We decided to go to the “big” park down the street today. The kids had a blast. Even Caleb was able to crawl around on one of the play structures. He cracked himself up trying to go up the tunnel slide, but he kept sliding back down.
All three in one shot is hard to get. I'll sacrifice having them all be looking at the camera.
One and 1/2 years ago Nate and I decided to purchase tickets to the Bobsleigh event in Vancouver 2010. It seemed like SO far away. Well, the time has come and gone for us to get our Olympic experience. And it was all it was cracked up to be! We had an awesome time. We only bought 4 tickets back then because we assumed we would have a family of 4. Oops. So we planned to leave Caleb at home with Grandma and Grandpa while the two kids who could walk would come with us. It turns out that children under 2 didn’t need a ticket. SO, Grandma Karen was able to come with us. We allowed Caleb to stay home so he could stay warm and get his naps in.
We woke up early Friday morning so we could be out the door by 6am. After a quick McDonald’s stop for breakfast we were on our way to the bus pickup location. We boarded a charter bus which was totally exciting for Aaron and Ethan. The two hour trip to Whistler went very quickly. Ethan slept for about a half hour of it and Aaron was wide eyed the entire time.
We arrived at Whistler around 9:30 and were able to go have a nice relaxing brunch in the village. We knew this was our last moment of warmth for the day so we enjoyed it. After waffles and croissants and burritos we layered our turtlenecks, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, coats, gloves, mittens, scarves and headed out the door in search of the gondola that would take us to the sliding center.
After breakfast Aaron and Ethan needed a little run around time on the playground.
At the playground
The Olympic rings on display in Whistler village
We were told to be prepared for extremely long lines and crowds of people. We were, however, pleasantly surprised. We didn’t have to wait long at all for the bus. The cafe for breakfast was not too crowded and we almost walked right on to the Gondola. We were just ahead of the large crowds – thank goodness!
Whistler Village was packed with people!
There were huge tv screens everywhere broadcasting the events live. It was weird to see these on the ski slopes.
Walking up to the gondola. There were so many people dressed in so many different country colors. It was great!
Heading to the gondola. We were told to "hurry up." haha! Just one picture....
On the gondola
When we got off the gondola, we had to walk a little ways uphill where we were whisked through security and sent on over to the track. We bought a poncho for Karen and waterproofed our kids as well.
Walking up towards the sliding center
Trying to stay dry in the very wet snow and slush
Staying warm. Karen scored a pair of the coveted Vancouver 2010 red mittens. These were the hot item of the Olympics this year and were always sold out. She got one of the last pairs at the store before they were gone!
Aaron trying to stay dry. He hated wearing this poncho and we appeased him later on. He ended up getting just a little wet which might be what did him in as he got too cold after the first heat.
At the sliding center a volunteer guided us to the best spot to stand and watch with small children. He sure knew what he was talking about. We were standing within arms reach of the track! We could hear the bobsleds come down around a corner. It sounded like a train coming down! We were standing right around the corner from where several of the bobsleds crashed and flipped over. That made for some VERY tense moments. I have never been to a sport where you not only cheered for the teams who won, but also just because the athletes made it down alive. Crazy.
All 5 of us at the Sliding Center.
There was a percussion band playing when we first arrived. This screen seemed to be floating in the air above the track. The track is all covered in this photo. Right before the races began they rolled up those screens to reveal the ice.
From where we were standing, we could see the sled rush past us on the left and then turn to watch it go down around the bottom curve before heading back uphill.
There was a huge screen set up with live broadcast of the event. So we were able to watch each team take off, then watch the sled come down the track, then get whiplash as it sped right past where we were standing, then we could watch the screen again to see how they reacted at the finish line. We were able to see most of heat 1 before Aaron got really cold and we had to go. We watched the highlights of heat 2 on the news that night and then saw USA win gold after heats 3 and 4. Go USA!
Team USA 1
USA 1 team going down around the bottom curve. They broke the track record in both heats the day we were there and ended up winning gold.
Team Germany
Team Canada won silver overall. The Canadian crowd was great. It was fun to see the crowd cheering every team on and there was no "boo"ing that I heard.
Team Canada wooshing by
The Swiss team I think...
At the starting line
It was fun to try and get a picture of a bobsled going 100mph right in front of us. We succeeded a few times, though they are blurry. I still can’t believe how fast they were going. You would have to be insane to participate in this sport in my opinion!
Is it spring already? Probably not, but we can believe it is. So today Aaron and Nate picked up a bunch of seeds and the kids helped Nate plant several starts. Mostly, we were just enjoying the awesome sunshine that graced us with its presence all weekend.
Much to my dismay, Dad had a little too much fun with the kids the other weekend. He decided to take them on a field trip to the pet store. When I came home from a day of hard labor, I arrived to find 4 boys with grins from ear to ear. As I looked past the grins, I noticed a fish tank had made an appearance in our house – complete with water, a heater, a filter, and FISH! The kids love the little tetras. Even Caleb is fascinated with the new pets.
Caleb has learned how to climb on and off the stool. I guess he wants a better view of those fish, right?
He needs a couple more inches...
What?
Two of my boys have February birthdays. Aaron is 4 years old now and Caleb is 1! Time goes too fast… We had one birthday celebration for both boys, complete with Disney Cars cake and a fruit extravaganza tart per Aaron’s request.
