1,700+ Gymnasts in the House

Or in this case, Fifth Third Field, home of the Toledo MudHens baseball team!

This post will feature Day 1 of our awesome trip to the YMCA National Gymnastics Meet in Ohio last week where Miss O and seven of her Flyers teammates "Rocked the Gym!"

After about five hours in the car, with just one brief pit stop, we arrived in Toledo just in time to check-in at our hotel, pick-up our meet passes and tickets, eat a quick bite (in the car), and head on over to the line-up for the opening ceremonies.

Here are three highlights from the opening day festivities:

1. The venue: Fifth Third Field. It's located right in the heart of downtown Toledo. The atmosphere was fun and festive with a steel band and the MudHen mascots entertaining the crowd before the spectator gates opened up.

2. The gymnasts: Aside from a torrential downpour during the middle of the march-in, it was awesome to see Miss O, her teammates, and nearly 2,000 gymnasts from 18 states parade into the stadium Olympic-style. (Please excuse the choppy video, and note how Miss O doesn't even notice that we are cheering for her - typical tween!)



3. An inspirational Olympian: 1984 Gold Medal gymnast Peter Vidmar gave an excellent key note address filled with enthusiasm, motivation, and appreciation. One of my favorite parts is when he asked the gymnasts to stand up and applaud their parents because "Mom could be doing something else" instead of driving you to practice.

Afterwards, Peter signed autographs and took photos with the gymnasts including Miss O. Awesome - especially to us as parents who strive to find good role models for our kids.



Three good things from one great day! More highlights of our road trip to come. Stay tuned.