Spelling Bee Sweetness

Please excuse the length of this post, but I wanted to give you as many details about our weekend as possible.


The California State Spelling Bee was one of the neatest experiences that we have ever had as a family. Z and I decided to make Friday (the day before) a fun and relaxing day. No studying, no preparing, just fun, fun, fun. He deserved it! Z had practiced EVERY day leading up to the spelling bee. He was as ready as he was going to be. :)


So...we drove to his first mommy's house on Friday morning to sing happy birthday and to give her a few gifts. Then we took A and B to my grandparents' home to stay for the weekend. A did not think that he would be able to sit for four hours listening to sixty kids spell words...and I KNEW that B wouldn't be able to sit through it. So, they had a fun weekend with great grandma and grandpa in Chico.


Z and I left town at 9:45 and headed to Vacaville to eat lunch with my dear friend, Jen. We ate at a fun little restaurant and Jen and I sat and caught up with each other. My sweet Z sat SO patiently while we sat and talked. I was blown away at his patience because I knew that he was excited about what was coming next...


SCANDIA!!!!! We drove another 15 minutes to arrive at Scandia a Fun Center in Suisun. We did bumper boats, go carts, and laser tag. Z also enjoyed some arcade games. We both agreed that laser tag was our favorite! I couldn't believe how much exercise it was! We had a blast!


This time when we got into the car, we knew that our destination was Rohnert Park - our hotel and the site of the State Spelling Bee. We arrived at our hotel about an hour and a half later. It was supposed to take 45 minutes, but the traffic was out of this world! I explained to Z that the traffic was one of the reasons that we choose to live in CHICO! :) When we arrived at our hotel, Z's jaw dropped to the floor! It was a very nice place! They gave us each a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie upon our arrival. If you know Z, you know that the way to his heart is through his stomach. He was in heaven. After getting settled into our room, Z and I drove to Sonoma State University to see where the theater was where he would be competing the next day. We picked up some dinner and then went back to the hotel to swim. Z had been looking forward to this all day! He made friends with quite a few fellow competitors. It was fun for me to chat with their parents and to realize that we were all in the same boat. Nerves were high and not knowing what to expect was common. On the way back up to the room Z kept saying, "This was the best day of my life! Thank you, mommy! I have had so much fun!" I was so thrilled that we were able to make a possibly stressful day so enjoyable!


M joined us late that night. Poor guy had to work until 7:30 driving bus and then delivered a safe on the way. He also found that one of the roads that he was supposed to take was closed after 10 pm - although Caltrans did not report it on their 800 number. Bummer! He took a 45 minute detour and finally arrived at 1 am. Needless to say, I did not get a lot of sleep that night. Z slept like a baby fortunately!


The next morning, we arrived at Sonoma State University at 7:30. We ate a continental breakfast, checked in, and waited and waited and waited. :) Ok, it just felt that we waited and waited and waited. I was so nervous for my little guy. M took this picture of us and laughed! He said that it showed perfectly what each of us was feeling right before. Z was goofing around having a good time (he really was) and I was a nervous wreck playing with my fingernails (I really was)! M was a cool cat. He usually is in situations like this. Finally the doors opened at 8:40 and we were blown away by what we saw inside! Unfortunately, my camera did not take great pictures inside. The lighting made everything look red (as you can see from the videos below). They had a cowboy theme. It almost looked as if they opened up a prom decorating catalog and ordered everything. There were horse balloons, a cowboy made out of balloons, a cowboy background, a little campfire that looked as if it were lit, bull horns, etc.... It was amazing! Z loved it!

They introduced all of the kids and began talking statistics. Z was one of only six fourth graders. The superintendent of Sonoma County stated that there are 463,932 fourth graders in California. We only have six of them here! Wow! That was an amazing number! He went on and on congratulating the finalists. He told them that they were already winners no matter what happened at the spelling bee.

Then the spelling bee began. I was so grateful to have my husband sitting next to me. I would have been a nervous wreck without him. I couldn't believe how calm and cool Z looked up there. There were 60 students competing. The nerves were high in the room. Z's first word was cried. He smiled as he spelled it, but first followed his Grandma Goodie's advice and asked for the definition and to hear it in a sentence. He made her proud! Z spelled it with ease as well as his second and third words (variety and disturbance). During the fourth round, Z was given the word perceptible. I wrote it down on my piece of paper p-e-r-c-e-p-t-a-b-l-e. Z asked for the definition, the sentence, wrote the word down on his paper and then spelled it p-e-r-c-e-p-t-a-b-l-e. I almost shouted out loud. Woo Hoo! But to my surprise, he was told that he had spelled it incorrectly. She spelled it for him and informed him that it was i-b-l-e. Z was able to come and sit in the audience with us. He was very disappointed, but handled it so very well. I was so proud of him! At the end, all of the spellers were asked to come back up on the stage for pictures and gifts. Each speller was given a gift bag full of goodies. One of the items was a letter from the governor! Z thought that it was very cool to get a letter from the governor of California! The videos below show Z each time he was given a word. Feel free to watch if you would like!

Exhausted and hungry, we headed out to the parking lot. M looked on his GPS to find the closest Red Robin (my most favorite Redding restaurant). He found one and said that it was on our way home. It would only take about a 1/2 hour. So Z and I munched on some of his trail mix (something that he found in his gift bag). So we drove and we drove (following M with his GPS) until we reached a cute little town. Looking around I could not imagine finding my Red Robin, but M told me that the GPS said that it would be there.

We were looking for this Red Robin...

...but found this one.

So, we ate at a very nice restaurant called Fabrizios. Z was in heaven again. It had white tablecloths, multiple pieces of silverware and delicious food. We felt that this was the perfect place for a celebratory meal. (Even if it wasn't Red Robin.) :)


So, now we are home and so thrilled for the opportunity to have this experience. Z has such fond memories of his time at the State Spelling Bee. His favorite part? "Now I do not have to study anymore!"