Nova and I got up really early this morning to get to her State Gymnastics meet in Lakeland. I think we were on the road by 7:00 am, after hitting up Starbucks and the gas station. I didn't really sleep well last night, worrying that I would miss the alarm. Sawyer and Aaron got up early too---to hit the surf before heading down to the tunnels to work.
The meet was held in Lakeland, Florida--which I considered to be a bit of a country town. On the drive in, I realized it was a pretty town with rolling hills, lots of beautiful plants and lakes. Maybe there was more to this little town than I thought.
The arena that held the meet was also holding a gun show at the same time--with people walking in with rifles and shotguns. I didn't like that at all. Seemed like such a Florida thing. It wasn't really that big of a deal but it seems that next time someone should check the calendar and not schedule the gun show at the same time as the state gymnastics meet. Lots of little girls and lots of guns seem to be such a weird combination.
Nova was in great form at the meet---and did amazing on all of her events. I was so proud of her and so were her coaches. Her floor routine was the best I have seen all season. Her vault looked amazing to me but I guess the judges didn't agree. All of her teammates qualified for the regional meet in a couple of weeks. It was so fun to watch all of her teammates compete! Her team took 2nd overall in the State and her friend Sydney made the Florida Regional team. Very excited for all of them. (If you want to see a video of the meet, check out our YouTube channel).
After the meet we found this cute little wine bar/cafe, called The Cob and Pen for a great lunch. Another piece of evidence that there might be more to Lakeland that I originally thought. The waiter at the cafe mentioned that there was a bit of progressiveness to Lakeland because it is halfway between Orlando and Tampa--I guess we will have to go back and explore.
We got back to Sarasota around 4:00 pm and were exhausted. I took a short nap while Nova watched video after video. Around 7:00 pm, I finally made it to the grocery store and had dinner made by 8:30 pm. Nova and I made my bed, with new linen sheets, and then I crashed. We were all tired tonight.
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