AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

I haven't wanted to mention this because I had serious doubts if we would be able to pull it off but, praise the Lord, we did it! I did it!

This past weekend was the very last marching competition of the season for my two youngest daughters, Mo and Bek. In fact, since Mo is a senior this year, it was going to be her last marching competition, period. Because I have been so sick, I have not been able to see any of their performances this year and I have been having an extremely hard time dealing with it. I hate missing out on all their activities, especially when it comes to band. Therefore, my husband started trying to figure out a way to get me to the last, most significant competition of the season. The biggest hurdle was the fact that it was going to take place approximately an hour and half (80 miles) from our home and I do not do well on long car rides. Heck, I don't do well on short car rides! We knew we had the long car ride, usually a long distance from the car to the stadium and then the long time of sitting in the wheelchair waiting on our band to play and then waiting on the awards. We had A LOT to overcome. We knew we had to come up with a really great game plan!

What we ended up doing was finding a super nice hotel really close to the high school where the competition was being held on Saturday. We booked it for Friday and Saturday nights. When my husband got home on Friday evening, we slowly made our way up there. It was not an easy trip but thankfully I was able to go straight to bed once we made it there and then sleep late Saturday morning. That was REALLY nice!

When it came time to go to the high school Saturday evening, we were just mere minutes from the school. Plus, we were able to park in the handicap parking, which was practically right next to the ticket booths just outside the stadium. You can't get much closer than that!

Although we weren't able to see a lot of the other bands, we did arrive in time to see a couple of the other bands before it was our band's turn to perform. It was perfect!

Our band was SO incredible! I had seen them on video but nothing ever compares to seeing them in person. Oh my! It was truly awesome! Our middle daughter, Mo, is their senior drum major and our youngest, Bek, marches alto saxophone. Watching them made me so proud!

When it came time for the awards, we were on pins and needles. We wanted them to win so badly. I mean, we ALWAYS want them to win, but this time it meant just a little bit more because it was Mo's last competition. They received all 1's (Superior) in each category - drum major, color guard, percussion and band. Then they received the award for first in their Class, 4A. However, at this competition there was also a Class 5A, which is somewhat unusual, so we knew winning Grand Champ was going to be a little more difficult.

But they did it! Out of 18 bands, 0ur band was the GRAND CHAMPION of the Georgia Bandmasters Championship!

We were so thrilled! I am SO excited that I was able to make it there and to see them win! It has taken a huge toll on my body and it is taking me a long time to recover, but it has all certainly been worth it!! Now, it will just take me a few days to get to feeling back up to par.

See ya soon!