The Olympics are here, old Sport!

We have been on countdown since Vancouver. Really, looking forward to the London 2012 games are the only thing that have taken away the sting of Mama Syd and Papa Chris leaving. We went to the library in search of books about the Olympics, ancient Greece and Great Britain. We came home with over 60 books and we promptly immersed ourselves in the Olympic Spirit.

Come the 27th, we took the day to ready ourselves for the Opening Ceremonies that night. We made fish and chips with this recipe (perfect for Fish Fridays! papa Chris, you would have loved it!) and served it up with malt vinegar. The little buggers had fish sticks and frozen fries – there’s only so far they will be pushed. We toasted the Queen with The Big Liz cocktail (Turns out, I like gin. The Queen has good taste!) and The Little Lizzie for the kiddos and discussed the finer points of “God Save the Queen.”

“Confound their politics!
Frustrate their knavish tricks!
On Thee our hopes we fix!
God save us all!

Jac baked a bread pudding that the kids deemed less than impressive but managed to eat half of anyway and we ate and drank ourselves into a fine frenzy then tore into the English crackers I made for the occasion. My favorite part? The tissue paper laurel wreaths I cut out that were such a hit.

We retreated to the cool of the basement for the ceremony, bells in hand to chime along with Big Ben. (We cleaned Salvation Army out of all of their bells and are now the proud owners of several Santa shaped ringers and even a ceramic unicorn. Fancy!) While we never did hear that happen (darn Internet rumors!), we rang with abandon during the final fireworks.

It was impressive, the Brits third go. Quirky and a little odd, it was them . We liked that. As always, we also liked the parade of nations and we voted on our favorite outfits and flag bearers. We giggled over awkward camera angles and oohed and ahhed about inspiring stories. But my favorite moments? When Fr. Would yell,

“Shut up, Matt Lauer! I hate you so much! Stop talking now!” It was perfect.

The kids were Olympic in their endurance, managing to stay awake through it all and then sleeping downstairs together to cap off the celebration.

They awoke early Saturday requesting to watch more Olympics.

It’s been on ever since.

Let the games begin!