It's hard to believe these are the third Winter Olympic Games Ted and I have enjoyed together, all of them in different states! (Come to think of it, the summer games we watched were in completely different states as well! Imagine, 5 states in 8 1/2 years of marriage!) We are huge suckers when it comes to the games, both summer and winter. At any other time we would not be glued to our televisions, but from the Opening Ceremonies to the Closing Ceremonies, we enjoy every minute we can of the gritty athleticism and heart-tugging emotional stories behind the athletes who compete.
And now we have children old enough to somewhat understand what's going on and enjoy the games with us! This has been a delight. They did not see the Opening Ceremonies with us, which began at 8 p.m. our time and found Ted and me nodding off well before the finish. (I think this is the first torch-lighting ceremony we have missed!) However, the last few evenings we have all piled on the couch to watch such things as ski jumping, snowboarding, ice skating, and downhill racing. Charis and Tobin are especially excited, seeing as how our trip to Colorado is coming up soon and they will be taking ski lessons for the first time. When they watch the amazing things the Olympic athletes do on their skis, their eyes get very big, and they ask, "Can I do that, Daddy?!"
Charis' favorite thing to watch (no surprise here) is figure skating. In January Ted took her on a daddy/daughter date to see Finding Nemo on Ice. She fell in love with ice skating and now "skates" around the house in her sock feet, draping blankets around her and waving them the way she saw the skaters carrying cloth for the Disney ice show. She frequently spins with her arms over her head, bending her knees and then straightening up to make it appear that she is spinning exactly the way she watched the performers spin. The costumes she suddenly appears in are rather comical, and I really need to get the camera out. Usually they include some combination of her doll clothing!
Tobin and Arden seem to share a favorite event as well: the snowboarding half-pipe competition! They watched the preliminary rounds last night (Ted and I stayed up to see the Flying Tomato do his gold medal celebration run), and each time one of the guys would do a trick in the air, the boys would shout, "WOW!" So we began hearing WOWs every 5 seconds, and while cute at first, it did get a bit irritating when we were trying to hear the commentary! But hey, they're kids, and it's their first Olympic games. :-)
One great thing about having the kids watch with us is that it is GREAT incentive for them to nap! Arden has been doing well on that issue--we are going on maybe 10 days in a row of him napping with NO crib-climbing incidents. Tobin and Charis, however, are not known for their napping abilities. But, when told that the Olympics are on after their normal bedtime, BUT they can stay up and watch some of the action IF they take a nap...well, let's just say we are training some champion nappers this week! Maybe they'll continue after the games are over?! I won't hold my breath!
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