She loved watching the Olympics, and knew most of the team. She, of course, loves Nastia Lukin and Shawn Johnson. When she heard at her gym that they were coming to town with the Tour of Gymnastics Superstars, she was beside herself with excitement.
Because we got the tickets through her gym, we were invited to go early for a special pre-event Q&A with Shawn Johnson and Paul Hamm. They talked for a little bit and then took questions from the audience. The questions were great - what is your worst event? What do you eat? Have you ever wanted to quit? I was especially impressed with Shawn Johnson just because she is so young. She was very poised, and obviously driven and passionate about gymnastics, but she also came across as very "normal."
Here are Punkin and Neighbor Girl waiting for it to start:
Shawn Johnson taking pictures with some people who were out on the floor:
Shawn Johnson taking pictures with some people who were out on the floor:
Getting ready to begin:
Here we are:
My pictures of the event were horrible since I was not allowed to use my flash, but I wish some had turned out. The rhythmic gymnasts and the men did some stunts where they hung onto fabric or rings and flew through the air. It was amazing.In case you are considering going when it comes to your area, I have a few additional comments. It was much louder than I anticipated and we wished for earplugs. One of the musical acts was... tedious to sit through to be honest. If gymnastics is the reason you would like to go, the 2nd half was much better than the 1st. I was also a bit taken aback at the sexiness of the program. I'm not sure how to describe this. When I watch gymnastics on TV, it seems athletic to me, even though they are wearing the little outfits. At this show, the mood of the costumes and some of the routines was different, and since she idolizes these girls so much, I was a touch uncomfortable with my 7 year old watching at times.
But, I am still really glad that we went. We had a great time!
10 comments:
Grrr. Why do they ALWAYS sexualize this stuff? It drives me crazy. Glad you had a good time, but I agree with you. It is frustrating when we take our little girls to something we expect to be wholesome and then it is not.
Sounds like fun. I love the athletic part of gymnastics. I too would have been disappointed by the 'sexiness'. Thanks for the heads up. I have a little girl that very much imitates all that she sees. We'd spend the next month de-programming.
i took my daughters to a disney on ice performance once, and it was such an amazing experience with them. stuff like that is priceless!
OH how fun! Shame they had to "sexualize" it. How frustrating. I hope you all enjoyed the athletics! i love gymnastics!
So fun!! It stinks that they feel the need to 'sexify' everything!
Have a blessed day!
Love your blog!! We never get cool shows here in MS. I'll just have to enjoy through your blog.
I still can't get over the fact that you're 6 feet tall.
:-O
I started gymnastics when I was 8 years old, I think. I had aspirations of becoming a great gymnast, too. Then I "shot up" to
5'2" when I was 12. That, and the fact that I was afraid of heights -- on the balance beam, no less -- killed my career.
You're laughing, aren't you. It's OK. So am I. LOL.
:-D
What a fun time for your daughter and her friend!
Regarding the sexiness, I know just what you mean. I took Autumn to see the Nutcracker when she turned 8. I was very uncomfortable sitting there with her. It was the first ballet I had been to, and was totally unaware of the amount of touching between the dancers, and they way that the men lifted the women, practically cupping their breasts while doing so...
We had a long talk about things all the way home. I think that sometimes we need to realize that just because something is deemed classic doesn't mean that it's good.
come back and check out the hint!! :D
Heather.
ps...
looks like you punkin had fun!
oops--*your* punkin had fun...
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