Getting back to normal?

This has been a hugely busy week! Given Aurora qualified for the state tournament for high school girl's bowling, I spent the beginning part of the week getting ready to leave (laundry, packing, working ahead on homework), then was informed we were leaving a day earlier than planned.  Neither Brie, nor Eric were able to go with us, so it was just Aurora, Rei, Skye, me, and a teammate of Aurora's who went with us.

We got to Rockford, IL on Thursday mid-afternoon, because Aurora had to be there to practice, then got booked into the hotel (a lovely full-service Holiday Inn). The kids immediately wanted to go swimming, however we didn't have things for Skye to swim in, and needed to find a walmart or something to get some swimmers and some bathing products for her. It had been a long drive (5 hours) on top of the practice etc, so we ordered a pizza and sodas in, and the kids spent time swimming, hot-tubbing, and playing ping-pong while Skye and I watched. We made it an early night.

The next day was the semi-finals, during which Aurora bowled 6 games. She was dissatisfied with how she did overall; she had a couple of rough games, with lots of splits and some missed spares (primarily 7 pins), which had her in tears a few times. Between lines she held Skye as a good luck charm and hugged her close. I am sure some spectators thought she was Skye's mother (or that Rei was Skye's father--he was amazing with her and a huge help to me all weekend). Bottom line is that she had a 185 average for the 6 games (she did have one 216 game, and a 198 game), but that as two pins lower than her season average, and she missed out on moving to the finals for Saturday by 14 pins.  She was heartbroken, but the rest of us were so proud of her.  She is her own worst critic, and there was no convincing her that she had done well and we were proud of her.

The one coach took us out to dinner at Steak 'n Shake, then we ran to walmart to get swimmers and stuff for Skye. The weather on Thursday driving up was cold and yucky, and they had a lot of snow on the ground. It was 7 degrees when we left the hotel on Friday morning for the competition and snowed off and on all day...  Yuck! We still ran in sweatshirts (and a blanket for Skye) so that we didn't need to deal with coats--the stroller was bad enough, but they were gracious with us having it there and tucking it aside/out of the way. Oh, back-tracking a little, the noise was stupendous, but Skye was amazing there.  She didn't fuss or cry, she napped a little but dealt with it all (so much to see and so many people to watch!). She continues to be a pleasure to take places!

When we got back to the hotel, we all headed down to the swimming pool.  It's a heated indoor pool and I loved it!  Warm, comfortable, and very enjoyable. Skye loved playing in the water and kicked and splashed like a fish (or a mermaid, heehee). We passed her from person to person, and by the time we had been in the pool for an hour or so, she was so worn out she couldn't even splash any more! She sat on my lap on the steps, thumb in her mouth, stroking the water and dangling her feet...  Sooooo cute! 

We had toyed with heading back on Friday night after we knew Aurora wasn't moving up in the standings, but the coach said that since the room was paid for, we might as well enjoy being there and relax some.  I was glad of that as I prefer to drive during daylight than in the dark.

We again had a fairly early night, and leisurely packed up our belongings on Saturday. We left the hotel around 10, went to Denny's for breakfast, then got on the road around 11. We were home just after 4:30 Saturday afternoon.  We found out later in the day that one of the bowlers we know quite well (she bowls on base), was the individual champion for the tournament.  I know Aurora continues to hurt that she wasn't able to go on, but to my way of thinking, she went farther than any other girl at her school this season, and she did her best. She didn't let her worst game get her down, and bounced back to do really well in the second series. And we did have a lot of fun.

I was able to get my second assignment done and turned in (posted) on time, although it was really hard writing it when I was so exhausted after the drive home.  The glare on the snow and road from how overcast it was (little to break the monotony of the sky, road, and fields, color-wise) left me with a headache, and I was so glad to be done driving.  Aurora's boyfriend came over which was a comfort to her, and it was nice to return Skye to her mother, although I am again babysitting today (Brie is at Drill all weekend). Anyhow, that is why I haven't posted at all this week--it's just been too busy!

Now I need to get the house ready for Liisa's arrival on Wednesday. She is flying down, and taking the train from the airport to Scott, where I will meet her. Can't wait to have my girl here for a week!  It's going to be wonderful! I need some Liisa time!