the longest day

big sister spent her entire saturday with the marching band, competing at the us bands showcase in burleson.  this is the first of several saturdays coming up where she will be living and breathing marching band.  here was her tentative schedule.

7:00am – rehearsal

8:30am – load trailers

8:45am – breakfast

9:45am – load buses/depart for burleson

10:45am – arrive at stadium/unload

11:45am – warm-up

12:30pm – performance

lunch on your own

3:45pm – finalists announced

4:15pm – dinner

6:30pm – finals competition begins

9:45pm – awards ceremony

10:15pm – depart for home

11:15pm – arrive/unload truck

well – things ran close to that schedule, from what i was able to gather.  the band got in a good run-thru of their show.

then they enjoyed a hearty meal of breakfast tacos, pastries, and assorted drinks.  next, they loaded the buses and headed out.

after their first performance, they learned that they earned several awards, & made it to the finals round.

class v bands – 1^st place, class champions

class v – best music

class v – best visual

class v – best guard

 after performing in the finals, the band came away with the following awards, which is amazingly awesome for their first competition!

finalist band – 10^th overall (out of 28 bands total competing)

color guard – 2^nd overall

percussion – 7^th overall

there were some technical difficulties with one of the buses, so they did not get to head home on time as planned – but they eventually got home around 1:00am.  talk about an 18-hour day!!

double header

finally – little sister got to play a soccer game again!  it is already 4 weeks into the fall season, but with all the rainy weather we’ve had lately, games keep getting postponed.  the matchup today was the same team we tied with at our first game – sweet feet.  they let a goal get by early in the game, so they were down 0-1.  then it started to drizzle, and the girls just couldn’t control the slippery ball very well.  about halfway thru the second half, the girls tied it up 1-1, and that is how the game ended: another tie.  i guess that is better than a loss, right?

 after lunch, little sister had a volleyball game – csm v queen blockers.  they lost game 1 (24-26), but ended up coming back to win the next 2 games (25-13, 15-12) to take the win overall.  and little sister earned another $4 for her serves!

time to march!

after two rained-out halftime shows….the mighty lobo band finally got to march & show off their halftime performance.  it was perfect weather, even if still a little bit humid, but this is fall in texas, after all.

lady lobos v myers

i went to little sister’s away volleyball game tonight.  she was back to playing the libero position, and got to serve for a change – and earned $3 in doing so!  after her game, she came to collect her earnings so she could go to concessions.  she came back with a soda – ummm, at 7:00pm!?  that is way too late for caffeine for someone not used to it.  oh well, she’ll have to learn the hard way.

football game fun

tonight, little sister joined the symphonic & honor bands at the home football games of the 7th grade a & b teams.  they gathered afterschool at 4:30pm for pizza, then rode the bus around 5:30pm to the stadium.  games were done around 8:15pm.  i think the whole band had a blast!  they played about 6-8 songs, over and over again, in the the 2+ hours they were there.  little sister took turns on the bass drum with a friend.  she got tired of holding that heavy drum, but overall did well for her first stadium experience. :-)

texas open tournament

today we spent all day at a 7th grade volleyball tournament in allen.  little sister had to be up at the school and ready for the bus at 7:00am.

the morning was pool play, with 3 opponents to play.

8:00am - lady lobos v highland park.  they lost 15-13, 15-4.  little sister didn't play.

9:45am - lady lobos v carroll, and little sister played in the first set, which they lost 15-5.  they also lost the second set 15-11.

10:55am - lady lobos v ford.  little sister played in the first set, which they lost 15-13.  they won the second set 15-10.

after pool play, the lady lobos landed in 4th in their pool.  this means they advanced to the challenger bracket with all the other 3rd and 4th place teams (8 teams in total).  if they lost again, that meant they were out and going home.

12:30pm - lady lobos v coppell north.  this game was at another location, so the team rode the bus and the parents all drove to the new school.  little sister played the first set, which they lost 25-11.  they won the second set 25-21, and then they won the tie-breaker 15-11.  we were all excited to finally win a matchup!!

this is my favorite play of the day....little sister is in the back on the right (#7) and she clears a loose ball coming from another court, before breaking the serve and then bumping the ball again later.  lots of action for her in this play!!  love it!!

2:30pm - lady lobos v ereckson.  this game was back at the original location, so back on the bus went the players and back in their cars went the parents.  little sister didn't play, but the team came out victorious in 3 sets, 25-13, 20-25, 15-9.

4:30pm - lady lobos v ford for the championship in the challenger bracket.  again, little sister didn't play, but the team won in 2 sets, 25-18, 25-22.

even though little sister only played in 3 of the 14 sets of the day - she still had lots of fun and is growing as a player.  it is nice that the school has been changing up the players they take to these weekend tournaments.  i know that if she sticks with the game, she will continue to improve.  we are very proud!

lady lobos v calhoun

little sister's volleyball teams continued their winning streak and remain undefeated after tonight's wins.

triple header

first up: 9am - CSM v vipers.

the girls were slow to start, but they came out victorious in 3 sets (20-25, 25-17, 15-10).  little sister (once again) did not make any of her serves over.

 after the game, daddy worked with her at home and we agreed on a deal over lunch....for every serve she gets over the net, she earns $1.  even if she doesn't make the point or if the balls lands out of bounds even, we are just working on getting the ball over the net!!

next: 12 noon - fusion v sweet feet.

it was a really humid scorcher of an away game - ending in a tie 2-2.

 but we had no time to be sad, because we had to rush back to our third & final game of the day: 2pm - CSM v ice.

 the monkeys took the match in 2 sets (25-15, 25-?).  and guess how many serves little sister got over.....eleven!!  yahoo!!!  and they were absolutely beautiful serves... :-)

another rainout :-(

we were so very hopeful, but it just wasn't meant to be.  mother nature had other plans for our friday night....

first, big sister had to stay after school for a group band photo.  they were getting to wear their uniforms for the first time - and everyone was so excited!  once they were done around 4:20pm, she was allowed to come home with her uniform (a rare event) and had to report in uniform to the stadium at 5:45pm.  i happily took her and her best bud from color guard...

 

 they even had their new duffle bags to tote around all their stuff!  starting to look so official now!!

daddy, little sister & i made it to the game around 6:45pm, and all was going well.  by 7:30pm, the game was well underway, and the band was playing from the stands, and we were all having a fine time.

 around 7:45pm, the band headed down to the field area to prep for halftime.  and the skies above quickly turned dark and ominous.

with just a few minutes left in the second quarter, and with the football game still going on, fans were advised to take shelter below the bleachers.  the winds shifted, temperatures dropped, and we waited for the rain, which began just as predicted.  there was a lightning delay around 8:15pm, which pretty much lasted another 30-40 minutes.  finally at 9:09pm, the band was dismissed from the stadium, two weeks in a row with no halftime performance.  it was so disappointing, but just makes the anticipation for the next game that much greater.  big sister had to go back to the school to change out of her uniform, and then finally was able to head home.

picture perfect

#35   #libero   #myheart

lady lobos v rodriguez

another night of undefeated volleyball, as the 7th graders took on rodriguez at home.  little sister didn't make any of her serves over, but she got some play time and helped contribute to the win.

 

C team - 25-12 and 25-5

B team - 25-15 and 25-12

 A team - 25-10 and 25-12

first home game

tonight was the first home game for the marching band, and it was a rainy mess.  the band spent most of the pre-game below the stands keeping out of the rain.  the game started as scheduled, with drizzle falling and a very soggy, slick field. but still the band could not get out their instruments.  at the top of the 2nd quarter, there was a small break in the sky, and they all proceeded to prepare for the halftime show.  but soon after the instrument truck was unloaded, there was a large flash of lightning, and the band director called it done.  he couldn't risk the kids' safety no matter how badly they all wanted to march.  so, we'll try again at next week's home game... :-(

lady lobos v crownover

daddy attended little sister's 2nd volleyball game tonight, an away game about 30 minutes to the west.  the lady lobos came out victorious in all 3 match ups.

 c team - 8-25, 25-19 and 15-12
b team - 25-6 and 25-23

a team - 25-17 and 25-13

daddy said that little sister made all her serves.  way to go!!

also, a teammate's dad took tons of photos of the games & shared.  here are a few with little sister in them.