“Parting is such sweet sorrow😢”

We had to say bye to Scot and our dog, Tucker, today. He came down to help us get settled in for the month while T trains with his coach and team to get ready for US Open. He is now driving home to get ready for the work week ahead. I will be making more posts and doing a bunch of FaceTime this next month. So glad that if we can’t be together that we can at least see one another. So thankful that technology has come this far that we can do this. Back when I was growing up we’d have to pay for long distance calls and those would be few and far between because it was so expensive. As for that aspect of technology I’m very thankful it’s advanced like it has. 

T is now on the phone with a friend and playing a game on his Switch with him. Extended stay living is made much easier for me when he can do that. 

After Class Tonight

Tonight we got surprised by Carolina Kick’s giving out plaques to the kids who went to Nationals this past summer. It was basically so they could let them know how proud they are of all that they are accomplishing. Here’s what it looks like:

At Hotel and Checked In

We arrived around 4pm today to the hotel. Unloaded in the rain😕. Scot and Tucker came with us to help us get set up and so Scot can watch the team training session tomorrow. Preparing for a months stay is no easy task. So glad to have help. Scot will be coming to us over the next month so that we don’t go the entire time without seeing him. Fun times. Now to go to team training. 

"We're Leaving in a Mini Van...."

I took my queue from the song "I'm leaving on a jet plane..." for this post...LOL!

We leave for an entire month today.  A month of hard training.  And when no training is happening we will be plugging along with schoolwork.  It's a busy life with an Elite Athlete and we have to make the most of the time we have getting ready for competitions and making sure we stay on task with school.

In two weeks will be his first competition at the AAU GA Qualifier.  Then two weeks after will be US Open in Florida.

We are hoping and praying that this month with his coach doing private lessons and team training gives T the push he needs to get him over the hump and making forward motion in this new age and weight division that he is in this year.  It's an entirely new ball game for him right now.  He's having to learn a lot and train a lot in order to be competitive in his new division.  We are focusing on gains this year.  Whether his competitions are wins or learns (losses) the focus is the gains he makes in those competitions.  What he learns from them as we go forward and applying them.  We are focusing on gaining knowledge that will help him moving forward in this sport.  The results will come even if they don't come the way we may like them to come at first.  With not knowing what to expect in this new division we will be learning a lot.  We are doing our best to encourage T to keep moving forward no matter whether a competition is a Win or Learn.  Win or Learn there are always gains to be had.

I will be making posts as we go through this month ahead to keep everyone informed on what gains we are taking from competitions and training.  T has an incredible coach and we are so thankful that God brought us to him.  T has already expressed what it is that he wants out of this year.  As he gets more knowledge he makes adjustments to what he wants and we are constantly checking in with him to make sure of what it is that he wants.  So look forward to more posts from us.  They will be coming.

Contact Appointment Today!

Anything look different about this young man. After his third try and with a friend who is an optometrist T has now been fitted for contacts and loves them. Woohoo. We are out celebrating 🥳 for lunch.

Engine Build continued...

The boys got more done on the engine build tonight. Here’s a couple of pics of them working on it. 

TKD Class Tonight

Here’s a video of the fun T had at TaeKwonDo class tonight. 

KiwiCo Builds from Earlier This Month

Here is a video of a couple of T’s KiwiCo Builds from earlier this month. 

Building an Engine with Dad

T has been doing several science builds recently. This is his third build and he’s so enjoying doing them with his Dad😊. He’s learning a lot about how an engine works. I’ll have to take a video of one of the other builds he did that he really enjoyed and post it later.

Tournaments

So we are looking ahead and trying to plan. A lot rides on T and his performances at the locals as to how much big tournaments we do this year. As of now we are putting them on the calendar but in pencil so we can change things as we need to do so. Going to the Oregon one that you will see in the pic below can give T a “wild card” to attend Pan Ams in 2021 provided he performs well enough to earn it. So going to that one is kind of a big deal. The other two are National events and they are ones that are tournaments that T needs to attend so those we are planning on attending for now. A lot will ride on what his coach says and thinks. If he doesn’t think he’s ready then T won’t do them this year. He is very knowledgeable and we trust him. Like I said before though most of how things will get planned depends on T and how he does when he attends other tournaments. It’s his first year in a new age/weight division. A lot of changes happening this year. So a lot remains to be seen.