Fun with Emily

March Canaan Trip

Friday - Saturday, March 5-6, 2021

Sadly, this was our last trip to Canaan Valley for the season. We were very lucky this year that the ice cooperated for every one of our trips. The girls were not able to stay together in the cabins due to Covid, but I think they still had a good time. We loved getting to go sledding, skiing and making many visits to Thomas to go to Tip Top. So on this last trip, we tried to enjoy a few of our favorite things one last time for the season - skating under the evening lights, mango smoothies and hot chocolate at Tip Top and a final visit to Ski Barn. Already looking forward to coming back in December...although after Covid, it is hard to think that far ahead.

New dress for Intermediate freeskate this year!

Virtual Excel Challenge - Colonial Figure Skating Club

Sunday, February 28, 2021

Today was the watch party for the Colonial Figure Skating Club Excel Virtual Elements Challenge. Emily had never entered a virtual competition before and this one was pretty low key - they only had to do one solo jump, one combination or jump sequence and one spin. It was judged IJS so she would get scoring from each judge and also some comments. So, she entered!

The watch party was fun and we watched almost all the groups. In between groups, they had a little picture of a Zamboni resurfacing the ice. Then, at the end of each group, they showed all the final scores and placements.

When Emily's group was posted, we felt confident that she did very well - maybe even won. But, she ended up 4th out of 6 and 6th out of the 11 in her level.

We were very confused by the results, but a few days later we got her individual scores and comments and learned that her jump combination was "illegal" under the new rules so one judge docked her 5 full points just for that! Another judge docked her as well, but one judge marked her up! If she wouldn't have taken that 5 point hit, she likely would have won the whole group. Oh well. At least now we know to make a change to her jump sequence.

U.S. Figure Skating Get Up 5K Challenge

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Today several of our Figure Skating Club members participated in the U.S. Figure Skating Get Up 5K Challenge. They had the option of running a 5K or skating the equivalent - which turned out to be 35 laps! Emily was thrilled to participate too! They all had a really good time and it turned out that they were able to finish the 5K in about 15 minutes! All the proceeds from the event benefitted the memorial fund for the 1961 World Team that was killed in a plane crash (hence the 1961 on their skating bibs).

February Birthdays & Events

Sunday, February 14, 2021

First, Happy Birthday Grandma Miller! Today we had a special Zoom call with Grandma Miller to celebrate her 100th birthday! We even brought our own cupcake. I'm not sure that I have ever known anyone who lived to be 100 so today was really, really neat. I'm not sure that she fully understood the whole video call thing, but she smiled a lot and I think she definitely knew it was all of us. We also made arrangements to have 100 flowers delivered to her to celebrate her special day.

We never miss a chance to celebrate (since it provides an excuse for cupcakes, or cake or brownies) so we celebrated one more birthday this month - Pusheen! Her special day was actually February 18.

Oh! Also, Happy Valentine's Day! I can't believe the holiday came and went and I took almost no pictures at all. The closest I got was snapping a pic of our new red velvet waffles. They are so good (even better with the cream cheese glaze, not pictured) and they were the perfect treat for the holiday. Emily celebrated with a new pair of Lululemon leggings and a Vineyard Vines ski themed long sleeved t-shirt. Daniel got candy! I got two new scrapbook kits. Another reason to celebrate this month!

More Skiing!

Sunday, February 8, 2021

After another fun weekend of skating, Emily wanted to spend Sunday skiing with the girls. So, back over to the Canaan slopes we went. This time, Emily had a proper ski helmet. A little better than her bike helmet from last time. Today, there was only a short lesson and then they were off. Elle, Emily and Cate tackled almost all of the blues and greens and after a quick lunch, Elle and Emily hit two of the black diamonds! I was shocked, but Emily had a blast!

Since they were out on the real slopes so fast, I did not get many pictures of the actual skiing, but I did manage to get a few shots through the trees (from the warmth of the lodge).

Fun Canaan Photo Shoot

Saturday, February 6, 2021

Elle's mom, Trina, is the coolest photographer...pun intended. She did this fun photo shoot right after the girls' evening show just outside the little skate shack. There were these amazing icicles hanging from the roof and they made for the perfect excuse to get these really cool photos.

All photo credits to Trina. These were amazing!

What a great night...and a great show...and so many great winter memories.

Canaan Valley - February Edition

Saturday, February 6, 2021

This was our third visit to Canaan for this "year." It definitely helps the winter go by faster just having these short weekends away. On this trip, the girls decided they wanted to go sledding at Black Water Falls - the longest sled run on the east coast. It kinda sounds like a bigger deal than it is, but it was fun.

Personally, liked the ride to the top the best. It took several minutes to ride the magic carpet all the way to the top and on the way you ride through the woods. On this particular day it was really pretty because it had snowed overnight and it was snowing a little while we were there too.

You can kind of get a sense of the length of the hill from this picture below on the left. We didn't go super fast, but it was definitely a long ride. Goggles were important to keep the snow out of your face on the way down. The girls had fun riding the sleds together in all kinds of different configurations.

And, even all the moms had fun! Yes, I rode a sled too. And yes, I even got in a picture this time.

We had to wrap up our sledding just before lunch in order to get back to resort to get the girls ready to skate. There was a good crowd for the show and everyone skated really well. Of course we also had to get a couple of group photos too!

The Teen Years...Braces

January 2021

I think a rite of passage into the teen years must include braces. Almost all of Emily's friends either have them now, recently got out of them or are getting them soon. Emily's transition to braces started back in November with getting 5 teeth pulled. Then she had to go in for her expander. So before that appointment, we had one final bowl of popcorn - full octane with movie theater butter!

When we went in for the expander appointment, it started out ok. They made a mold of her teeth and that was fine, but when the expander went in, she absolutely hated it. Tears were involved during and after the appointment. Not so much because it hurt, but because she did not like how it felt...at all.

Then after that appointment, we had two more appointments and she got brackets and then finally the first set of wires. Not a super fun process, but she has adjusted well. She hopes to get the expander out this summer and the braces off in about 18-24 months.