With a name like the Teddy Bear Classic, who wouldn't want to attend that meet?
I knew this was going to be another tough meet--it was in the Bay Area, with larger teams and as a result more experience. On the bright side, I had also promised a trip to the American Girl store since it was so close. Also, since it was close to our old home, I had a friend who was coming to watch and I was able to drive around and show little Z the home she never knew.
We drove down to the Bay Area the afternoon before the competition. Our first stop was the American Girl store. Talk about overwhelming. Two stories of AG dolls, clothes and accessories. And a hair salon (for the dolls) and a cafe. It was crazy. But little Z knew what she wanted--she had saved up money and gift cards and was prepared. She did go over budget a little bit, but it was my fault and I allowed her to get another outfit that had been on sale.
From the AG store, it was on to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. How I wish we had one of these in town. Little Z LOVED the salad bar and all you can eat. She was able to have what she wanted and know that it was healthy.
As soon as we checked into the hotel, we met up with some other families by the pool and just talked. It was nice and relaxing, especially since we knew the next day would be a bit much.
When we got to the meet facility, it was very different than anything we had been to before. The meet wasn't being held at a gym, and instead was just set up in an auditorium like setting. Very different, but also nice in a way because you could see all the events.
The girls started on bars at this meet. Bars is one of Z's best events and although her routine looked good to me, she scored an 8.950. I wasn't quite sure where the deductions came from, but she still had one of the highest scores on her team.
From bars it was on to beam. Unfortunately, this was Z's worst day on the beam. She just didn't have the rhythm down and seemed to be a bit off. Before her, two of her team mates fell on their dismount and unfortunately, I think that got to her. Z also fell on the dismount and had to do it again. I think that added some deductions, on top of the 0.5 from the fall itself. Her final score was 7.850. The first time she ever scored below 8.00 on any event.
Floor was next and luckily, I had been able to mention to her coach to make sure he talked to her before her routine. She was great--as she always is and scored a 9.375. Her last event was vault and I never know how they score that. Everyone thought that she was flawless and yet she only got an 8.975. No one understood that one. The all around score was 35.150--her second lowest AA score.
Despite the lower scores, she did still bring home some medals. She got 6th on vault, 5th on bars, 3rd on floor and 8th all around. In addition, each competitor got a teddy bear! At this meet, they were making the meet t-shirts on site. I was able to add a heart on the sleeve that said 9.0 club. She deserved it for her floor routine and honestly was so close on bars and vault that I couldn't figure out why it was lower.
Driving home was fun. We stopped to grab some lunch and drove around the old neighborhood. I got to show Z where her brother went to school and several of the old locations where we lived, including the house we lived in when I was pregnant with her. It was a lot more enjoyable of a drive since Z was not completely beating herself up like she had after the second competition. She told me that she had tried her best and that was all I expect of her. :)
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