Let the Games Begin!

We are LOVING the Olympic games in the Baker house right now! The boys have been staying awake way too late to watch as many events as they can. Our favorite events so far have been swimming, synchronized diving, mens gymnastics, and ladies gymnastic trials. I am so impressed by the talent the young athletes possess. Simply amazing. And by young I mean...y.o.u.n.g.! Missy Franklin and Gabby Douglas... Yeah. I could be their mom!

Any who. We were so excited about the summer games that we decided to have some friends and neighbors join us for the opening ceremonies on Friday night.

We had a spread of barbecue and some awesome summer sides - coleslaw, hash brown casserole, fresh watermelon and berries, fresh baked sourdough bread, and cupcakes! Our friends gave their dishes Olympic names.

I made some "Gold Medal Surprise" pineapple punch for the kids and Shan whipped up some festive "Johnny-All-American" blue cocktails for the adults. We also served water with raspberry and blueberry garnished ice cubes. (I was kinda slack about taking pictures. Sorry! This is all you get.)

I made some simple decorations and had little trivia game for the kids. I made a wreath of the Olympic rings. Easiest thing EVER! I should have done a tutorial, but oh well. In case you can't look at it and figure it out and you want to know exactly what I did, just comment or shoot me an email. I made a "torch" with a glass cylinder and some tissue paper, and I made some cupcake toppers from some flags I found on a home school website.

Our trivia question was "Guess the number of countries participating in the 2012 Olympic Games. (Hint: It's the same amount of gumballs in the jar!)". Our precious winner who guessed the closest said 180. Can you guess correctly without Googling? ;-)

As with any Baker function, children are always welcome! They played so hard outside and inside, ate lots of watermelon and cupcakes, and guzzled their signature punch. They even held out until the USA was on parade.

Overall I thought the Opening ceremony was fantastic and filled with great symbolism of the history of the UK with impressive theatrics and music. I loved hearing tributes to Queen, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles. And the Mary Poppins scene was awesome! Who couldn't appreciate that?

The boys are really enjoying the games. They like to act out each event. It's so funny! I think it's a great source of inspiration for them. Fulton has expressed that he'd like to take gymnastics...I think that's pretty cool. Oliver, however, may have to join him...(here's a video clip.)


I just love that he "sticks" the landing does the gymnast's salute! Tweet-potatuh!!!

I hope y'all are enjoying as much of the Olympics as we are. It has given us something exciting to look forward to during these last couple of hot weeks of summer!

XO,