Even animals love Zhenya!!

And why shouldn't they??!  ^_^

This is Larisa Ilchenko's dog watching Zhenya's club routine at the 2012 Olympics! (Ilchenko is a 2008 gold medalist in swimming and one of Zhenya's good friends.)

All hail the Russian flag!!

Don't worry, the girls have PLENTY of love for their own flag as well!  Here are some of my favorite pics from the 2012 Olympics!

Gorgeous Zhenya!!

Dasha & Zhenya

Ul, Blizia (behind), Makar, Nazar (behind), Karolina, Ksyu

Ksyu, Karolina, Nazar, Makar, Blizia, Ul

Blizia, Ksyu, Ul, Karolina, Makar

Nazar

Makar

Oh, and did I mention that I absolutely LOVE the BOSCO wear they had at the Olympics!  I want a Team Russia track suit!!

Separately from the Olympics, though, my favorite flag pic of ALL TIME is the one that serves as the background for this blog.  The colors, the pose, the gymnast are all PERFECT, in my opinion!

Zhenya, The Greatest Rhythmic Gymnast of All Time!!

More love for Spain

I just wrote about the girls' love for USA flag prints, and awhile back I showed how they heart Team Spain, but it looks like they are quite big fans of the Spanish flag as well.

Karolina & Zhenya

Back: Karolina, Dinara Gimatova; Middle: ?, Silvia Miteva, Olya, Zhenya, Aliya Garayeva, ?

And since I didn't post this either, here's Nazar with some of Team Spain at the Olympics.

From Russia...with love for USA??

Well, I've written about the girls' fondness for Yankees caps...but it seems that they are also partial to the USA flag as well!

Makar, for instance, has a USA shirt...

...as well as a pair of USA flag shorts

Blizia & Makar

And the other girls have caps and t-shirts..

Anastasia Kisse

Ul

Ul & Makar

Gettin' Wiggy wit It

Well, instead of dying your hair, you can always just wear a wig!

Zhenya & Dasha D

Nazar, Nastia M, Makar, Blizia, Ksyu, Olya

Another cute little girl + Blizia

I think this color really suits Nazar!

Yulia Bravikova

Fun with statues

Ahh, the fun you can have with large, inanimate objects...

Top: Blizia and Ksyu; bottom left: Blizia & Di; bottom right: Blizia

Makar proposing to her white knight

Natalia Bulycheva

Yana

At the ballet!

Recently I haven't been able to post as much as I would've liked since I've been indulging in my first great love--ballet!

So in honor of that hallowed art form, here are some photos of the girls at the ballet!

Zhenya at the Bolshoi

It seems that Irina Viner has her own private box at the Bolshoi Theatre, and she takes the girls frequently.  Lucky them!!

Blizia, Ul, Makar, Ksyu, Karolina

Ksyu & Nastia M

Of course, rhythmic gymnastics is very related to ballet--especially when you have performances like this! Swan Lake RG style!

Zhenya in front; Natasha 3rd from last; don't know the others

Elevator antics...

After they posed oh-so-cutely for the cameras at the competition...

Olya, Nastia M, Nazar, Blizia, Di, Ksyu

Blizia, Di, Ksyu, Nastia M, Olya, Nazar

...my crazy group girls went a little wild in the elevators! LOL!

Nazar, Blizia, Ksyu, Di

Nazar & Nastia B

A new day, a new hair color...

Looks like some of the girls decided to change up their hair color a bit!

Ul went from being brunette...

...to being blonde

While Katya did the opposite!  Blonde-ish...

...to brunette

Ul & Kayta, before...

...and after

Also--awhile back, Dasha D went from being brunette...

..to a redhead!

Leaving on a jet plane...

Well, the girls do usually travel by commercial plane (in coach/economy) when they're going to competitions...

Nastia M, Makar, Olga, Ksyu

Yana Kudryavtseva, Dasha Svatkovskaya, Masha Titova

Zhenya, Sasha, Dasha D

Blizia

Yana Lukonina

  ...But sometimes they do get to travel by private plane (Daddy Usmanov's, of course!)...

Ksyu (looking SOOO bored), Makar; nice Uggs everyone!

...especially when they're going on vacation!!

Ul, Nazar, Blizia, Zhenya, Karolina, Dasha, Ksyu

(I love how the two Omsk girls--Zhenya & Ksyu--are talking on the phone. They're like the only ones who use a phone like a phone. Or maybe you don't get texts in Siberia! :P )

Ul, Blizia, Karolina, Nazar, Dasha D, Ksyu

Ul, Zhenya, Karolina

(Karolina seems especially fond of these private planes--or maybe it's just that she looks so much like she belongs on one....)

Sigghh, must be nice to be an RG girl!!