Continued adventures in fencing!

Happy new year! (somewhat belatedly...) I hope 2016 is off to a good start for you and yours. For us, life continues on in it usual hectic manner. Aaron started working again in December, so we're all adjusting to having both of us out of the house full-time. It's a big change but a very good one.

Since I last posted, Maisie's fenced in two tournaments!

The first was in December, Windy City Super Youth Circuit (SYC), in Chicago. This was a tournament of many firsts: her first traveling tournament, and her first time fencing kids from other sword clubs. She did quite well!

She and I arrived on Friday morning. Her event was Saturday, but we didn't know at what time, so we came down a day early so as not to cut it too close... and to have some free time in Chicago! After checking in at the hotel, we hopped on the El to downtown. We stopped by Cathy and Jim's office for a brief but lovely visit, then we went over to the Christmas market! I'd heard a lot about it but had never been before. Maisie had hot apple cider, in a keepsake little booth-shaped mug, to warm up!

The whole time she was like "My friends are in school and I'm in Chicago!!" like she couldn't believe it.


Saturday was the big tournament day!

Maisie was ready to go. There were 9 girls in her age/weapon group, and in fencing tournaments, the top 8 are awarded medals. So her goal, which seemed really achievable, was to medal. (Also I did NOT want to see how upset she'd be if she were the only one who didn't medal!!) So with that, we were off and fencing...

The tournament itself wasn't the best-organized for the girls. There were 3 strips going, so as soon as one bout finished she'd get her mask off but would immediately be called to her next bout. There wasn't a chance to take a breather or listen to her coach!

At the end, she made her goal, placing 7th.

I was (and am) so proud of her! She worked really hard. I think she was a little disappointed in herself, but it ended up a very positive experience.

Then yesterday was another small tournament at our home sword club. This one only had TWO girls in the age/weapon category - Maisie and her buddy Inga. They fenced two bouts - a seeding round that Maisie won 5-3, then they did the final bout, which goes to 10. Maisie got down 1-6, fought back to bring it to 9-9, but ended up losing the match point. She was incredibly disappointed, cried a lot, and asked to go home immediately afterwards instead of sticking around to watch other fencers.

She perked up when I asked if she and Ella wanted to go to the Mall of America to ride the rides, and even ended up putting her medal back on and smiling about it.

Next up for Maisie is the North American Cup, in Salt Lake City in March. I've never been to SLC before. I'm looking forward to it! She's excited about seeing mountains for the first time, and seeing some of the girls she met in Chicago.

She's really enjoying fencing, and I'm really proud of how well she's doing. She's working hard and seeing the results! It's a lot of fun to watch.

Maisie is 9!

Last week was Maisie’s 9^th birthday!

Instead of a friends party this year, she asked to go up north to The Edge. The Edgewater is a hotel with a waterpark that she and Ella love! Happily, her BFF Ophelia was able to come with us. It was a quick trip – the girls were off school on Friday the 30^th, so we went up in the morning, hunted for agates on the shore of Lake Superior...

watched the bridge go up, and then got an early lunch at Grandma's.

Lunch complete with hot chocolate - it's colder by the lake!

By noon we were swimming and playing in the waterpark!

Ella, Maisie, Tiki Tom, and Ophelia

Saturday morning the girls got up early. After a quick breakfast, it was back to the waterpark for a few hours, before it was time to head back to Minneapolis for trick or treating. We had so much fun at the Edge with Ophelia. It was a great alternative to a birthday party!

Maisie’s actual birthday was on a Tuesday, so we went to dinner at her favorite restaurant (a buffet place on Lake Street) with Gramma Liisa. Our server caught wind of the birthday, and they brought her out a little dessert plate with the most amazing candle! 

It looked like a firework at first, and then opened up to reveal a flower, with a little candle on each petal.

It was so cool. Maisie was completely delighted!

Then this weekend, we had dinner with Auntie Laura, Dylan, and Dan at their house, which was awesomely fun. Check out the Portal cake they made for her – she loved it!

At 9, Maisie is just a great person. She loves Pokemon, anime, her family, koalas, reading, drawing, and cooking. She’s beginning to act a little tween-y sometimes, but still loves to snuggle and be read to.

At Convergence 2015 - she loved this person's cosplay of Lucy from Fairy Tale, a favorite anime.

She’s smart and funny, a caring friend, and a fierce fencer.

She told me the other day that she’s glad that I’m her mom. I told her that I’m glad she’s my kid, and it’s true! She’s a wonderful person and I can’t wait to see who she grows up to be.

Fencing

So I don't know if I ever mentioned it here, but a while back (spring? summer?) Maisie started taking fencing lessons!

We are fortunate to live just down the street from the Minnesota Sword Club, which has fencing lessons for people of all ages. (Well, as long as that age is 6 or older.) They even have medieval fighting classes, which my friend Kyle has been taking for a while now. They're really nice people and the kids we've met there have been great, too.

So anyway, there's more to this post than just a commercial for the Sword Club :) Last night after her class, the owner of the sword club pulled me aside to chat about Maisie's progress. He told me that they have an invitation-only group that trains specially for national competition, and would she/we be interested in her specializing in sabre and joining the team?

I was super flattered, but also very surprised! When we started her fencing it was just supposed to be for fun. To hear that she has the potential for being nationally competitive? That was not something I expected!

So Aaron and I talked about it, and Maisie's interested, so we're going for it! She'll be spending more time at the Sword club, doing more group classes as well as some individual lessons. We're going to try to let her lead it... Aaron and I definitely don't want to be "dance moms" pushing her so hard that it isn't fun any more. But as long as she's enjoying it, having fun and making friends, we feel like this could be a great opportunity for her!

See you at the sword club!