Auntie Wheel

 

This beautiful young woman goes by Jodie, Aunt Jodie to me. To my surprise she was actually pretty excited to do a cartwheel for the camera. It was a brisk winter day in Illinois, but that didn’t stop Aunt Jodie from flipping upside down in her front yard! As you can see, her family was watching in the window from inside the house. Her husband, (Uncle) Curtis was too big of a wuss to come out and try a cartwheel! The last picture I got was of her taking a bow, the only problem is she took it with her back (big ass) to me. She specifically said to me something along the lines of “I’ll kill you if you put that picture on there”. So I did it anyways, but I made it small! So maybe she’ll spare me my life and just settle for a smack to the head instead! Although, I have to admit that after having 3 children she does a damn good cartwheel and her big ass isn’t so bad either! Maybe one day I’ll still be doing cartwheels as well as she does! Thanks for the wheel, Aunt Jodie!!

Iraq Wheel

 

This handsome fella comes to us all the way from Iraq! He’s obviously a total badass because not only did he send a cartwheel picture all the way from Iraq, but he did it in all that gear! His name is Brian. Brian is a most wonderful gentleman I met a couple years back when I was in the US Army. Psych! I met Brian through a friend who called him her boyfriend. Could you imagine ME in the US Army!? Absolutely not. Enough nonsense. Brian was stationed at a base called “COB Adder” I Wikipedia’d it and learned that it is near Nasiriyya, Iraq. You’ll notice it on the map in the background. From the looks of the pictures this place is hot and dry and clearly not American. Brian spent some time there doing what troops do, fighting for our country. Although I don’t necessarily agree with the war, I have much respect for the ladies and gentleman that do what they do. Brian in particular is someone you want on your side. Not because he’s big and mean and a total cartwheeling badass, but because he is genuine, honest, caring, handsome, fun, wonderful, etc. As far as I know he is single. LADIES!? Alright, Alright, this isn’t Match.com, but it is a pretty wonderful cartwheel! Thanks again, Brian! This made my day and I’m sure others’ as well!

Momma Wheel

 

This here is my beautiful Mother, Jamie. Jamie is a fiery red head who doesn’t take crap from anybody. As much as I love her, I’m only human and cannot help but laugh hysterically with tears streaming down my face at the sight of this picture. While taking the photos I was laughing so hard I’m surprised the pictures aren’t blurry. She went into this cartwheel with confidence. In fact, when she first heard of this project she said to me in a slightly cocky manner “I can still do a cartwheel”. And I had no doubts... until that fateful November day. Lets be honest here, she ate the grass. She may have even ate some dirt. Her pants and arms were covered in it, there really was no denying it. The last photo is of her wailing about how she “hurt her wrist”. I’m surprised she didn’t “hurt her face”. I’m more surprised that she didn’t flip me off after. She did cuss at me, but that comes standard in my family. Whats even better is that my little sister video taped it! I could honestly watch it over and over and still almost pee myself every time. Mom, Christmas is coming up, I love you, please don’t hold this against me. Did I mention I think you’re beautiful?

Turkey Wheel

This little 11.45 pound lady is a Turkey. We named her Gretchen. She was our main course for our Thanksgiving dinner. Gretchen was so good at cartwheeling she didn’t even need to untie her legs. I obviously didn’t prepare this lovely little bird by myself. She had the assistance of my mom, Jamie. My mom thinks I am completely insane, but after some coaxing she willingly participated. Actually, my mom took care of Gretchen from start to finish. I wanted nothing to do with her. She was nice and all, but whole birds just aren’t my forte. I took care of the pies and stuffing. Incase you were wondering, I make a mean apple pie, even my mom was surprised. I hope that all of you had the chance to share your Thanksgiving day with someone as lovely as Gretchen.

Model Wheel

 

This strapping young man goes by Jim. Jim is Nadine’s husband. Him and I had a few good laughs while Nadine and Morgan tried out their two person cartwheel. Jim obviously works out and therefore had no issue at all mastering a cartwheel. He didn’t even do a practice one first. It didn’t even faze him. Most people at least laugh like “I can’t believe I just did that”, but not Jim. I thought for a second I was shooting an ad for J.Crew. I wasn’t, he’s just that good at cartwheeling... and making that serious model face. Nadine and Jim would make a pretty good modeling duo. I’d consider buying their clothes. A little off topic. There isn’t much else to say about this cartwheel. It’s just good. Surprisingly (because most men can’t cartwheel) good. Thanks, Jim!

Wonder Wheel

Todays beautiful cartwheeler calls herself Morgan. Morgan is the daughter of yesterday’s wheeler. She’s a pretty amazing girl. She works I don’t know how many jobs and is an activist for the gay/lesbian/bisexual community. She’s a small girl with a big voice who really knows how to flip upside down. She had so many wonderful shots it was hard to choose the background. The one I went with is actually a picture cropped from her and her Moms two person cartwheel. I liked the last shot so much that I had to make it extra large. I think that from now on, every time I see Morgan I will talk her into doing a cartwheel for me just so I can see her wonderful smile. If you ever see Morgan she’ll probably have her dog Delilah with her. Delilah was getting over a pretty rough belly ache so she wasn’t able to cartwheel for us, but next time it’s all Delilah! Make sure to roll around in the grass with her when you do see her (Delilah, not Morgan) although I’m sure Morgan wouldn’t mind either. Thanks for helping out and making my day, Morgan!

One Hand Wheel

 

This pretty blonde fox calls herself Nadine. Nadine is my friend Morgans mom. She has been following this blog since it started and really wanted to be the first one handed cartwheeler. First of all, a two handed cartwheel is hard enough, but a ONE handed cartwheel!? Watching her do it made me want to practice my own cartwheel more, in the grass of course. Nadine and Morgan have been working on a two person cartwheel. What is a two person cartwheel you ask? It’s something I have only seen in the circus and I am unable to explain it in words. It was pretty fantastic. They haven’t perfected it so I won’t be posting any pictures, although it was one of the funniest things I have witnessed in a long time. I could have watched them practice for days and never gotten bored with it. Nadine also has that pretty long hair I’m always talking about. It looks even more amazing while flowing through the cartwheel air. Thanks for the one handed cartwheel and all the laughs! And the soup!