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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.

 

 

Jenya and her Lego Robotics team had their annual Western PA lego league competition today.  This year the research topic involved food safety, and they did their project on listeria. 

They had spent the previous few months working hard, and it showed.  They had very good results — 9th place overall out of something like 100 teams, and they got 2nd place in the software competition!  This means they got one of the really nifty trophies — made from legos, natch. 

Here's a pic of the team — Jenya's the one in the skirt.

The first away skating competition of the season was at Rising Stars near Cleveland, Ohio. There was a good group of Pittsburgh skaters there, and it was a very nice competition.

Jenya skated four events, and got first (out of 5) on her No Test Compulsory, third (out of 6) on her No Test Free Skate, first (out of 2) on Pre-Preliminary jumps, and third (out of 7) on Pre-Preliminary Spins.  Here is her free skate:

 

Ana did only two events, because it was her first time skating No Test.  She also got first (out of 8) on her Limited Beginner Compulsory, and third (out of 6) on her No Test Free Skate.  Here is her free skate:

 

Ana and her friend Ben have recently been learning how to pairs skate.  They only started taking pairs lessons this past summer, and have made quite a lot of progress.  They just learned a neat lift, called the stag lift, here they are showing it off:

 

And here's a nice one of their coach teaching Ana the lutz lift — I think her favorite part of lessons is having her coach pick her up and spin her around!

 

 

The girls have been on a roll with math recently — in quick sucession, first Ana finished Singapore Math 3B, then Jenya finished Singapore Math 6A, and now De has finished Singapore Math 3A.

We had a nice dinner out to celebrate all the growing academic prowess. 

This weekend was the first skating competition of the season, and the girls had a wonderful time.  It was at our home rink, so much easier, with no travelling.  All 3 girls skated, and did quite well.

Ana competed in 4 events, and got 3 firsts, so she was extra happy.  She skated Special Beginner Free Skate (1st out of 4), Beginner Compulsory (1st out of 7), Beginner Spins (1st out of 8), and Beginner Jumps (4th out of 6).  Here is her free skate (and note the great new dress, Lunn gemmed it for her):

 

Jenya also skated in 4 events — Beginner (No Test) Free Skate (2nd out of 5), Pre-Preliminary Compulsory (3rd out of 7), Pre-Preliminary Spins (4th out of 7), and Pre-Preliminary Jumps (4th out of 4).  Here's her free skate:

 

 

And Dealia skated Basic Skills 3.  She tied for 3rd, out of 4.  Here is her free skate: