Freejourners

Going to the International Childrens Games

This year I got the super cool opportunity to go to the International Children’s Games in Lake Placid with Team Summit representing the town of Frisco.

In the fall I wrote an essay to apply, and after they reviewed that and my past results, I got in! I was super excited because a lot of my friends would be going, too. Before we went, we had a day where we went on television, and I and my two other friends were the main speakers. When I wrote my essay, I didn’t expect that the event would be so big!

At the beginning of January, we were off! In the evening we got on a shuttle to a hotel in Denver, and the next morning we caught our flight very early in the morning. It was a long flight, and then we had to drive another couple hours to get to Lake Placid. When we got there, there was a little party with ice cream and pin trading.

The next day we went to the mountain and started practicing on the Slopestyle and BoarderX course. I was originally just going for BoarderX, but sadly as there were not as many girls as expected, I ended up competing in both Slopestyle and BoarderX. I remember being absolutely freezing that first day! That night was opening ceremonies. Opening ceremonies was super cool! We walked in with a flag with Team Frisco on it. There were flashing lights and lots of people in the audience. It was so cool to be on the same ice rink that “The Miracle on Ice” took place.

The following day was the first competition day, Slopestyle. It was freezing again that day, but I was really excited to compete. Qualifiers were first, but since we didn’t have many girls, we knew that all of us had already qualified for finals. After qualifiers, I was in fourth. We moved on to finals and did our first runs, I was in second after the first run and that is where I stayed. It was super cool because I got to be on the podium with my two good friends!

It was time for our final event which was BoarderX. I was first in time trials and then moved on to my next race. In my first race, I had a bad start because they had “ancient” wooden gates, and so I got second, but in my second race which was finals, I fixed my start and was able to win. I was so stoked, and I even got a little teddy bear for winning!

Overall Lake Placid was one of the most fun trips I have ever been on, and I am so hyped that I was able to go! I was so grateful to Team Summit, Rodney Robinson, and the Town of Frisco for giving us this opportunity. I will have those memories forever, and I even was able to make some new friends.

One of the highlights that I will always think of when I think of Lake Placid was the pin trading. We had our own pins from Frisco, and you got to trade your pins with different people from around the world. I have all of my pins on a hat from Lake Placid so that I can always remember them.

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May 30, 2019 0

2nd Place at USASA Nationals

This year I really wanted to focus on BoarderX more so that I could do my very best at nationals. Last year I hadn’t focused enough and sadly I got out on my 2nd round which was very sad.

At Nationals this year, I had done okay in halfpipe and slope style the days before, but my main goal was to podium in BoarderX. I had bought a special Donek race board earlier this year, and I was super excited to see if it would make a difference in my racing. I was the only girl in my age group on Team Summit who did BoarderX, so it was just me and my coach. In the beginning of the day I practiced the course, and it was super crowded so I didn’t get that much practice. I had the start pretty much down, though, and I felt pretty confident.

About an hour later it was time for time trials. I felt pretty good on my time trials and went up to the board to see my time, I waited there until all the girls had gone and figured out I had the 3rd fastest time! I was super happy about this.

Since we had a while until I started racing, my parents and I went down to eat lunch. I was so nervous and excited to see what the day held.

A couple hours later I was back at the top to start racing! My first heat I was in front, but I messed up on a turn and fell over. Luckily, I had a big enough lead, so I still came out in first. I went back up and waited for my next race.

On my second race I was in first, but then I messed up in the same turn again! The girl behind me passed me, but I caught her on the next turn and was able to pass her.

I went back up and prepared for my third race, semifinals. I knew that if I messed up in that same turn again that I probably wouldn’t make it to finals, so I made sure I knew what I was going to do on the turn so that I wouldn’t fall. I was super nervous for semi-finals because I had never made it past this round before. I was racing against another girl who was super fast too, I went into the first turn pretty close with the other girl but still in front, and then the other girl fell. I won that race and hurried back up for finals!!

I had never made it this far and was super excited. I was feeling pretty good and was ready to do my last race. I pulled out, and I was in first until the first turn where a girl passed me. I always raced against this girl, and she always beat me 😦 throughout the rest of the race I stayed in second and she stayed in first. The other girls in the race had fallen at the start.

At the finish I was SOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY!!! That day I went home super stoked. I’m so grateful for my coaches, my parents, and Gabe who missed school just to come watch me race.

May 22, 2019 1

Why My Dad’s Better Than Yours ;)

My dad loves to be in the outdoors and has taken us out there since we were very little.
My dad got me a debit card when I was just 7 years old.
My dad will bust on all of my friends when they come over to make them laugh.
My dad takes care of me when I am hurt, like when I broke my arm this year.
My dad gives us amazing life talks all the time.
My dad is absolutely hilarious.
My dad teaches us games like slap box, which if you didn’t know is a game where you try and slap the other person’s face and block your own.
My dad tries to say yes to most things we ask for. We get to compete in snowboarding because of him.
My dad doesn’t accept brattiness, whininess, or laziness.
My dad is the most amazing dad in the world.

“My dad gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” – unknown

Happy Father’s Day, Dad! I love you!!!

June 17, 2018 1

Our Trip – Oral Story

Almost 5 years ago, my dad told us that we had one month to sell everything we had, leave our home, and travel around the western United States.

I was seven at the time and didn’t totally know what was going on. But I didn’t want to leave because I didn’t want to leave my friends and my things and my home where I’d grown up. We had a fun going away party from all our friends who were sad to see us go. I cried when we drove away from our neighborhood, as I realized we were actually leaving.

My parents told us we could take one bag with our clothes and favorite things. I think I had more than one bag, though, but all of our stuff ended up fitting in our car. We stayed in hotels, a few houses, a yurt, and couple campsites.

We visited National Parks all around the Western US. And at each one we would go on a hike and explore different trails. And of course, my mom had to take lots of pictures, because that’s what she does.

Since we didn’t stay in places for a long time, we didn’t have enough time to really get to know friends too well, so we usually just hung out with each other. We had a lot of fun together as a family. We would take hikes in the dark with our flashlights, eat great food, and learned to snowboard together. I realized that you don’t really need a lot of stuff to be happy. We made so many memories with just each other exploring the outdoors

We got to visit around 38 National Parks. My favorite national park was Glacier. We went paddleboarding on lake McDonald and it was beautiful, you could see all the way down because the water was so clear. I also loved sleeping in the yurt – it was one of the highlights of Glacier.

Since I was homeschooled, we went to a bunch of different places to do our schoolwork. We would sometimes read and work in the car, at a coffee shop, or out in nature. We listened to a lot of Audio books together and learned about all the places we visited.

Although I was sad to leave my home at the time, I am now so happy that I left Austin. I would have never imagined that I would be living in the mountains, snowboarding, and going to school here. So I’m so glad that my dad made that decision.

April 19, 2018 3

I Love Snowboarding

jadyn snowboarding

This was a poem I wrote in school this week:

I love you, oh, Snowboarding,

I love how you’re fun.

You make my day brighter

when I ‘m riding in sun.

I go off of jumps and hit some tree stumps.

But whenever I’m gliding, I’m smiling.

Laughing with friends as I go around bends

Falling in snow always makes my face glow.

I jump onto rails, but I usually fail.

I love learning new tricks, while hanging with my favorite chics.

Boarding down hills while I get the chills.

Oh, Snowboarding, oh how I love you.

April 17, 2018 0

Fourth of July in D.C.

On the Fourth of July we got to be in D.C, which was super cool!

We walked around DC and in a few museums, but our feet got super tired , so we decided to rent bikes. Riding bikes on the Fourth of July was amazing because all of the streets were closed off, so we could ride anywhere.

On the bikes we went to see the Lincoln Memorial which was awesome, and the Jefferson Memorial which I liked. They had ink and a quill there so you could try and write. It felt really cool!

And then lastly we saw the Washington Memorial. We took a picture in front of it, then went to where the fireworks would be to get a spot. The fireworks were right in front of the Washington Memorial which gave it a cool effect! The fireworks were so pretty – my favorite one was this big bright sparkly spray!

July 31, 2017 0

Maroon Bells and Hanging Lake Hikes

On Mother’s Day morning, my mom and I woke up earlier than the rest of my family so we could go to Maroon Bells in Aspen and be back for Isaac’s Lacrosse game. Maroon Bells was very pretty, I loved the red rocks around it and the mountains behind it. It made a very pretty picture! But it was also very windy, so we didn’t really hike. We just walked out to the water, took lots of pictures, and came back to the car because I was freezing. Then we drove back and went to Isaac’s lacrosse game.

After Isaac’s lacrosse game ( by the way they won!) My family and I went on a hike to Hanging lake when we were driving home on Mothers Day. It was a very beautiful hike and a lot of fun. There was a lot of water all along the hike because of snowmelt. It was about 2.5 miles round trip but it sort of felt like longer. There were lots of bridges throughout the hike, and the water was so pretty. Towards the top of the hike it got very steep and very high up.

Then we finally reached Hanging Lake. There was also a huge, beautiful waterfall that was falling into the lake. I took some pictures of a cute little chipmunk! When we were coming back down, Gabe and I ran and arrived there before my parents and Isaac so we Penny boarded around the parking lot while we waited. It was a lot of fun!

May 17, 2017 1

Rocky Mountain National Park- Sky Pond

Last Saturday I went to Rocky Mountain National Park with Gabe, dad, and mom.

It was like three hours out there, but I listened to Percy Jackson, so it passed quickly.

The hike was really pretty and fun. It was 9.00 miles round trip though, so it got a little tiring.

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The first thing we saw was a waterfall! It was big and really pretty.

Then we hiked for a while until we reached a lake called Loch – it was my favorite especially on the way back since it was around dusk. It looked like glass.

Then we hiked a while more till we reached a waterfall that was really cool. It wasn’t as big as the other one, but I think that it was prettier.

Then we hiked a little bit up and saw Lake Of Glass. Honestly, I didn’t think it looked like glass, but that was probably just because of the clouds in the sky.

The last lake we saw was Sky Pond. It was really pretty. It reminded me of the Sierra Nevada’s.

On our way back it started to get dark, but it was ok because you could still see a little, and we had a couple flashlights.

For dinner we went to a Korean restaurant – it was so good!! Gabe and I got bulgogi sliders. They were the best sliders I have ever had.

Then we drove home and got back around 1:00 in the morning. But I had a great time and wonderful memories!

October 4, 2016 0

Kirk, the Koala

kirk-the-koala

This is another story I wrote for my freewrite time for my writing class today:

Once upon a time, there lived a koala and his name was Kirk. Kirk wasn’t like every koala for her lived in a picture, and in his picture there was bamboo that never ran out and the sky was always blue. But one day he got bored with the always blue sky and the bamboo that never ran out. He wanted something more. He wanted adventure.

So he decided to try and find a way to get out of his picture. He searched everywhere for a way to get out but with no luck. He became abashed so he decided to take anap. When he awoke he decided to try one more time to try and leave his picture and this time he found a doorway.

He immediately crawled through the doorway. Once he was out he looked around.

He saw a nice looking kitche. Then he saw an open door leading to sunlight and he had a feeling that that was the right way to go. And then he was free.

He looked around him. He saw dark green trees. He saw beautiful flowers that gave off a wonderful aroma, and the best of all, he saw a beautiful lake that looked like glass. he smiled.

This is what he had wanted. Its everything he had imagined. Kirk crawled all about him loving every single thing he sae about him. And then he decided he needed some friends to keep him company. He looked everywhere. He found bugs and birds but nobody who seemed like the right friend.

And then he saw it. He opened his eyes big. It was another koala his age too.

He quickly crawled over to her. She smiled at him.

Hi she said. My name is Kira.

Hi, Kirk said. My name is Kirk.

Where did you come from? he asked.

I came from a picture. Where did you come from?

I came from a picture too, Kirk said.

They both smiled, and they played all day til they were best friends, and then Kirk said, will you come live with me in my picture?

Kira said happily, “yes, I would love to. I get so lonesome in my picture.”

So they both lived in Kirk’s picture and lived happily every after.

The End

September 8, 2016 0

Jadyn Dalrymple

Snowboarder, Hiker, Traveler, Story Teller

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