Olympic Reflections

The other day, I found myself reading an article online about Gaby Douglas' HAIR. That's the point when I realized that perhaps the Olympic obsession has gone a bit too far.  But it's only once every 4 years, right?! But we are oh so tired from staying up for the late night coverage.

Faster! Higher! Stronger!  Here are some reflections on our Olympic experience as observers:

We let the kids stay up to watch the first half of the opening ceremony.  They loved it, but were in bed long before the parade of nations and torch lighting, which was what we were all looking forward to. Of course, Scott and I still needed to pull out Owen's new globe to find some of those island nations. Tuvalu?

The Olympics coincided with our summer swimming lessons and provided perfect motivation for Owen to work on his front crawl and start figuring out the side breathing.

We've been watching highlights of the events after breakfast or before the kids go to bed. I love watching Josh do his rendition of his favorite events. Tonight, he was doing laps of run-jump-run-jump-run-jump to mimic the hurdles. On the other hand, what's not so awesome is his rendition of the backstroke start that he is doing (repeatedly) off the side of his crib each night.

I found myself taking a much greater interest in the men's events than the women this year. Especially the men's gymnastics. I think it's because now I imagine my own boys dreaming about being Olympians instead of  imagining what it would be like to be an Olympian myself.  Man, those P&G "Thank You Mom" commercials really get ya. (Though I gotta say, I do have wicked respect for those women who have stepped away from their sport to start a family and then return to the Olympics with toddlers in toe... wowza!)

Thankfully, my boys took a great interest in the women's gymnastics, so we had plenty of excuses to rewatch the videos of those golden ladies.  They especially liked pronouncing their own judgements on each dismount.  When I showed the kids the highlights of the team final, Josh watched the vaulting and declared, "She sticked it! She sticked it! She sticked it!"

We are feeling the full effect of living in Oregon, and so close to "Track Town USA" in Eugene.  So many track athletes have ties to Oregon - many of them training in either Eugene or Portland, so each day's newspaper has a great recap of how "our" athletes (representing countries across the world) are performing. It was particularly remarkable to watch Mo Farah (Great Brittan) and Galen Rupp (USA) run as a team and go 1-2 in the 10,000 meters. And now, Ashton Eaton from BEND is in the middle of his Decathlon and we'll get another chance to watch Rupp in the 5,000. Go Oregon!

The boys loved Oscar Pestorius' "Robot Legs" - we think they're pretty cool, too.

After watching the 100M Final, Owen decided that his name should be "Owen Bolt Bolt" because he's sure that he can run faster than Usain Bolt. I'd like to see that.

Go USA!

America's Game

Explaining the game of soccer to a 5 year old is pretty simple:
1. Both teams are trying to get the ball in the goal.
2. Only the goalie can use his/her hands.


That's it. Done. No other information is necessary to follow what's going on in the game.

Explaining the game of baseball to a 5 year old requires answering 947 questions... and counting. 

Thanks to Groupon, we took the boys to see the Salem Volcanoes (Single A team from the San Fran Giants) play a Sunday evening baseball game. It was the perfect summer evening - 80 degrees, sunny, seats in the 4th row behind the home team, and all the fun that comes with a small town baseball team. It's such a great slice of America to stroll into the stadium, stand for the anthem sung slightly off key, watch the local businesses with their various promotions, and sit back with a beer for a little baseball.

Of course, adding two curious kids to the mix quickly shifts the focus of the evening. Thankfully, there were also lots of other families around us answering the same never-ending slew of questions that come with trying to explain baseball to young fans. We set the stage fairly well and Owen understands the concept of "hit the all and run" just fine.  Of course, the FIRST BATTER of the game ended with the obscure rule that you can run on a swinging third strike if the catcher drops the ball. Um... sorry kids, can't really answer the "why" on that one... who wants a hot dog?!

Splash, Pedal, Dash

We joined Jeff and Ethel for another Pacific Crest Weekend in SunRiver.  A weekend planned long before we knew we were going to be moving.  It was a strange feeling to drive over the mountains (our slowest trip ever!), and then drive straight through Bend without stopping.  

I didn't train for a race myself this year, but it was inspiring to watch all the long course athletes (half ironman tri, marathon, half marathon) run past our rental house.  We also got a bit of exercise riding our bikes around the trails to catch J&E at least 4 different times during their half marathon walk. Oh, and it turns out I SHOULD have trained to chase Owen around the kids' splash, pedal, dash.  That kid is quick on his bike!

Josh was Owen's biggest fan, with a joyful high five before the last turn on the run and then an unprompted bear hug after Owen crossed the finish line. I guess Josh has figured out how this little brother thing works!

At the Beach

Our annual Memorial Day Weekend trip to Manzanita did not disappoint this year.  After several years of squeezing tighter and tighter into the same rental house, we made the big jump to a larger house.  At this point, we are 6 adults and 5 kids and the added space was fantastic for everyone. Separate kids and adult tables at dinner? Check. Bunk room? Check. A well stocked kitchen with the space to store and prep food for our small army? Check. A separated sleeping space for our early risers? Check. Gorgeous views of the beach? Check. and..... a hot tub!

We always wonder how all the kids are going to get along. We only see the Owens Family during this one weekend a year. Nolan is exactly a year older than Owen and they usually take a day or two to feel each other out. Not this year! These two were like long lost BFFs joined at the hip from the moment we walked in the door. They were thrilled to share the bunk room, explored the beach together, snuggled on the same chair during movie nights, and were a united front in every decision. I felt like I hardly saw Owen all weekend. Frankly, it was awesome! (and gave me more confidence in our decision to start Owen in Kindergarten this fall)

Calla's early mornings put her on a bit of an opposite schedule from the other kids who were embracing later nights of vacation, but it was a joy hearing how Calla's speech and expression has progressed since we last saw her at Christmas. We also got some glimpses of the goofy silliness that she usually reserves for home. The weather had promised miserable northwest rain and cold, so we packed for indoor entertainment... games, play dough, movies...

And yet, our wonderful view ended up looking like this most of the weekend... overcast, but DRY and almost warm. Hardly a drop of rain all weekend, and it was warm enough that the boys (big and little) set to work creating a "sunken ship" out of collected driftwood.

Everyone needs a project...

The boys showed their true northwest roots and spent most of the weekend in salty, soggy sweats and raincoats.

The only thing Owen did without Nolan's help all weekend. Pretty impressive without a mirror...

Scott and Tim took the the boys on a "pirate adventure" to hike over the mountain at Hug Point.  I heard great tales of their adventures!

Our one great benefit on the trip this year was how incredibly CLOSE we are now to the coast.  Less than two hours with Memorial Day traffic! Hopefully that means more beach time in our future.