Florida

Emmy's gymnastics team, but only including the Platinum and Diamond levels, had planned a trip to Florida. Yes, there was a meet to compete at - but that was just an excuse to go and have a fun time in a fun place after such a cruddy couple of Covid years. Emmy actually wanted me to go as one of the chaperones, so I signed us both up. We didn't know when we signed up what date the meet would be - it could have been on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. So Emmy knew there was a chance she'd have to miss out on the competition . . . or, if not the competition, then another activity the group would be doing on Sunday. 

And, as it happened, our team was scheduled to compete on Sunday. Emmy was quite devastated, to put it mildly. I actually think it was ideal - otherwise she would have missed out on something that she would only do in Florida, like the amusement parks, etc. She gets to compete in Colorado with her teammates all the time, so to miss out on that was kind of ideal really. But I think it made her feel silly to be going to Florida but not competing. I think she also felt like a "true" gymnast athlete to have a meet all the way in Florida. So I got it and was bummed for her. I did reach out to a BYU gymnast, Angel, that had a story in the New Era a few years back. The article was about her choice to not compete on Sundays - even at the cost of national-level competitions. Anyways, Angel responded to me and was amazing. She then even emailed Emmy and it was super-sweet. It didn't make Emmy happy to not be competing, but hopefully it helped in some small way.

Anyways,  so we still went to Florida and had a great time. We flew out of Montrose on Thursday at noon:

Emmy and Ruby. There were 11 girls, 4 chaperones, and 2 coaches on this trip. On the way out, we flew to Houston, then from Houston to Orlando. As we were landing in Houston, our next flight was already boarding to Orlando. So we booked it, as in literally running, through the huge airport and made it just in time. It was intense, but a memory-maker event for sure. Emmy commented, "I felt like we were in the movies." Adorable.

Orlando and the surrounding area was huge and beautiful flying into at night.

After getting our rental cars (and the girls and pregnant coach getting lost in the airport for 45 minutes), we all got into a car and made our way to the coast to Cocoa Beach. We stayed at a hotel that was a 3-minute walk to the beach. It was an ideal location. As soon as we got settled in on Thursday night, around 10pm, we went for a walk to the beach.

The girls were excited to finally be at the beach and were excited for the next day - Beach Day!

The girls all had to turn their phones in at 9pm and then they would come to the adult room and grab them and breakfast in the mornings. It worked out well. Here are some of the girls, starting with Emmy, Risha, Abi, Anna, Keira, Audrey, and Brecken in red. 

Luckily, Friday turned out to be the warmest day of our entire trip - so perfect to spend at the beach. It was in the low 70s and cloudy. The water was quite cold (freezing in my opinion), but the girls were in and out of it all day long having an absolute blast. I managed to dip my toes and maybe got up to my ankles, but that was enough for me! We saw a small shark close to shore - plus lots of dolphins. We rented boogie boards and the girls loved riding them. It was really just a great day for them.

Abi, Anna, Risha, and Emmy - trying to get up the courage to get in the water. And once they did, they pretty much stayed there all day except for lunch break. :)

Emmy, Audrey, and Kiera. 

Cute pose! Top girls: Emarie and Ruby Jane. Middle standing row: Audrey, Abi, and Kiera. On their knees: Brecken, Anna, Risha, and Reese. Finally Olivia and Emmy. :)

Gotta love gymnasts on the beach!

KJ, on the far left, is their head coach. :)

That night we ordered pizza and just hung out at the hotel. The pizza slices were the BIGGEST slices I have ever seen. Like one slice equaled a regular 1/2 pizza. It was crazy, but also delicious. 

The next morning, Saturday, we packed up our stuff and made our way back to Orlando - Universal Studios to be exact. It was a cool and drizzly sort of day. The drizzle and humidity made it feel soooo cold! But the rain did let up completely by early afternoon and so that was good. We all started out together, then the girls divided up into a few groups and the other moms and coaches just did our separate things as well. I hung out with Twyla, who doesn't do the mask thing and so we just walked around, ate, etc. It was fine with me - I didn't feel the need to ride to the rides (pretty sure I would have ended up with a migraine), especially with it being so cold. The rides would have pushed me to freezing, I am sure. The girls had such a great time! Emmy's stories were fun and her group got in about 5-6 roller coaster rides.

Emmy and hot butterbeer (from Harry Potter). We (as in the whole group) waited in line for like 45 minutes for these. They did not disappoint. So warm and so delicious.

That evening we checked into our rooms and the coaches took the girls to Applebee's for dinner. Us moms went to some sushi place (similar to a Benihana actually) and I got delicious salmon. The girls had fun at the hotel, ordering Door Dash, running back and forth and up and down to each other's rooms, swimming for like 10 minutes in the outdoor freezing pool, etc. It was fun watching them having a blast. :)

On Sunday, Emmy and I were pretty much doing our own thing. We were together in the morning, then they all went shopping for an hour while we stayed back at the hotel. Actually, I had agreed to order their lunch and pick it up - and whoa was that an ordeal. But luckily it wasn't too late . . . The girls came back, got ready for the meet, ate lunch, and then headed to another hotel for their competition. Emmy and I drove to walk around the Orlando temple. It's beautiful, of course. But it was still quite chilly (colder than Saturday) and so we didn't spend too much time out of doors. But we got a few pictures and then headed to church. There was a service from 2:30-4:30, which was perfect as that was pretty much when the other girls were competing. The youth at church even invited Emmy to their activity that night, ha. She didn't go of course, but it was still nice and welcoming. After church, we met up with the group at a hotel for a buffet dinner. After that, it was back to our hotel and lots of giggling and fun for the girls.

Monday morning we were up bright and early and met at the hotel lobby at 5:10am. The four of us chaperones had dropped off three of the cars (Emmy and I were staying an extra day and so I kept one car) at the rental place the night before - to make it easier and quicker for Monday morning. The group had reserved 2 Ubers and me (ha) to take them to the airport in the morning. So Emmy moved into my room and went back to bed, while I drove a group to the airport. I got back by around 6 and tried to sleep, but it wasn't too restful. 

But, anyways, Emmy and I got up and then headed to Disneyworld! About a week before the trip, Emmy sent me an email asking if she and I could stay an extra day and do something fun. I didn't think her coach would be too excited about that so I had Emmy check with her. Her coach, KJ, was super excited, gave Emmy the flight information so I could change it, etc. So I worked on changing our flights, adding an extra day to our car rental and hotel room, and purchasing tickets for Disneyworld (Emmy's choice.)

I am glad we did Disneyworld, but I am not sure I need to go back ever again. The roller coast rides are much more geared for elementary-age kids. It was SUPER-DUPER crowded - and we were there on a random Monday in January?! Strollers and old-people carts crowded the pathways. Lines were atrociously long - one ride that Emmy really wanted to do, something like the 7 Dwarfs Mine Shaft, never had a line shorter than a 140-minute wait. Needless to say, we didn't do that one. Our first ride of the day, Space Mountain, was probably a 90-minute wait. But it was super fun. :) The other attractions/rides were probably closer to a 45-minute wait. It's just that you pay so much money and then get to do only a handful of the rides. But whatever. It's an adorable place and felt very nostalgic . . . or something. I loved just being with Emmy - and not 15 others, ha. It warmed up to the 60s and the sun even made an appearance! It was a delightful day. 

We took the ferry ride (as opposed to the monorail) over to the Magic Kingdom. The morning was still a bit chilly and thus the ferry ride was freezing! But it was still a bit fun.

The cutest caramel apple ever. Oh, the girl is pretty dang adorable, too.

Emmy bought this cute sweater, plus some super-cute Mickey mouse Vans (shoes).

Random "parades" would happen - which mostly meant workers were yelling at everybody to get behind the yellow lines. It was actually annoying. But Emmy, even at 14, still loved seeing the princesses. :)

Yep, we twinned it up for the day! We went a couple days before the trip and found these shirts at Target. Cute. :) (And way less expensive than the shirts at the park, of course!)

Space Mountain was a blast! My smartest move of the day was buying a "lightning pass" for it again in the evening - at 5:55. The timing worked out perfectly: we had just finished up one ride (perhaps Pirates of the Caribbean) and trekked it over to Space Mountain and made it at exactly 5:55 (even though they give you an hour lee-way). We got in to the ride in less than 10 minutes - which was way less than what the current wait-time was: 80 minutes. It was the perfect way to start and end our day at Disneyworld!

We had such a fun evening that night: going out to dinner (back to the Benihana place as it was next to our hotel and delicious and Emmy wanted it), picking up treats at CVS, and then watching a movie (You've Got Mail).

Tuesday morning we got up at 5:45, checked out of the hotel, dropped off our rental car, got shuttled to the airport, and got on our flight back home. This time it stopped at Denver - which had gotten some good snow! When we had loaded for our flight to Montrose, the plane had to be de-iced for about 15 minutes. All went well and it was a great trip and I was happy to have gotten to go (although that night, after getting our "bill," I was a little less happy . . . haha.) All the gymnasts had a wonderful time and that was truly the purpose of the trip!