Olympics Week

Olympics are big in my house and I mean BIG!  I love the culture, the patriotism, the stories.  Mark likes the sports, sports, and more sports.  We were in California for the Opening Ceremonies at Mark's parents' house when Mark told his mom that it is a tradition in my family to eat the food of the host country the night of the opening ceremonies.  This was news to me!  I guess we did eat falafel one time during Athens and we might have had orange chicken during Beijing but I had totally forgotten.  So much for tradition!  So we made it official and ate Bangers and Mash and Trifle.  I had no idea what Bangers and Mash were but in my attempt to find something English the that was edible, I came across what is really sausage and mashed potatoes.  That was doable.  And wouldn't you know it, the grocery store actually had bangers!  And they were good!  Totally greasy but not bad at all!  And trifle is always a big favorite so that was a welcome addition.

We came home for the second week of the Olympics so it was back to our weekly theme which of course was "Olympics."  For FHE talked about the origins of the Olympics and looked at Greece and London on a map.

We had our own torch relay.  Mark was not amused.

Passing the torch

Allegra was supposed to light the cauldron on the TV but Mark didn't find it fast enough.

Lemon Pudding Torches for FHE treat

We ate Olympic Ring Bagels for breakfast

Our Olympic events included:
Track (across the backyard)
Javelin (with a pool noodle)
Discus (with a frisbee)
Long Jump
Cycling (around the driveway)
no pictures were taken of the above events because it was just too hot!

Equestrian

Archery (with straws)--Allegra was so excited to put on her Brave dress!

and of course, Gymnastics (on the "balance" ironing board)

We had our own medal ceremony just before the real closing ceremonies.

The podium (notice the rings we made on Tuesday)

singing the National Anthem

Olympic Ring pizza (kind of hard to see)

I think the girls really had a fun time and were sad when the Olympics were over.  Good thing we get to do it again in two years, but I'm a little nervous about RUSSIAN food!

Books we read:
The 2012 London Olympics
Geronimo and the gold medal mystery
Olympics 
The Mud Flat Olympics 
Sprints, hurdles, and other track events 
Swifter, higher, stronger : a photographic history of the Summer Olympics