Just wanted to post about the Gymnastics Tour of Superstars. It was FANTASTIC! We had a group from our gym go, so we bought group tickets which allowed us in early for Chalk Talk. We were under the impression from the paperwork that it would be limited to a couple of hundred people, but it turned out to be many more. Nastia, Shawn, Kevin Tan, and Sasha Artemev were the speakers. They talked about the tour and life on the road, as well as what the Olympics were like, then they answered some questions. After that we moved out to our regular seats and waited for the show to start.
The show was very good. The men, I think, really stole the show. As much as all of our girls loved seeing Shawn and Nastia, the men were much more entertaining. Shannon Miller is still amazing after all of these years, and the rhythmic gymnasts were very impressive.
After the show, there were 6 of us (3 moms and 3 girls) walking around. We had a couple of girls who really wanted an autograph. They were hoping for Shawn, but would have been happy with anyone. We found the buses, but we were up in a parking lot that looked 20 feet down on them and we weren't allowed near the railing. After about 15 minutes or so of standing there, we realized that we could go around (a good ways around) and some of the gymnasts would come out to the road and sign autographs. We RAN down there just in time to miss Shawn and Jonathan Horton. The girls were devastated. Well, thanks to the running, I had an asthma attack. Of course the guest services guy was a jerk, which is a long story that I won't get into, but it is relevant in a minute.
When we walked back up to the parking lot overlooking the buses, I found out that the jerk's boss was nearby and went to complain. At this point the others were allowed over to the railing. After I complained I walked up to the rest of my party just in time to see Shawn Johnson walk off of her bus which was just under the railing. She very graciously agreed to give autographs if we threw things down and she threw them back up to us. So, if I hadn't had to complain, we would have missed her.
After an hour of waiting, walking, etc. the girls were ECSTATIC!!!!!!!!!!!!
And let me say that Shawn Johnson is an absolute sweetheart. She answered a couple of questions and truly made an impression on the girls and this mom.
As for the show, if you have a chance to go, please do. It was very good and of course much of the music if from the Radio Disney album Girls Rock.
That's so awesome. What an anniversary and a great comeback.
