August 25, 2008

Goodbye, Olympic Games

Well, finally we're done sitting on our duffs and watching toned, muscle-y athletes work hard! It was a tough 16 days, but we managed to persevere by consuming large amounts of popcorn and ice cream and taking naps whenever possible. We endured stupid commercials and the agony of realizing the broadcast went beyond the 4 hours we had programmed the DVR. But thanks to the newspaper and the Internet, we were able to follow our favorite Olympians 'til the very end.

And what a joyous end! Thanks to numerous, never-before-allowed hours of television, our kids can now identify the flags of at least 20 different countries. They know what terms like "block," "spike," "heat," and "semifinal" mean and the importance of staying in bounds. They look to Michael Phelps as their new hero. They know what an "anthem" is and have stopped asking why Mommy gets teary-eyed every time she hears it. They frequently shout things like "Yeah, baby!" and "Go, go, GOOOOOO!" And they can do a victory dance like nobody's business.

Yes, the Olympic games were well worth the time invested. We laughed, we cried--it moved us, Bob. (Veggie Tales allusion there for the uninitiated.)

And now, for your viewing pleasure, in case you haven't quite gotten enough of the Olympics, I present to you OUR Olympic Games.

First up, Nastia (aka Charis) and Jonathan (aka Arden) dazzle us with their routines (and their costumes).



Next, Tobin gives Daddy the "what for" in this wrestling match--or is it the other way around?!



Finally, the kids' version of beach volleyball. They set this one up all by themselves. The video clip is but a small portion of what we actually got to see. They worked out an ingenius system for playing with 3 people--Arden switched sides after every 2 points! It was so cute to see the boys hugging every time they got a point as a team!

3 comments:

Bob and Claire said...

Wow, your Olympic-watching regimen sounded exactly like ours!! In fact, I am planning on writing a "farewell, Olympics" post as well, LOL. We had so much fun watching, but one can only laze around for so many days! We were so sad last night, without anything to watch, LOL.

Unknown said...

I love the videos! Charis has the most adorable little girl voice I've ever heard. It makes me want to direct a play just to put her in the lead role so I can hear her voice all the time. I have to say, however, that Arden's routine was my favorite. He gets a perfect score from me! Tobin looked like he had about as much of a chance against Ted as my boys have against Rob :)

The only Olympics we got to watch was in the hotel when we went away over the weekend. I tried to convince Rob to hook up the TV just for the Olympics, but it meant rearranging where the TV is, so no dice. We followed it in the paper....just not the same!

Beverly said...

LOL Charis gets lots of comments on her voice. We've been told she has a "Disney character" voice, and her peers often comment about her cute little voice. I honestly think it's one reason she earned a role in the Christmas play last winter!