The tears, oh the tears, over these ribbons. At each volleyball tournament, AG's team get new ribbons for their hair. It's what you do. Everyone takes turns. My daughter was chomping at the bit and could not WAIT until it was her turn. She had been shopping online to find the exact type arrangement of ribbons to make. She ordered them, entered my CC number. Got them and we sat down to make the ribbons. She was so excited to pass these out. These were ready 2 weeks ahead of time. As the tourney drew near, I realized I had made a big mistake.
Ainsley Grace qualified to compete in 2 areas at a academic competition for the school back in the Fall. Spelling and Writing. But, I never entered it in our calendar. Low and behold it was the same day as our tournament. THE tournament where SHE was going to pass out her ribbons. I tried to solve the scheduling conflict to no avail. She had to miss the first day of tournament and she had to compete at the PSIA competition.
Once that was finally decided, we realized that she could then run at the Track Meet we had initially planned on skipping because of Volleyball. So we looked up what events she was assigned to. Our eyes bulged as they put her in the 800 (half mile). We were a little concerned for her and she was nervous. But we accepted it and went on. Finally, we kept scanning the assignments and we saw her name listed on the 1600. That's right. Holy mile bat man! She was soooo nervous.
So, the morning of, we scooted off to the PSIA. She came out of the writing competition and told me about her Sparkle Club Essay. :) Then, she went to the spelling competition, came out and asked me, "Mom. How do you spell Happy-Go-Lucky?" So random. Ha. Once we finished the competition, we raced to Oak Cliff to the Track Meet.
As we arrived, they were making the 2nd call for the 800 kids. I told her, just pace yourself. Everyone darts out because they are excited. Save it, pace yourself, then on the last leg, give it all you got. End breathless. She got it.
She took off at a very steady pace. Later she said she ran to a cheer chant. Finally, she turned that last corner and had to turn to cut around folks and she whizzed passed 5 girls! Woo, hoo!
Finally, the dreaded mile came. She stayed steady again. 1st lap, 2nd lap, 3rd lap and finally the last lap. She was tired, but never slowed down. She was steady and strong. She was in last place. But, there was no doubt she would finish this mile. Finally, another little girl in front of her stopped, started crying and was getting very upset.... AG eventually caught up to her, tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Come on. Let's finish together!" They ran the final stretch together to a lot of loud cheering fans as we all saw what she did. It was precious. I'm so proud of this sweet girl. She ran her mile in 8:20.
Here she is wearing her glasses she brought for the PSIA. :) This is actually a picture of her 5 minutes after her mile. She was so happy. She said she felt great!
Here are her sweet Track buddies.
On Sunday, she got to play the 2nd day of the tournament. And, she got to pass out her ribbons The girls looked extra cute and AG was very happy! During this season, she has been improving so much. Playing so hard and making strides at every game. She loves her club Summit-Nitro. She has fallen in love with this sport due to this sweet team she has and fantastic coach. That's the good news. The bad news is that she really struggles serving. It's a small team and she is the only girl who can't overhand serve. Sadly, tournament after tournament, game after game, when it came to her turn, that darn ball would never make it over. It was a little defeating but her coach would not let her get down. She kept trying. and trying. and trying. Her small team added a new girl to play on her team for the last 2 tournaments. And this girl could serve! So, finally they had someone to sub out Ainsley Grace so they could at least try to get the point. Halfway through the 2nd game, AG went up to serve. I was wondering why, but come to find out she asked her coach if she could. She went up, and THE SERVE WENT OVER! In fact, she Aced them!!!!! It was her first overhand serve over the net. We all went WILD!!!! All the parents were screaming and the girls on her team were attacking her hugging her. Since she Aced them she had to serve again. IT WENT OVER!!!!!! 2 serves went over. We all lost our minds. The other team must have thought we were crazy! The girls on her team were so happy for her. One girl came up to me, "Mrs. Lewis, I cried! I cried!" And another girls came up to me and said, "Mrs. Lewis, that was a moment. That was a real moment!"
This girl had a great weekend. I took her to get ice cream after the tournament upon her request to commemorate such a big weekend. Keep it up you fighter!!! More great things coming for you!
