noises and waiting till it was done and I could go home — and now I'm back doing the same thing.  Except now I'm waiting for my daughter rather than my mother.  Funny how some things come full circle.

The girls' friend Ben had his (belated) birthday party at Splash Lagoon, a local indoor waterpark, and invited the girls.  I came along as well to help with the kids, and everyone had a great time.  It's very nice playing around in a heated waterpark and looking at the snow out the window. 

The kids rode all the rides and swam in all the pools.  I think the most amusing part was watching the lifeguards' confused reactions to Ben and Ana practicing their lutz lifts in the wave pool.  They so obviously had no idea what to make of it! 

After all the waterparking, they had ice cream and cupcakes in the room at night.  A very nice and enjoyable party.

Dealia's rhythmic gymnastics team had a holiday exhibition today.  Each of the girls did two of their competitive routines.  It was quite interesting, and very pretty to watch.  And we got to see De doing rhythmic for the first time.  She will compete Level 3 rhythmic this season, as well as Level 4 artistic, and her first rhythmic competition will be the 2nd weekend of January, in Ohio.

Here is her floor routine:

 

And her ball routine:

 

Very nice single day competition in Columbus.  We did this one last year — a lot of fun.  Ben came with us as well, and the kids had a great time playing in the hotel pool, watching 'Up' on TV, and then of course spending the next day skating. 

Jenya skated Pre-Preliminary "A" (no axel) for her free skate, and won (1st out of 5).  She also skated Pre-Preliminary compulsory, and placed 2nd (out of 6).  Here's her free skate:

 

 

Ana skated No Test Free Skate for the second time ever, and placed 2nd out of 5.  She also skated No Test Compulsory, and placed 4th out of 7.  Here is her free skate:

 

 

And Dealia skated as well – moving up to Basic Skills Level 6 for her free skate.  She placed 3rd out of 4.  Here's her skate – note the dress, it's actually her rhythmic competition leo, but it looked so nice we decided to use it for skating too.