Well, before we get *too* far away from the Olympic excitement, I should do our post about the Summer Olympics.
We love big sports events like the World Cup and both seasons of Olympics. (Even when they are disappointing.) And for some reason, I like EVERY Summer Olympic sport (except basketball, all the squeaking and stoppage of the clock in the last two minutes makes me crazy), so I get extra excited when the Summer Olympics roll around.
Without further ado, here are our 2012 Summer Olympics highlights.
We started the celebration off in typical style, with some Olympic-themed drinks during the (crazy and confusing) Opening Ceremonies.
Drink #1: London Buck:
2 oz Gin
1 oz Lemon Juice
Ginger Ale
Pour Gin & Lemon Juice into ice-filled highball glass. Top off with Ginger Ale and stir.
(Michael was especially excited to make this, I think, because he is still on that gin kick from Mixology class.)
Drink #2: Olympic
1.5 oz brandy
1/4 oz cointreau
3/4 oz orange juice
1 dash lemon juice
This was good, too! Very rare are the times that we do a theme drink night that is a success! Might have helped our enjoyment of the wild Opening Ceremonies, too. Although I’ll say this: if you’re going to go weird, go all out, so good job, London!
“Lucy not happy with this! Where were Paddington Bear?”
(Lucy never felt about Mary Poppins as she did for Paddington Bear.)
Then of course there was the night we stayed up until 2am watching women’s weight lifting…
…and swimming.
…and then the girls’ team gymnastics qualifying round.
Thankfully, by the time the team all around finals were on, I figured out how to rig up my laptop to my TV so we could (kind of) live stream the event, instead of having to watch it hours and hours later on ‘prime time’ (NBC – can we PLEASE stop doing that???). And look at this! I managed to get a picture of Mckayla looking unimpressed *before* it was so cool that she looked unimpressed!
(When the girls won the gold, I was so excited that I went outside in my America outfit to do my gardening.)
Lucy, on the other hand, was just worn out from attempting her very own gymanstic vaults all over the couch that she fell asleep.
But the coolest moment of the Olympics for me was on the final Sunday, when we got up at 4am and headed down to the North Shore to meet up with some other crazy running people. The Steel City RoadRunner club had a run and marathon-viewing party down at Rivertowne North Shore. So at 5am, those of us brave enough to be awake and in running clothes took to the streets. (I am really out of practice and rather slow, so I took to less streets than the rest of them, but I had a great time anyway!)
Michael, who is not a runner, came along for moral support.
And at 6am, before it was even fully light out, we started watching the incredible racers take to the streets of London. It was a crazy course, with lots of hairpin turns and backtracking, so there was pretty much no way a world or Olympic record was going to be set, but the race was incredible to watch and dramatic right up to the finish!
So, big thanks to the Steel City RoadRunners for letting us crash their marathon party! It was great to meet everyone and hang out with fellow running enthusiasts (even if you are all in WAY better shape than me haha). Maybe someday, when I get my speed and mileage up, I’ll be around more regularly 🙂
On the final day of the Olympics, I couldn’t bring myself to watch the Closing Ceremonies. I just didn’t want to admit that it was over. I didn’t want to give up hearing my husband making Ryan Lochte peeing in the pool jokes 24 hours a day, or watching horse dancing online early in the morning.
So, I did the most comforting thing I could come up with, which was to follow all of my favorite Olympic athletes on Twitter and start planning for Rio. If I start lifting now, I can be clean jerking with the best of them by 2016!!