The Speller family headed to Chicago this past weekend for the IGI (Illinois Gymnastics Institute) Chicago Style meet...the largest meet in the WORLD! Over 4000 gymnasts from all across the US and beyond - there were teams from New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Bermuda.
On Friday, we took the train from St. Louis to Chicago (yes...the kids missed school). Some of Anna's teammates were on the train also, so Anna was a very happy girl! We met up with Nan, who flew in from Nashville, headed to lunch and then...drumroll please...the American Girl store. Anna bought a new doll and we walked and shopped along Michigan Avenue while Andy went to meet up with a friend. Once Andy got back, we headed out, on a VERY cold evening I might add, to Gino's East for pizza. It was a fun restaurant with graffiti all over the walls...the pizza was pretty good too.
Saturday morning, we headed out to the Museum of Science and Industry. We took a tour of a German U-Boat from WW2, got to learn about the circus and watch how tornadoes form. I thought it was pretty cool. Then it was back to the hotel to rest before getting ready to compete.
After getting showered, dressed and hair done...we headed to Navy Pier for the meet. The scale of this meet is more than I've ever seen. They had 6 or 7 gyms lined up along a huge convention center, with 6 or 7 different levels running at the same time. It was loud and crazy and fun. This is also different in that they only break into 3 age groups per session, so Anna's was broken up as 9 & under, 10, and 11 & over. There were around 39 gymnasts in the 9 & under group and they award to 1/2, so needless to say, the awards ceremony was going to be long.
For the gymnastics enthusiasts out there, Valeri Liukin (father and coach of Olympic Champion Nastia Liukin) was there with his Elite team from Plano, TX. Other Olympians were there and spoke to the girls.
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| 16th - Vault |
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| 13th - Bars |
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| 3rd - Beam |
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| 10th - Floor |
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| 11th All Around |
Though Anna's scores were not all as high as they have been, she still had a great meet and finished 11th over all in her age group. After the meet, we tried to get some Jimmy John's, but it was closed, so we got food at the hotel and hung out with teammates in the lobby for a little while before heading off to bed.
Sunday morning, we got up early and headed to Union Station to make our way back to St. Louis. The train ride home was even more fun because there were about 20 Team Central gymnasts aboard. Jake even had fun playing cards with all the girls. I had fun because I had lots of moms to talk to while Andy chilled out. We all had a great time!
