The OU men's gymnastics team volunteers regularly at Gray's elementary school and he's gotten to know several of the student athletes over the past two years.
They are assigned to various classrooms and also help in the gym. To kick off their new season, the team held an assembly and performed various acrobatic feats two Fridays ago. They also selected a couple of kids from the audience to do jumps and flips over.
Gray was one of the lucky kids who was picked out of the crowd and has not stopped telling everyone he knows about the experience. He also kept telling us that "Mr. Mike" (one of the gymnasts) had chosen him because they are best friends.
We looked up the team roster to see which one was Mr. Mike and to our surprise learned that he's the national champion in rings. Pretty impressive! The entire OU men's team is amazing (men and women are currently ranked #1) and we've enjoyed going to see their meets in years past.
After seeing how excited Gray was about the team, we took him to their opening meet this past Saturday. He wanted to make Mr. Mike a sign to wish him luck. So sweet!
Watercolors were the medium of choice
This says Good Luck Mr. Mike (in case you can't quite make out the last line)
He held his sign up proudly and cheered on all of the guys
When it was time for the rings rotation, daddy took Gray over closer to check out the action. To Gray's delight, Mr. Mike saw him before his rings routine and waved up to him in the stands.
Here's Mr. Mike in action
He made it all look easy, and I know this is far from easy
Afterward, the team came out to the lobby to sign posters and various autographs. We waited in line so Gray could talk to Mr. Mike and he decided he wanted to give him the sign. Mr. Mike told Gray he would hang it up in his room and, I must say, he looked genuinely touched by the gesture.
The whole experience left Gray so happy and made me also truly appreciate the OU team and the wonderful example they set for local kids. In a day where kids' role models are often made up of pop singers wearing baggy pants and gold chains (for the boys) and barely nothing (for the girls), I'm loving the fact that Gray looks up to someone with character and a strong work ethic.
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