Prep for Coronacation.

Some pictures from our shopping preparation for the impending Coronacation:

This was my cart during the day on Thursday March 13.


Becky went to Home Depot after work that same day and purchased the above small fridge/freezer for our basement. It has been a huge help.



Ally's beloved gymnastics coach and her family left very unexpectedly for Columbia on March 13. The gym was closed indefinitely and things were looking bleak for the foreseeable future.
So we got the girls together for one last time before we were all under stay at home orders. That night  all of their schools closed.




That is Ally, the oldest on the team with Mari, the youngest. They have a special bond.



Later that night as panic set it, Becky went out to the grocery store. She loaded up on frozen fruit for smoothies and cheese.




This was the paper goods aisle.



And the only toilet paper left in the store. Becky did buy one of these packs.

Turns out this would be the last time went to the store. I am writing this on April 20 and Becky and I have not been shopping inside a grocery store since March 13.
I work hard - sometimes it takes me a couple of hours to get all of our groceries delivered, or ready for curbside pick up.
Its crazy, and we have a bit of a cooperative with a couple of neighbors to make sure everyone has what they might need and shop for others.
Kim and Mark have been our fruit and beer buddies.
Angelita (Sophocle's mom - we hooked her up with Easter candy and eggs for her to fill and hide for Sopho, and she got me my favorite spring rolls art Trader Joe's this week)

It takes work, but we are committed to not go shopping inside a store.

Note that Becky did go to Microcenter, an electronics store on April 16 because Daisy chewed the only charger we have to one of our laptops. The laptop was what Ally uses to take her online school classes with, so having the battery die was kind of an emergency. Becky went right away, got a new cord, and another laptop. Now that we are 6 weeks into the shut down with many more to go it seemed that having one laptop for each of us was going to be important. And now that I have one I can use all the time I am getting caught up with the blog! Win win!

Miscellaneous First half of March

Some random pictures from the first part of March.

We went to see Ally's friend Olive play hockey. It was cold in the rink and Olive's team lost but we were all happy to support Olive and her parents.



On a beautiful and warm Tuesday afternoon I voted in the Democratic primary.


Ally got LOTS of hair cut - almost 5" off! It looks so gorgeous and healthy and she loves the shorter, but still long length. Before and After here










Traditional Shamrock Shake for St. Patrick's Day.



And Becky wearing her Pi shirt giving a Pi-5 on Pi day.
Yes she is a 7th grade math teacher.

Parent of an Athlete

One of my Facebook friends nominated me to post 10 pictures in 10 days of my child as an athlete.

 “Parent of an Athlete Challenge.” That’s 10 days, 10 photos, 10 nominations and 0 explanations. Every day I will post an image or unforgettable moment in my athlete’s life.

Here are my 10 photos 

But some others that I found really representative of Ally’s life as an athlete are below:

I have no idea what the future will hold for Ally and gymnastics. We've learned recently that it might not be the best sport for her body and that if she wants to continue with gymnastics she will need to work harder than most and be very careful about how she uses her body in order to avoid more frequent injuries. 
As always Becky and I will support Ally in whatever decision she makes and however she wants to stay active and move her body. 

Gymnastics State Meet 2020 - Level 6

Gymnastics state meets are divided up by age groups. Ally is the oldest girl on her team (for her level) and she yet again this year (for the 3rd year in a row) had to compete solo, and at a very early time. She had an 8am start time the Sunday Daylight Savings started. The meet was an hour away and she needed to be there by 730AM.

It was an early morning wake up

But we met up with one of her old teammates from her Cambridge gym, Caroline and that was fun. Caroline was competing as well at the same time.

It's no secret that this year has been a real struggle for Ally, she has missed a lot of practice and been having pain, fatigue and basically a rough season. Her team mates all made a video wishing her good luck and signed a water bottle for her to use at the meet to remember they were all cheering for her.

Ally's gym had signed up and goodie bags for all of the Level 6 girls.




Every year we give Ally a stuffed animal duck the night before states and she takes it with her in her backpack - her "Lucky Duck". This year's was hilarious looking blue fuzzy duckling. She loved it.




With Caroline in the bathroom before the competition started!


Ally with Leon and Vicky - her two coaches this year. They are husband and wife, from Columbia and have been really amazing role models and coaches.


Start of the meet.
Ally competed floor first - and fell on her final tumbling pass. Her ankle really hurt and her coach taped it before her next event bars. Ally did ok on vault, and then really well on bars and on beam. Well she did not fall off. She fought so hard to stay on that beam. We were all so proud of her.



And she won bars!!! For her age group she is 2020 Level 6 State Champion.





She was pretty happy with that.

Scores for the record:
Floor 8.150
Vault 8.60
Bars 9.250
Beam 8.55
All Around 34.55