Steve and Judy's Travels!

  Last year, in 2017, the Regionals meant to send 22 kids to Nationals.  Alex tied for 22nd all-around so they sent 23 kids.  He just squeaked in, but then did really well, and came in 22nd all-around in the country.   This year at Regionals Alex came in 11th all-around.  That easily got him a spot at the Nationals.   He started on the vault, with a step on the landing, but still got a good score because of the difficulty of his vault. Vault Score 12.5   He followed that with parallel bars.  He had to take a step with his hands to catch himself after the pirouette but was otherwise pretty clean. Parallel bars Score 12.1   High bar went well.  He put in the double layout dismount; that’s harder than any other dismounts he’s been doing. High bar Score 11.8   On to the Floor.  He does so many difficult front flips that he always gets a high score.  He doesn’t usually do a stumble at the end of the first run, but even with that, he got second place on the Floor. Floor Score 13.0   The Pommel is the scariest event.  Barely any kids finish their routine without at least one fall.  The kid right before Alex fell five times!  Alex took one fall but finished the rest of his routine without a meltdown.  Once you’re off the horse, you can take as long as you want to get back up, and he did.  It was his lowest score of the evening but it felt like a victory. Pommel horse Score 10.0   He finished with the Rings, where he always does well, so the pressure for we parents and grandparents had already let up significantly.  A good score on the Rings cemented his position to advance to the Finals. Rings 11.95   A 71.350 overall.   Just for perspective, here is Alex’s Rings routine from five years ago in 2013.  He was 9 years old. 2013 rings     We’ll be in Oklahoma City in April!  

  The cheering squad was there.         Alex did well.  He qualified for Nationals next month in Oklahoma City (Oklahoma here we come).  Videos will upload tomorrow.   Go Alex!  

  I know it’s the desert.   But there is so much water here!  This is an overhead of Matt’s neighborhood.   It looks like this from ground level.     There are waterfront communities all over town (in Chandler).   https://www.google.com/maps/@33.2479981,-111.8408796,14.22z   Fountains.  Lakes.  Everywhere.  In the desert!     Meanwhile, Judy’s sister Sue, and brother-in-law John, and her sister-in-law Barbara all drove out from California to help cheer on Alex tomorrow night.  We all got together for dinner tonight.   With Barbara’s dog Hachi under the table!   (Lindsay and Arie were there too but not in time for the group selfie.)  

  And we’re back to The Motorcoach Resort.  We got back yesterday.   2018 Arizona Trip Map   We were only going to stay in Arizona for two weeks, but since the Regional Gymnastics Championships are going to be in Phoenix this year, we decided to stick around for a little longer.  Alex competes on Friday.   Go Alex!    

  They’re hard to find.   They summer on the mid-west plains, wandering about on the short grass prairie.  They winter in the south; sometimes seen in the Rio Grande Valley, but they’re hard to spot.  They’re light brown birds that like to stand in plowed furrows, looking like dirt clods.   We got a hot lead on wintering mountain plovers in Southern Arizona last weekend.  We gave it a good effort, staring at dirt clods, waiting for one to move, but no luck.   We did, however, stumble onto a pair of burrowing owls standing next to an irrigation ditch!       A total surprise!