you win some, you lose some

the bean's other team was in the afternoon/evening session of competition.  after team trust's triumphant win, she and her team headed back up to the coach's suite to have some bonding time while the hub, MIL and i decided to go back out to the strip.  they weren't scheduled to hit the mats until about 8:45, which gave us an ample amount of time to get ourselves into some trouble.

we decided to head over to the fashion show mall, where the hub could relax a bit at the cigar bar while MIL and i browsed through the shops and looked at a bunch of pricey designer stuff.  well, she was more focused on getting some steps in while i gazed longingly at the displays of red bottomed shoes and quilted handbags with chain straps and fabulous costume jewelry.  heh.  and when we'd finished walking every inch of the mall, we joined the hub in the lounge and chatted for awhile about all sorts of stuff before going out to walk the strip.

we ended up across the street at the wynn hotel.  they have lots of beautiful, colorful floral displays up that were fun to look at (along with the hordes of folks trying to get selfies for the 'gram).

hi, chanel store!  when i hit the lottery i'll come back and buy lots of things from you!

the hub managed to get MIL to sit down at one of the wheel of fortune machines to try her luck at the slots.  from what i could tell, she'd never done any sort of gambling before, so when she got to hit the "spin" button a couple of times it was fun to watch her reactions to it all.  she ended up ahead by almost $250, and she was a happy camper.

when we got back to the orleans arena, we snagged some pretty sweet seats thanks to one of my cheer mom friends.  we sat there for awhile watching other teams perform their hearts out, and then we scampered back down to the VIP area when team "believe" took the stage.

they absolutely nailed their routine.  you'd never know they'd been struggling during practice over the last couple of weeks.

when they were done, the hub and i went down onto the floor seats to sit with our cheer BFFs and the coaches.  it was funny to watch the hub bonding with the dads, laughing and dancing and joking around, and everyone was having fun and excited for the awards ceremony to begin.

unfortunately, when our division was called we learned that believe, our defending champions, had somehow been scored really low and took third place.  i know you can't win 'em all, but honestly, as the announcement was made we all stood there in a state of shock.  they'd nailed their routine and had had zero deductions from their score, and along with a couple of other parents and coaches from other teams we thought they would place higher than that.  it was a blow to all of us, but we tried our hardest to remind the girls that they'd performed their hearts out, killed their routine, did everything they were supposed to and that we were extremely proud of them no matter what.  the bean took it all in stride, just happy to have it all done, and still nursing her lip that seemed to be swelling up before our very eyes.  she hugged her coaches and her teammates and then we made our way upstairs to get her out of her uniform and headpiece and unwind from the long day.

in the end, it was one hell of a weekend for one dream cheer.  out of their five teams, three took home national championship jackets and the other two placed in the top 3 of their divisions.  i'd say that's pretty damn good, and now we're back home and focusing on taking their routines up another notch for our last competition of the season.  state championships are in two weeks, and everyone's ready to give it their all one more time and see if they can earn championship rings.

look out, bakersfield.  we're coming for ya.