Our Opening Ceremonies

It only happens once every four years. And this is the first time it has happened during Ben and Mari's lifetime.  The Summer Olympics have begun! The Olympics are a huge deal in our house. I spent the past few days counting down towards opening ceremonies and marching around humming the Olympic song. By Friday I was overflowing with excitement. The Olympics were finally here!

There has been plenty of controversy over China holding the Olympics. There has been talk of boycott and alot of protest. While I find China's human rights violations atrocious and many of their actions highly disturbing, I don't think the Olympics are the proper place for protest. The young athletes who have worked their entire lives for this moment deserve to be able to represent their countries and chase their dreams without a climate of hostility and political unrest. The Olympics are not about politics. They are about unity. And those who use them as a political platform really irritate the heck out of me.  Okay- end of my rant.

In honor of the Olympics being held in China I opted to go pick up some Chinese food for dinner.  The kids especially enjoyed the chow mein  because it was fun to eat the noodles. Ben even offered some up to our cat Meow Meow (who also goes by the alias Ming La but that is neither here nor there).

After dinner we gave the kids a bath (because they and everything around them was covered in Chinese food) and then Daddy decided we needed to do a torch run. I had made torches out of a wrapping paper roll, tissue paper, and duct tape earlier in the day. It must be said that Ben did have his own form of Olympic protest when he was being dried off after his bath. Pee and poop all over the floor. Paul swears Ben mumbled something about Tibet while doing it. Did Ben not listen to my rant about Olympic protest? Daddy passed the torches off to his athletes and they happily ran around the house sans clothing. We even had a bit of a torch jousting occur.

After the jousting we decided we better get the kids dressed before another "protest" occurred.  They did some more torch relaying and then they tested out wearing the Olympic gold medal. Mari was happy to try it on for size and then passed it on to Ben who tested the gold for authenticity.

Finally we settled in and watched the opening ceremonies. The kids only got to watch a small portion before it was bedtime but at least they got their first taste of Olympic fever.

I found the ceremonies to absolutely beautiful and awe inspiring. By far the best I have ever seen. The amount of people and planning that went into that ceremony was incredibly impressive. Much of the precision was a tad intimidating but so much of what they chose to do was truly amazing.

In the coming days we plan on having our own Olympic events for the kids.  Fun events such as the Daddy rodeo, ball toss, and race around the house. I hope those of you with children will encourage them to embrace the spirit of the Olympics and  get out there and have some healthy competitions of their own. Embrace these summer games for all they are. And route your hearts out for Team USA!