The VERY Windy City

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.

16th - Vault

13th - Bars

3rd - Beam

10th - Floor

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!

Gateway Challenge

Another exciting day for Team Central Level 5!  Anna had a great meet (and even got to miss a half day of school).  Anna got her highest bar score of the season, which earned her a 1st place on bars...she was very excited.  She is now 4/5 of the way to meeting her goal - to get 1st place on every event including All Around...knowing her determination, she'll get there!

Jake was bummed that he couldn't skip school to come, but was VERY proud of his sister when he saw her after the meet.

Pep Talk from Troy

4th Place - Vault

1st Place - Bars

6th Place - Beam

6th Place - Floor

4th Place - All Around

Circle of Stars - Indianapolis 2011

Who knew that 24 hours in Indy could pack such a punch?  We drove to Indy for a gymnastics meet - our first REAL out of town meet.  Grammie and Pop Pop followed not too far behind.  We arrived and Anna and I went to watch the Level 6s compete.  Andy and Jake stayed back at the hotel with Grammie and Pop Pop figuring out where 20+ of us were going to eat dinner.  After watching the 6s for a while, we headed over to Champp's in the Circle Centre Mall.

Back at the hotel, we all chilled out and went to bed...knowing that we had to be up bright and early (and after losing an hour, it would feel REALLY early)!  Anna and I got up, got her hair done, ate breakfast, and left the hotel with the fabulous Muller family to head over to the meet.

Our girls had a good, if not sometimes rough, meet.  Anna placed on all four events - 8th on vault, 5th on bars, 1st on beam and 5th on floor - 3rd All Around!  Wow!  She did a great job...even got a 9.575 (her highest score ever) on beam.  Jake helped me keep track of the girls' scores and even cheered on his sister in between listening to his iPod and playing games.

After awards, we left Indy and met up with the Helms' for lunch at IHOP in Terre Haute and then home to do lots of laundry and get ready for another week. 

Anna and Andy at Cracker Barrell

Jake (and Zach Bernstein) waiting for dinner

Jake's Favorite Meal - Pancakes!

St. Louis Gym Centre "Meet Me In St. Louis"

Team Central Level 5 had another amazing meet this weekend!  After a relatively long wait, the meet got started.  We started on bars...Anna got a 9.15, then beam...Anna got 9.1, then floor...Anna got 9.2 and lastly vault...Anna got 8.95.  Her all-around was 36.4.

Happy Anniversary!

Beam Warm-Up

We love Jane and Megan!

Awards were exciting...Anna got 4th on vault, 5th on bars and beam, and 1st on floor...3rd all-around.  She was a very happy girl (and I was a pretty ecstatic mommy)!  All together, we had 2 all-around champions (Ella Cat - 11 year olds and Rebecca - 8 year olds) and 8 individual event champions.  Then Team Central Level 5 walked away with the 2nd place team trophy!  WOW!  Now I'm exhausted, and all I did was sit and cheer!

Way to go Team Central!