The World According To...: June 2008

Nothing like a team gathering...

Look at what is in our bags!

Check out the fancy flip flops!!!

Everyone's just chillin'

1-2-3 Go Licking County!!!!!

Almost time!

It was almost time for the event to begin!
But, where was Jane?

Megan was worried...

Maybe she is over there??

Eventually, Jane found her way to the team and everyone got in the spirit!

A good leader is always part of the fun!

Cooler by the Lake...

At a gymnastics meet, there is always a "march-in" of all the gymnasts.
They had established a theme for the Nationals of "It's cooler by the lake."
As always, there are creative approaches!

This group below, the winners, spelled on the theme on little white styrofoam coolers.
What could be cooler??

There were 28 teams from Ohio alone!

Here come the cool chicks from Licking County YMCA!

Can you guess who this cool chick is?

Ever wonder what 1400 gymnasts on a field looks like?

One of our parents, Kellie, takes pictures of the mass gathering.

The different branches of the military, along with the local police department, literally joined forces to roll out a giant flag for our National Anthem.

1400 gymnasts, 21 states, the largest Nationals competition ever...
THIS is what the group looked like from the bleachers!

A surprise keynote speaker

A series of Harley bikes showed up on the track, and there was a huge level of excitement!
The keynote speaker had arrived, on the back of a Harley!

Chellsie Memmel, Wisconsin's own Olympic gymnast, had arrived to pep up the girls!
She did a great job and then signed autographs.
You can imagine 1400 gymnasts all clawing to get to the front of THAT line. 2 hours later, one of our gymnasts received an autograph, but the rest of the girls had moved on to the next event...

NOW it was time for some fun!

The HOT day was perfect for a little summer fun!
Over in the backyard of the school they had set up an entire carnival for the gymnasts to enjoy.
There were slides...rides...a climbing wall, games, and food.
The girls made a bee-line to the first slide that didn't have a long line...

There were people everywhere!

But soon it was Megan's turn...

We hung out as a team for the afternoon

In case you can't read it - the kids and the parents t-shirts say:

"Courage, Sacrifice, Determination, Committment, Toughness, Heart, Talent, Guts....
THAT'S what LICKING COUNTY girls are made of."

Parents and kids hung out waiting for rides, snacks, and fun!

And there were some cool things worth waiting for!

What a way to end the day!!!

The carnival was a lot of fun and perfect for the 1400 gymnasts in attendance.
What better way to wrap up the day before a tough competition?

There was time to hang with your buddies and teammates...

A little Taylor Swift karaoke...

Some really tough but fun games...

And in the end...some fun prizes to hug and take home!!!

A little sightseeing on the shore of Sheboygan

Yeah, say that one 3 times fast!

We had a little time to kill before the BIG opening ceremony.
So, we decided to see what we could see on the shore of Sheboygan.
This was about 5 miles from our hotel or so.

Even though it was a hot and humid day, right next to the lake it was chilly and the wind was whipping up the waves, along with a light fog lifting off of the water.

We did a few jumping jacks and speed walking to stay in shape and stay warm.

Megan wasn't so sure about walking down to the lookout area.

But what a pretty sight, with the fog lifting off the lake.
(Pat and Bill, this one is for you!)

Megan had faced her fear of "walking out into the middle of the lake", and here she is to prove it!

Here is Megan with her coach (and our new roommate!) Jane.

A strange series of events

...lands us in this hotel, the Comfort Inn in Sheboygan, WI.

We had stopped in Chicago and had lunch with Tom and got to see their new headquarters in Elmhurst.
Fantastic new office building, by the way, and one I FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES OF!!!
I was so caught up in catching up with everyone.
PLUS, we had gotten caught in an accident and construction everywhere.
We arrived in Chicago about 1:00 (Chicago time).

After our visit, we went to pick up Megan's coach (Jane). She had called needing a ride.
She had been visiting with family and had been driven there by her husband, who had since left. Another gymnastics parent was to pick her up on their way, but some sad events had occurred and she had to bring along some of the team unexpectedly, and didn't have room!
Thankfully, Jane had called us in time and we were able to pick her up!

To make things simple, she decided we should just share a room. I cancelled both of my other reservations, and we landed at the Comfort Inn that she had booked for the evening.

The drive was mostly uneventful...just LONG!
This really is a beautiful area of the midwest. There is a sort of calm serenity to it, a sense of contentedness.

Tuesday morning sleepy heads

The time had come for us to make our way to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, for the Gymnastics Nationals!
I had set a departure time of 6:00 am, bright and early.
I wanted to be in Chicago by 11:30 (don't forget the hour difference!) to see my buddy Tom and their new offices.
Off we went!
Well, at 6:30 am. Not bad, not bad...

I packed up Baby and got her ready to go for a long drive.

This sleepyhead didn't even get dressed. Into the car with her pillow and she was good to go!

Welcome Baby Theo!!!

My friend Melissa is expecting her 2nd child - Baby Theo!

So, of course a party was in order. We had to celebrate this new little life on the way, due in July.

And what a party it was! We almost had to bless the loaves and fish, but as always, God provides.
It's a good thing - I have never had that large of an event in my house!

So thanks to Melissa's friends and family, Baby Theo is going to be well dressed and have a room of his own, decked out in Vintage Mickey.
We can't wait to meet him!

There were so many guests...

I couldn't believe they all found a place to sit in the living room. I think there were 24 people in there!
All I know is that I had to dismiss them in groups to eat lunch! :)