Where to begin????  It's been a busy couple of days since my last entry.  Yesterday was trainng day.  In the morning, Chris had a training session with the Greek artistic judges to explain about judging Special Olympics.  Team Georgia got up at the crack of dawn & came to help out.  Chris had the girls demo vault first.  We did everything we could think of to trick the judges - doing the vaults out of order, stopping before the spring board, vaulting without a coach in spotting position.  No matter what we did, the judges caught on.  It was great fun & the girls were amazing.  There were 2 young Greek boys also. They were really cute!  After vault, Karen did bars, and Lani & Dana did beam.  The session was held at the National Gymnastics Training Center, so there were quite a few high level Greek gymnasts working out.  One in particular looked like a Greek god!  Turns out, he had 16 years of classical ballet training.  You should see the pictures we took with him!  We also took pictures with the 1996 Olympic floor exercise champion, but I have no idea how to spell his name.

After Chris finished her session (which was really well received), we went over to the competition venue.  The girls sacked out on the warm-up carpet & took a nap before lunch.  The venue team brought in Caesar salads.  YUM!  The rest of the gymnasts arrived soon for training.  I had a judges workshop for the rhythmic judges (about 6 of them are FIG international judges). Our venue director brought Paulette into the meeting & introduced her as a technical official. I was very proud!  Paulette meausred everybody's equipment & only found 1 problem to be corrected before competition.  The training went great!  Team Georgia was awesome.  The girls were so professional - walking into the huge arena & doing their routines without a problem.  The coaches meeting was after training.  I volunteered Ana & Joey to help the other teams with hair & make-up.  We taped everybody's fish hooks.  Dana told the coaches about her routine in Texas when the ribbon came off the stick.  In general, all the teams were well prepared & ready for competition.

Last night, Chris & I went to a dinner sponsored by the GOC - a lovely garden party.  It was lots of fun.  The rest of the troops went to an Italian restaurant near the hotel.  Ana had the girls fed & in bed early because the wake-up call was coming way too soon.

Competition day at last!  The girls woke up about 5:30 & were on the bus at 6:15, when it was scheduled to depart.  They sat there for 45 minutes before it left.  As you can imagine - Ana was not happy.  We'll see what happens tomorrow!  Competition was spectacular!  The Greek venue team is so well organized that I feel like I'm on vacation.  The judges were right on with all their scores.  We finished each session a little early.  Life is good at rhythmic gymnastics!  The girls performed their routines well.  A few drops and forgotten steps, but they were all with the music, looked beautiful in their new leos, & got lots of cheers from the audience.  Lani's ball routine was spectacular.  Elena did her new clubs routine like a champ & came off the floor with a huge smile. Karen finished all her routines with the music.  Dana performed with her usual gusto & personality.  Way to go Team Georgia!!!  Tomorrow, we have finals & awards.  Wish us luck!

Ana is planning an easy night for the girls - a nap, dinner, & a walk on the beach.  Hard life they live while they're in training, huh?  Our venue director, Eleni, is having the rest of us over for dinner - traditional Greek seafood dishes on her balcony overlooking the sea.  As I said before - life is good.

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day!  More tomorrow.  I promise to give you the details on awards as soon as possible.