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The final day!

As I look back on the week, it probably would have been smarter to post throughout the day... I tend to forget the best parts by the time I write... Oh well, something to do next year. The morning started off well. It's always interesting to see who is and isn't a morning person. Molly... IS a morning person... The rest..... Not so much.... We ate breakfast together and the gals at my table pretty much just listened to Molly talk. It was quite interesting and entertaining to say the least.... We headed off to camp and jumped right into warming up. I think the mornings are the worst for me because I am running from coaches meetings to the girls and it's a big mess... Oh, I forgot to mention a little sneakiness that the girls tried to pull... We were asked (not forced) to gather addreses for St. Judes Hospital. It is the goal of UCA to raise enough money to fund the hospital for two days (I believe it is 1.3 million $ a day to run the hospital). What did our kids do.... They used each other (multiple times) to turn in..... Ummmmm I don't think they quite understood that that isn't going to raise money.... Well, they got caught and were a bit embarrassed. On to lunch.... The morning was just filled with cheer, stunts, cheers, stunts....... So lunch.... We ate and then rested.... Now that I think about it, lunch wasn't too eventful... The girls are honestly working their tails off and it is quite clear when we sit.... I know this because they sit in silence.... Ok, where was I.... Oh yes, after lunch we went down early and ran through their performance. After an hour or so we took a time out to watch the All American tryouts. Members from each squad tried out in front of camp to be an All American. (results later.... Keep reading) Now off to dinner.... This is my favorite part if today's story... For me, manners are a must. Especially at the table. Throughout camp, the girls come to realize that if you sit with me you need to keep your elbows off the table and put your napkin in your lap. Some girls get used to it and learn the table rules.... Others do everything In Their power to get as far from my table as possible. :-) Also, you have to eat dinner before dessert... Today at the table (sorry to call you out) Sydney brought her dessert, a few churros, with her dinner.... She scarfed them down before I could stop her..... Then the following conversation happened Sydney: Hey Baber (as Taylor was getting up),can you get me a rice crispy treat? Me: ummmmm I don't think so. Eat your dinner first! No more sweets! Sydney: (with a blank stare on her face) oh man! You're worse than my mom! Me: Too bad! :-) Another girl (I can't remember who): Gotta follow Aki's rules... It really cracked me up. Mostly because I know they just cram all the junk food the can into themselves when the go to their rooms... Any way.... After dinner we went in to perform our extreme routine for evaluations. The girls went out and performed. Wasn't the best, but was way better than most of the other teams.... I'm not trying to judge or be harsh but our kids did what they could and did it well. The other teams tried to work in stunts that were out of their skill levels and it was a bit of a hot mess (big disaster).... So I was very proud that the girls didnt go too crazy. For you parents coming tomorrow, you will be excited! On to awards.... Yes, another night with the spirit stick! Yay! Maria was chosen to be an All American and the team won a red Excellent ribbon! It was a great end of the day. I put the girls to bed early and told them to start packing. Their toons look like a tornado hit.... Tomorrow it's one final performance and then we are headed home! I'd tell ya that I'm going to post pics when I get home, but I'd be lying.... I'm off on my honeymoon so pics will have to wait till then. Until tomorrow, Cheers! ps. Don't forget to disregard any misspelled words or parts that dont make sense.... Typing in an iPad is not fun...

Day 2

Well, I don't know about the girls, bur I am tired! Micki is already snoozing and it's only 7:30. Ok- the morning.... Breakfast was great. Lots to choose from and plenty to go around. From there it was a rather boring start..... Stunting, dancing and then back to stunting. The girls were working hard and (for me) it was uneventful. We moved into lunch and then an afternoon break. Here is where the fun begins... After lunch we kicked it off with our extreme routine practice. The girls had all their beach gear with them for the splash party and were a little too excited..... They wanted to wear it right away..... We had an afternoon of fun and games and here is just a recap.... Kris had come to camp this year with a goal..... This goal was achieved! Kris won the jump competition!! To say she was excited is an understatement! Sydney made it all the way to the finals in the hula hoop competition. She took home 2nd place! Kassidi and Brianna partnered up for the hula hoo relay..... Which isnt really a relay... And they didn't really use the hula hoop for much.... But anyway, they didn't win and a girl (from another team) nearly took out Kassdi to bump them out. The girls teamed up and went head to head with me in a "How well do you know your coach" contest..... I'm proud (or maybe a little scared) to say that WE WON!!! My girls knew me better than any other team knew their coach! Way to go kiddies! Lastly, Maria took home the Pin It Forward award for her stand out personality and beng someone the staff noticed as being one to go the extra mile! Though when asked her name, she was "Maria the Great"..... I'm still not sure why.... Oh and most importantly, we got ANOTHER spirit stick! The girls got done early and at currently at the water park. I'm off to go check on them and to see what kinds of things the have gotten themselves into.... Until tomorrow, Cheers!

The end of day 1

Camp started with a bang! The girls got right into stunting and working up a sweat. The girls were stunting away and working very hard. At times there were moments of frustration, but it didn't last long (yay). After 90 minutes or so we changed groups and the girls went to dance class.... Ahhhh true diva dancing came out. I must admit, they did learn a rather long and challenging dance and it was quite entertaining to watch, but it has a long ways to go before its performance ready... Before we knew it, dinner time was here. Eating with the girls is always fun... Or funny... Whatever. :-). I always check to make sure that each girl has enough on their plate and to see how many cookies each girl has..... There were five other girls at my table and I think I saw at least 17 cookies..... Don't worry moms and dads, I made sure they ate their dinner first. After dinner and a quick break we were back at it again. Though I'm not exactly sure what they did... Micki and I were at a coaches meeting. By the time we were done camp was coming to a close.... BUT not before awards..... Not only did our girls get to take a spirit stick, but the also won THE BIG BANANA! Which in the cheer world is a big deal! :-) So off to the rooms we went. The girls raced for the 15 minute of phone time and then spent the remainder of the night (as far as I know) prepping for tomorrow. They got out all their beach gear and even had a mini fashion show.... I just hope they practiced their dance..,, Until tomorrow, Cheers!

Cheer camp 2012

We are back at the lodge for another round of cheer camp! Last night we pulled in and the girls were set free to enjoy the water park. They were quickly bored (or just tired from too much fun) and headed up to their rooms to clean up. We had our traditional pizza dinner and watched a movie. All 17 of us snuggled up to watch Mirror Mirror in one room. The girls seemed pretty tired (though would not admit it) so after the movie we left them for the night and headed to bed. I was up at 9 and hit the gym.... The girls.... Well, I didn't see them emerge until at least 11. They all had their snacks and went down to the conference room to see what other teams had arrived. I am currently watching them play lovely and loud cheer games as we wait for the opening ceremony to begin..... More to cone.... Oh, before I forget..... Please excuse any random typos..... My iPad is not the best tool to type on and I am easily distracted by screaming cheerleaders... :-)