Celebrating with Nastia!

We did something on Saturday that we had never done before -- attended the celebration and homecoming of an Olympic gold medalist! "Supergirl" and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Nastia Liukin returned home to Parker, Texas (home of Southfork Ranch, only miles from our house in Frisco) and there was a hometown parade to congratulate her and celebrate her impressive accomplishments at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

We had never seen the Olympic rings displayed quite this way! Very creative.

Also in the parade was 2004 Olympic gold medalist Carly Patterson who trains here in the same facility with Nastia (see our previous WOGA post). Carly had her medals on which was cool!

Ainsley got a special card with Nastia's printed signature.

Ainsley also enjoyed waving her American flag.

This is when Nastia first looks at Ainsley.

Below is a video of Nastia waving and smiling at Ainsley! Mark yells to Nastia that, "she loved watching you" referring to Ainsley watching her in the Olympics, and Nastia says, "thank you" and gives Ainsley a special wave and smile. Nastia is Ainsley's favorite "flippy girl" which is her special name for Olympic gymnasts. Also in the video, you can see Nastia's dad, 1988 Olympic gold medalist Valeri Liukin in the passenger's seat, smile at Ainsley. Yay!

We had a fun time as a family!