So, Here's How It All Went Down...

Seth and Grace's first Regional Celebrate Life is in the books.

Here's the haul:

Seth received a superior rating for his artwork, and Grace received a superior rating for her vocal solo and an excellent rating for her piano solo.  Grace also learned that it is difficult to run from one event to another in heels.

Grace warming up for her piano solo:

And quizzing... my goodness...

As I mentioned before, NEI went into the tournament seeded 1st.  After a bye round and a hard fought win, we entered into the round in which I could just feel the meltdown beginning to occur.  All year long, I have waited for the point at which Seth and Grace would hit a wall, and then they just... didn't...  Not on the district... Not at invitationals... Not at the St. Louis Quiz... And after an error out by Grace and then two correct questions by Seth and then three jumps Seth just couldn't get, I watched as he put his head in his hands and walked off from a really difficult loss.  And then the semi-final round began, and although he tried to keep it together, he just couldn't, and Grace wilted, too, and for the two of them, that was just the end.  But are you kidding me?  A regional semi-final quiz at this stage?  Who would've guessed?  NEI finished 3rd, and I couldn't be more proud of the contributions my kids made to that finish and the contributions made by the rest of the team.  Super... Stars...

Semi-Finals:

Once the team quizzing was complete, I admit that my thoughts turned to the potential for the top 16 quiz... and whether or not they (S and G) could really pull off anything else, this weekend.  Just hours before the meltdown, these are the faces of two kids as they waited for and then heard the individual results for the preliminary quiz rounds:

OK...  So... What Place Am I?

Grace went into top 16 in 4th place:

 16th?  Really?

I had mixed feelings about the Friday night concert.  What did they really need?  Probably sleep.  What did they want?  When asked, Seth, in his exhausted state, did not want to participate in the evening events.  Phil headed out to the van with him, and my understanding is that Seth was asleep in less than two minutes.  It was a good choice for him.  Grace, however, wanted to participate in the concert and evening activities.  As a mom who was super proud of her for making it this far and who knew she had earned the right to enjoy Celebrate Life in whatever way she wanted to do so, I agreed to stay at the concert with her.  Grace had an incredible time... so much fun.  I wouldn't trade it, but as a mom who was concerned about the next morning's quiz rounds; I can't say that I was certain I had made the right choice.

Six rounds of top 16 quizzing is a lot.  I think it is probably necessary to quiz that many rounds to get a fair and accurate outcome, but it's still a lot.  Coaching Grace is always interesting.  If she follows the game plan, there is almost no stopping her, and yet I trust her to make decisions outside of the game plan, as necessary.  At the end of five rounds, it was impossible for her to finish lower than 6th place.  I can't begin to tell you how many times I added... and re-added the numbers to make sure this was accurate.  At the time out after question 10, I was able to say, "Get one more, and you're definitely on the A team... no pressure or anything!"  And she did get one more, at which point I told her to just sit.  I'm not sure how huge the smile on my face must have been...

Seth had given a valiant effort in those first five rounds, but going into the last round it was obvious that the only chance he had at making the B team for General Assembly was to quiz out.  Even then, there were several other quizzers who would make the team ahead of him if they quizzed well in the last round.  But I have always said that anything can happen in a top 16 quiz off situation...

So... after Grace and I counted and re-counted and added... and re-added the scores...  And then after we added them again...  We had our own little celebration about her 4th place finish and headed out to the hallway to find Phil and Seth.  And all the time, I'm just hoping that I don't find Seth in tears, and then Phil just about bowls me over with news that Seth did quiz out in his round... and then Phil, Grace, and I are all standing in front of the white boards again... adding again!

Number nine.  Really?  Add it up again.  Nine.  Are we sure?  Add it up again.  Nine! 

And then I am just about crying (with an enormous smile on my face), because this kid has worked so hard, and I really thought we were coming to the end of the quiz year for him at regionals, and quite honestly, I just didn't expect this!  But that doesn't mean I never imagined it or never believed it could happen!  And then we're partying so hard about Seth we almost forget about Grace altogether, which is a complete riot, because no one ever forgets about Grace... but she laughed as hard as anyone...

A couple more shots for the road...

NEI A (AKA, "The Hobbits") Minus Sammy:

Grace and Jara walking back after receiving their awards.

Grace looked up to Jara all season long,

and it was fitting that Jara jumped over Grace

on question 20 of round 6

to be the 3rd place quizzer.

This shot makes me laugh, though...

They both look thrilled...

Sing... dance... make music... and quiz like your life depends on it!  Regional Celebrate Life was great!  General Assembly... Here... We... Come...

L.