And Then

And then we went to Michigan.

Does it seem like I was driving two girls all over the country through the month of July? Because I was. We started with dance in Orlando, meandered to cheer in South Carolina, and then ... what's that? Mila? It was Mila's turn? In Michigan?

It was!

First of all, this whole thing was a strategic error on my part. Last year Mila was on a nice low level of cheer team and she was perfectly fine there. It was a team that doesn't leave town for competitions, which is fantastic. She then asked to do try-outs, not because she was like I WANT TO MOVE UP, but because she was like, TRY-OUTS SOUND FUN!!!!

She's weird like that.

Try-outs were fun, but then she went and managed to worm her way up a level, which landed her with a team that has a "Nationals." It's not the Big Kid Nationals, but rather a smaller one that's more local-ish. There are a bajillion teams there, but it's basically a way to have Nationals without asking families to sink a bunch of money into the ordeal.

Which, yay? It would be yay if it weren't A TOTALLY SEPARATE NATIONALS FROM ALEXIS'. I almost never have the luck of the girls needing to be in the same place in the same time. Two separate weeks in two separate states was not cool. It was my fault, though, because I should not have let Tiny go to try-outs.

ANYWAY.

I did, she went, she had fun. Her team didn't place, but that's not really the part that matters. Mila, for her part, did surprisingly well for someone who missed WAY too many practices. See also: that thing where she goes where her sister goes. It wasn't Mila's fault we were out of town too much. She mostly managed to catch up, but hopefully there are fewer scheduling conflicts next year so she knows more about what's going on.

The most notable thing from the weekend, however, was Alexis. Yes, Alexis. This is the first time in FOREVER that she hasn't had A Thing while we were on vacation. For years, vacations have revolved around her cheer and dance events, to the point that she's never been just plain chillin' on vacation. She did this time, even as she was nervous on behalf of Tiny. It was kind of hilarious watching her be like, "Oh, wait! I don't have to put makeup on! Or do my hair! Or pay attention to what I pack! Or wear anything specific!"

She should try just being a kid more often. It suits her.