Cheer Camp

The day after quals Julia and I hit the road at 6:00a.m. so that she could join her cheer team for the rest of camp.  Two days later Savannah and I were on the road again at 6:00a.m. to pick her up.  It was grueling.  (A side note here: so thankful for Savannah, I could not have done that drive without her.  She took the wheel for a good chunk on the way home).

We arrived at camp to find an exhausted team.  Their first cheer for the evaluation was not so peppy.  Everyone looked like they would like to lay down on the floor and just sleep.  They had practiced morning to night and often in a gym without air conditioning in July.  The heat and non-stop activity was too much.

The team earned many awards at camp, and Julia received a couple of individual awards.  She won the jumping contest - surprising as that is not her strength.  She also earned an All-Star award for sharp movements, leadership and being a good cheerleader in general.  Apparently, she can earn that yearly, and if she gets it her junior and/or senior year, it becomes an All-Amercan award.  I don't know how that is chosen, but it's not like one cheerleader per camp gets that award.  There were two other recipients at this camp.

One thing that Savannah pointed out to me was that it was so obvious how much Julia loves cheerleading.  The girls managed to get a second wind, and Julia was just beaming when they cheered.  Savannah certainly took note of that.

Oh, so tired!!

Julia slept much of the way home, but she was up and ready to help Andy replace a light fixture that very evening.  She wanted to help with that so badly that he had to await her return to do it.  She loves renovation and has decided that she wants to major in mechanical engineering and minor in Interior Design.  If I know Julia, she will do it!

Cheer camp caused Andy to send me one of the sweetest texts I have ever received.  Julia talked and talked about camp and showed us her dances and cheers.  Andy was hanging out with Julia when I received this text:

Thank you for sacrificing sleep and washing it down with bad coffee to bless Julia.  You are an amazing mom --an amazing woman!!

Andy is too kind.  I mess it up far more often than I get it right.  However, he knows I don't like driving.  Cars make me drowsy, and I don't like coffee.  In desperation I stopped at a gas station and picked up coffee after dropping Julia off at camp.  It was bad, but I choked it down because I could not find a Starbucks.  It was then that I understood all my friends (including my husband) who are coffee snobs.  Andy is right about one thing.  Some of the best moments in parenting come when your child shares their excitement over an experience with you.