Level 4 State Gymnastics Meet Trip

Emma has had a remarkable first year in competitive Level 4 Girls Gymnastics. In fact, she did so well at Sectionals that she qualified for State! So on May 3rd we packed up the car and drove clear across the state to the Tri-Cities where we stayed at the Wingate Inn in Kennewick. If you think that we made the trip without any stops you haven’t driven any distances with children; how about five (actually six on the way home). Here are the stops: One (Snohomish Library – yes, this still counts!); Two (the pit toilet rest stop just East of the pass – note the wee bit of lingering snow); Three (dinner in Ellensburg); Four (bathrooms at the Bi-Mart in Sunnyside – probably best not to visually chronicle that one…). Actually four stops before our destination isn’t bad…

The first day we drove around to figure out where Emma’s practice session and meet was, had a picnic at Wye Park, did a short hike across an isthmus, and even found the Costco! Plus swimming at the hotel and dinner with the whole team at Red Robin!

The next day after dropping Gail, Emma, and Emma’s friend Ariel, at the TRAC pavilion for the first day of competition, Jack and the rest of the crew went to Columbia Park. Here is a shot of the kids and some baby geese. That afternoon we collected the girls and went to Sacajawea Park where we had lunch, played, and soaked up some sun in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark. Alas, we only spent a few hours here rather than the few days the Corp of Discovery stayed. But we did go through the newly opened Sacajawea Interpretive Center and even dropped in on a medieval group, the Barony of Wastekeep, a branch of The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). With the Hanford Nuclear Site in its realm, the name ‘Wastekeep” is truly fitting(!). Anyway, here are pictures of the kids: Caleb; Emma; Colin; Rilla, & Cian at the park.

Before Emma’s competition the second day we zipped up to the Ice Harbor Lock and Dam on the Snake River where we went through the Visitor center and watched spring Chinook heading up the ladder. Here is a picture of the kids with the dam in the background (and including Emma’s friend Ariel!). Then back to the TRAC pavilion and lunch at the baseball park across the street before warm-ups.

At the meet a local beauty school did the girls hair. Here is a picture of Emma’s web.

At the meet Emma did a great job! In fact her all-around score at State was the best so far! Here she is right before her salute and floor routine – and you can tell she is really focused! Obviously her parents need to get a better camera to focus those distance and speed shots since most in the set are blurry! Oh well!

Here is Emma's State Certificate.

The trip home was uneventful except for finding Winegar's Ice Cream in Ellensburg. Sort of, ‘icing on the cake’ of a packed but fun weekend/trip/meet/vacation.

Here is the 'good-luck' ad we created for Emma for the Level 4 State Meet Program: