Back to school nails

Back to school...what?! Yep, it's that time of year again. The kids start school next week. Have I written at all about Ava's beautiful fingernails? She likes to keep them very long, and they are amazingly strong and healthy. I'm not sure how she operates with nails this long--I could only dream of this. Not that it would be a good thing for me--I doubt anyone wants a catcher with nails this long. 

I'm sure I have. I started using a nail polish recently called Olive and June, and I love it. I enjoy the process of painting my nails, which is weird--it's never been something I've been interested in--and their formula is easy to use, looks like salon quality, and comes in beautiful shades. Ava has also benefitted from this new beauty habit I've developed, as I like to practice on her lovely nails. She also likes to do it herself, and with some practice, won't even need me after awhile. 

She planned out what she wanted to do with her nails for the first day of school, and I was a little worried at how they'd turn out because it involved me doing nail art. I've gotten pretty good at painting, but nail art is another story. Overall, it went pretty well! I think she was happy with them, and I was pleased at my efforts. Can you believe these are the hands of a 12 year old, and that these are her natural nails? She could definitely be a hand model. It's fun to have this little mother/daughter pampering treat that we can do together. 

New trapeze friends

I mentioned before that it's been a rainy summer so far, and it was supposed to rain off and on all weekend. Normally, I'd be very excited at the thought of a rainy weekend in the summer, but we were going to be having a new coach out for the first time, just for Saturday and Sunday. It started raining on Friday night, and continued until late morning, and then did the same thing on Saturday night, continuing through Sunday morning. What did that mean for flying with our new coach? 

....well, thanks to a cooperative storm (that gave us a break in the afternoon) and some giant fans blowing on the net....

....it meant we got to fly in the middle of the afternoon in JULY! What?! Yep, you heard me, afternoon flying two summer days in a row. The rain cooled it off to a comfortable, but muggy mid 80 degrees both days. I can't believe our good luck! 

Who is this new coach? For that, I need to give a little introduction and background on the newest member of our team, Ali. When Jordan and Blair were here back in May to teach the workshop at the trapeze school in Scottsdale, Ali had flown in from Oakland to participate. Not only was she a bit of a regular at their workshops (having attended 3 or so previously), she was also moving to Phoenix in a couple months. On the last night they were at George's, they invited her to come out and meet all of us. They knew she was moving here, and were trying to help her make some connections to the trapeze community here. They've known her for quite awhile, and after meeting our group, they thought she might fit in pretty well. We were all pretty busy soaking up that one night of coaching that we didn't get much time to get to know her, but I connected with her a bit. I had mentioned that I was going to their Dallas workshop the following weekend, and also exchanged phone numbers. I'm not always the most welcoming to new people, as I've probably written about before. I am cautious of adding people to our group for a number of reasons...but I got a good feeling about Ali right away. We had some marathon text conversations over the next few weeks, and when it came time for her to figure out her trapeze plans in her new city, she was definitely hoping she could fly with us. She's been training in the Oakland area for about as long as I've been flying, maybe a bit longer--but trust me, she's so much better than all of us. She's definitely in a different category of hobbyist, but she's super down to earth, passionate about flying (one of the few people I've found that's as "obsessed" as I am), and treats us as her flying equals (even though we totally aren't). She has been coached by a lot of different folks, but has also had some consistently good coaching all through her time--which is helpful to us as well.  Speaking of her coaches--that's who was out this weekend! One of her main catchers/coaches, Herdlyn came out just for the weekend with his wife. We all really enjoyed his coaching style and the way he explained things. He's also great to have here because he's an awesome catcher too! Not only do we get good coaching, but we get a chance to throw our stuff to a great catcher (and he's a big guy, so he can also catch Rod easily). It was all around a fantastic weekend--the weather cooperated, the coaching was amazing, and we got to meet two new trapeze friends! *Ali is wearing a mask because she was getting over a cold. Say hi to Herdlyn and Ali! You're going to hear much more about them (Ali especially) moving forward, as she will likely be a valued member of the Roso Flyer team. 

Herdlyn and his wife, Kendall have two young girls at home in Oakland, so they enjoyed the chance to have an adult's weekend away. She used to fly as well (they met as GOs in Club Med), so she was excited to take a few swings while she was here. 

I seriously cannot believe the weather was this amazing in July. Look at this beautiful place!

I'm super excited to have this new trapeze friend, and look forward to many good memories made. Another benefit of her joining our team, from a catcher's perspective, is that we have the opportunity to catch some bigger tricks. She throws double tuck, double pike, is working on a double layout, and she also does a 540, cutaway half, a flexus, and plenty of other cool stuff. I haven't had a chance to catch doubles, and am excited to learn with her. She's grateful for the opportunity to fly with us (which is always one of the things I care most about) and she has already added so much to our team. I'm so fortunate to have found such an awesome community through this sport. Forever grateful. 

Oh, and here's a video of a split catch with Herdlyn just for fun. 

Podcasting?

What is this family up to now? Well, more accurately, what is Tyler up to now? He has a group of friends who want to do a podcast together, so in typical Tyler fashion, he got all the equipment he needed and did all the research in how to start a podcast. Here they are trying out the new equipment. Wondering what they're planning to talk about on their podcast? Dungeons and Dragons....I'll let you know where you can listen as soon as it's ready. At least they look professional, right?!

Synchro group competitions

Ava has another synchro competition tonight, this time, with a much larger group. She and Jodi were put in the group with the old kids on the team (15+) to do a routine with a team of six, performing a Star Wars medley. Pretty exciting for her to be working with the older girls!

The Knox in the hair went pretty well this time, and we had to do it over these little buns that all the girls were wearing. She had her makeup done by one of the coaches when she got to the pool. Doesn't it look great?

I borrowed these next few photos from Ava's phone...fun to see her with her friends! I think she's really enjoyed being on this team, and is looking forward to synchro again next summer. She's definitely good at it! This is one of her coaches at the bottom of the picture, Ashley I think. 

The other coach is here on the left--Alaina, I believe. 

This performance was amazing! We were seriously blown away by how well it was choreographed, and how great the girls did. Check out the video of their performance by clicking this link.  I know it's hard to tell which one is Ava from so far away, and with them all dressed the same. She's in the front left at the start of the video, if you want to try to follow her. She's also the one who get's lifted at the 1 minute mark, and again (on the right) at about 2:09.

They ended up getting first place in their 15+ age group! There weren't many others in their age group, but also, they were definitely the best. 

It was so fun to watch this last competition, and to see how well all the girls did. I'm really excited for Ava to get to do this sport again next summer. She is really good at it, and enjoyed being on the team. I only wish they had more time together. 

Here is one of the downsides of Knox, it's a bit of a challenge to get out. It dries solid, and takes a lot of warm water to get it out. You don't want that going down the drain though, so it's best to do it in a bucket (or a hose outside, but that just seemed cruel). I think I must have put more on this time, because it was more difficult to get out than last time. Great job Ava, I'm proud of all of your hard work and progress in synchro this summer! I can't wait to watch you do it again next summer. 

Back in the Orange

When things shut down back in March 2020, one of the first things to go was my twice a week classes at Orange Theory Fitness. I started getting the feeling that I should put my membership on hold right around the time that the gym actually decided to put everyone on hold and close up for awhile. I remember some of those last workouts that March and thinking that I was not in a great place if there was a dangerous virus floating around. Everything was so new, but it definitely seemed like something to take seriously. The studio opened back up again in August 2020 and required masks during workouts. I wasn't ready to go back, even with masks. This is a very small studio and there was not way that I was going to be that close to a bunch of sweaty strangers, sharing equipment and breathing heavily together--even with a mask. I keep my membership on hold for over a year after they opened back up again. After I was fully vaccinated and going back to work more often, I started feeling a little more comfortable being around others. I had also been getting a lot of text messages from OTF offering deals and trying to get me back. I finally decided it was time, and had my first workout today! It felt great! I still feel a little weird about being in there with other people, not knowing if they're responsible humans who got vaccinated, but I guess I'll just have to hope that my vaccination will help protect me. I'll go back to taking classes twice a week, but only one of my two favorite coaches is still there, so I'll try to stick to Tuesdays and Thursdays. I get two of my best workouts of the week at OTF, so I'm excited to be back!

 

Rainy day at Red

This is turning out to be a lovely, rainy summer here in the desert! Our campus is so beautiful when it rains. We're surrounded by native Sonoran desert, and have this awesome desert oasis in the center of campus. It comes alive with the rain--literally! There were frogs everywhere! Cara and I were standing up here on the second floor looking down, and all of a sudden we noticed that there was something hopping around down there. Frogs that are normally hiding in the ponds had come out to enjoy the rain. It was so fun! Cara never misses an opportunity to wear her pink rain boots-there aren't many days that they make sense, but when it does, she's on it!

We went downstairs to get a better look at the frogs. 

I love how these river rocks look when they're wet and covered with fresh rain rivers. 

I happened to catch a video of these two frogs leaping away from us at the same time. What a fun day! I love this place, and I'm so grateful to get to go to work here every day. We're going to be getting back to working on campus more consistently, which I'm looking forward to. It's just not the same to be working from home. 

Ava's first synchro perfomance

Our ND trip was originally scheduled to be 10 days instead of 7. There were a few different reasons why we decided to cut it back, but one of the big ones was that Ava had a synchronized swimming competition/performance scheduled for July 13, the day after we would be getting home. I don't entirely trust Allegiant Airlines, and I didn't want to take the chance that they wouldn't get us home as scheduled. This was a duet, so it was just Ava and Jodi performing a routine they'd been working hard to learn. Ava was already going to have to miss a few days of practice for this trip, so I didn't want her to have to miss any more, or take the chance that she wouldn't make it home. I think we were all glad that we did--one week was just right.

Here we are on the day of the competition. Ava and I went over to Jodi's house so they could get ready together. One of the things that is involved in "getting ready" for a synchro performance is Knoxing their hair. Have you ever noticed that synchronized swimmer have hair that stays perfectly in place, and also looks a little shiny? Well, that's because they've coated it in a gelatin substance (Knox), and it's dried hard, holding everything in place. It's quite interesting to apply, and a bit of a challenge to get out, but it does the job! I'm glad I got to learn how to do it from Jodi's mom, who has done it before. My first try was a bit messy, but it worked. 

They also had to use some special process to do their makeup so it wouldn't come off in the water. 

So pretty!

The girls are performing to a medley of Beach Boys songs, which made these tropical swim suits and flowers so appropriate! We lucked out finding these matching suits at Old Navy, especially since Jodi is so much taller than Ava. 

It was so fun to watch these two perform! They did an amazing job! Click here to here to watch the video of their performance. They ended up getting 2nd place in their age group (although I think they deserved first), and they were very happy with the silver medal. Great job girls!

ND Trip: Film pictures by Tyler

In no particular order, here are some shots Tyler took on the film camera while we were in ND. For not knowing much about using a film camera and making adjustments to the settings, I think he did a great job! Now, don't ask how much it cost to have these 4 rolls developed and digitalized...let's just say that these are the only rolls he's shot. 

This one is a little weird, I'm not sure how this happened.