Olympics in review

We've spent more time in front of the TV in the last two weeks than we have in the last year. No exaggeration. Every night after dinner, we tuned in to NBC and watched Olympic coverage, and then many nights, Darren and laid in bed and watched the late night coverage until our eyelids grew heavy and we couldn't focus any longer. We didn't miss a single Phelps race. We watched with interest as our local gymnast Nastia Liukin took gold. The boys were especially excited about the Olympics, this being the first one they've been old enough to take notice of.

Just before the games began, we read "An Hour at the Olympics" - a Magic Treehouse story about the first Olympics in Athens. We were reading a chapter each night before bed, but one night, Ian couldn't resist and read 6 chapters in a row out loud to me. to finish the book.

As we watched the opening ceremonies, he said, "Wait a minute. This is in CHINA?"

Darren answered in the affirmative.

"Ah MAN," said Ian. "I was gonna ask you to take me there!"

"There", meaning "the opening ceremonies". He wanted to be there in person, and just assumed we could hop in the car and go. Even now that the games are over, that night remains his favorite of the whole 2008 games. His most favorite part was the guy running in mid-air to light the flame.

Aidan loved Track and Field the most. He couldn't narrow it down to one event - he loved the sprints, the relays, the discus, the jumping, EVERYthing. He thinks he can be an Olympian one day.

Dani 's favorite was the swimming - specifically, rooting for Michael Phelps. One night while I watched upstairs, I heard her down here jumping and screaming and going crazy, then she yelled, "MOM!! ARE YOU WATCHING THIS? YOU BETTER BE WATCHING THIS!"

I love the swimming. Always have. Diving didn't do much for me this year, for some reason. I still remember Greg Louganis hitting his head on the platform back in '88 like it was yesterday. I just googled it and showed the footage to Dani. She gasped, just like I (and the world) did all those years ago.

Also this year, aside from Nastia, I was disinterested in gymnastics, which for years was my absolute FAVORITE. Anyone remember this ad featuring Mitch Gaylord? I tore it out of my Rolling Stone magazine back in '84, framed it, and gave it a place of honor in my bedroom for years. (Dani just quipped, "Your parents let you have that poster? Wow." lol!)



But my favorite this year, hands down, was beach volleyball. I don't know why, exactly, except that I played a lot in college, and while I was far from exceptional, I have really great memories of all those Sunday night games. Someone asked the other day which event I'd like to medal in if I could choose one. Me? Beach volleyball - one, because it would be a BLAST, even (or especially) playing in the pouring rain, and two, because it would mean I had a hot enough body to be wearing the official "uniform".

Darren watched an awful lot of volleyball this year too, and says it was his favorite event. But to his credit, he watched just as much men's and team volleyball as he did the beach variety. ;)

It was fun watching and rooting and discussing Olympics coverage as a family. I can hardly wait for 2010 - I love winter events more than the summer ones!