WE GOT A STANDING OVATION!!!!!  I am so proud of the team!  I cried through the whole routine.  We took 2 videos, & will try to post something on YouTube soon.  We had a few trials & tribulations before we made it onto the floor.  Erik left his black shirt at the school & had to go back (30 min. at least) & get it.  He ran up the hill on the way back & barely made it in time for the performance.  A few minutes after Erik left, Tonya discovered she left her vest, so Coleen (Danielle’s mom) went back to get it.  Stephanie & Kiki left their skirts in Atlanta.  Luckily Debbie H. anticipated that & brought extras.  Mary B. fell flat on her face on the entrance, but hopped up & kept going.  Jo was afraid of slipping on her back handsprings & danced her socks off during the routine.  None of that mattered when the music started.  The audience was clapping & crying during the whole performance.  Mary Louise, who was the director of the 2007 Gymnaestrada & the 2009 Gym for Life in Austria came to see our show!  I’m really flattered.  The USAGymnastics staff was there to help us get situated & we really appreciated it.

Everything about today has been a huge success.  I’ll give you a few hi-lites, but there’s no way to begin to explain.  First of all, there are people speaking different languages all around.  & people playing drums, & tumbling on the air trak, & singing, & doing cheers.  Most of all, people are trading!  We all left this AM in our navy blue USAG shirts.  At the end of the day, I could hardly recognize my team!  Many are wearing hats & headbands from Brazil, shirts from Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, carrying backpacks from different countries.  You should see all the pins they’ve traded!  As you walk around, you see people taking off their shirts & trading right in public.  There are beautiful fountains in the middle of the Gymnaestrada Ave.  People were playing in the water (because there is a heat wave here).  One team that was not slim & trim, or young & beautiful, stripped to their underwear & went in the fountain.  We are definitely “not in Kansas anymore!”

Let me tell you about the performances we’ve seen.  There are 8 halls with groups performing every 20 minutes from 9:00AM until 6:00PM.  You make friends & go see them perform, talk to people to see which groups are good, or just sit in a hall & watch all the groups.  We did some of each.  The Girls from Malmo (Sweden) are always a favorite & this year they were better than ever.  They juggle – sometimes 5 balls between 2 girls – while they do intricate dance steps & formations.  And they never stop smiling!  Amazing!!!  We went to see a Canadian team.  Kristi, who has done lot of our choreography, performed & she was great!  We saw Birons, from Houston.  The music kept stopping but they didn’t miss a beat.  The last team we saw was Japan.  The performers were older, but did the most beautiful dance in long lavender skirts.  Then, Pink Panther.  We saw many senior citizens tumbling & doing lifts.  There are several disabilities teams here.  Many people have come up & asked us when we are performing because they remember us from 2007!  OK – I have to stop for now.  This could go on all night!

We had tickets to National Evenings tonite.  They are big theater performances & are always wonderful.  Half of us went to Austria & half to Swiss.  From all reports, they were both amazing.  The group I had coming home had to stop by McDonalds.  They have a pastry shop! 

As I write this, I can hear the Gymnaestrada party in the park by the lake outside my window.  This is truly an experience of a lifetime for all of us.  I’ll let your friends & families tell you their thoughts.  I will tell you that I have seen the joy on everybody’s faces all day.  I’m sure they are all smiling (hopefully instead of snoring) in their sleep!