Crazy 8

That was then...
this is now!
Happy Birthday Todd!

More of the Olympics

My favorite part of being at the Olympics was the overall party atmosphere I felt everywhere we went. There were crowds of people singing and cheering for their athletes. The vibe was joyful and fun.
One of Jacy and my favorite stops was at German House. Many countries and all the Candian provinces had places for people to watch the events on big screens and enjoy food from that area of the world. German house was packed with people. It was loud and fun. The little car is filling up with the signatures of German Olympic winners.
I was so excited to see the Olympics Village. I don't know why that was such a big deal to me, but I have always been interested in the village and what life is like in there. I love that a community builds a bunch of buildings to house athletes and then has a great new area of their town after the Olympics.

Do I look sleepy? I am! I had to see the torch at night and that meant back tracking to the cauldron at about 11:00pm.
I love the Olympics! It did not disappoint!

Olympic Dreams?

This is what I found when I went to check on Wylie last night.

Let's Curl

I marked "go to the Olympics" off my list of things to do last weekend and it was so fun! The Olympic spirit in Vancouver is huge. The streets are full of people from everywhere celebrating their country and it's athletes. Jacy and I spent all day hiking all over Vancouver to see the Olympics highlights. Here are a few pictures from the curling match we attended. There were three games going on while we were there and the highlight was Canada vs. Great Britain (really Scotland). It was a rowdy, loud curling event that had to pause for all those country loving Canadians in the crowd (and me and Jacy) to sing "Oh Canada" in the middle of the event. Wayne Gretzky was an observer at the game as well and it was fun to have a "star watching" moment as part of our Olympics experience.
"Wayne Gretzky is drinking a cup of coffee."
"Wayne Gretzky is talking to the lady behind him."
"Wayne Gretzky has to stand up to see what is going on because his seats in the VIP section are not as good as our seats on the front row."
"Wayne Gretzky is leaving curling in the middle of the match. Seriously, he's leaving now?"
That's what it sounded like in our seats along with a lot of "we love Wayne Gretzky" just to annoy the photographer who was stationed in front of us who HATES "The Great One" with a passion.
Stay tuned for many more posts about the Olympics, if you want.
BTW, that's Wayne wearing a blue coat with brown sleeves in the top right photo!

Aren't They Cute?

The Weekend

I am recovering from a fast and fun weekend with my favorite people and great food and realized that I TOOK NO PICTURES! I had a party, went to the aquarium, had some of our favorite people stay the weekend with us, played outside a ton, enjoyed the Olympics and DIDN'T TAKE ONE PICTURE. Unbelievable. I will try to do better in the future! I did have a lovely weekend and am patting myself on the back today for choosing the bestest friends for myself and my kiddos. I just love being wrapped up in the love of good friends, being encouraged and raised up by their thoughtfulness. It's a special treat to have friends who have happy homes, love their spouses and enjoy their kiddos.

Chichen Itza and Mayans of Yucatan

Last week right now, Jacy and I were sitting on a bus heading to Yucatan to go check out the Mayan Ruins. I was so hesitant about our trip to Mexico and one of the reasons I decided to go was to see the amazing community of ruins that are near Cancun. Our tour headed to Chichen Itza, a large group of Mayan Ruins in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. Chichen Itza was recently designated one of the new seven wonders of the world and I would agree that it is AMAZING. I was in constant awe the entire day looking at and touching stones that were carved by a culture so different from my own. The Mayans grasp of astronomy, math, architecture and science boggles my mind! My favorite facts about the grounds of Chichen Itza have to do with the largest and main pyramid there, Kukulkan's Pyramid. The Mayans created it for astronomical purposes and twice a year at the beginning of Spring and Fall, the shadows from the pyramid form to create large triangles that edge the staircase and end at the Serpent's heads at the base of the stairs. The result is a large snake body that you can see in the picture above. Further, if you stand directly in front of the staircases (there are 4) and clap your hands, the echo is the call of a regional bird. And lastly, the Mayans constructed the pyramind to have 91 steps on each staircase which equals 364 total plus the platform equals 365. A step for every day of the year. Chichen Itza is so much more than those few little fun facts, it's big and detailed and the Mayan history is intense. I feel fortunate to have seen a glimpse of it.

It's Almost Time!!!!!

Isla Mujeres

Isla Mujeres (The Island of Women) was my favorite part of our trip to Cancun. (I do want to mention that every 20 minutes I would turn to Jacy and say "this is the best part of my trip", but I really think the Island was my favorite). We journeyed, by boat, to an island off of Cancun for a day of shopping and hanging out at another resort. I loved the boat ride through turquoise water that I couldn't keep my eyes off. We hung out at the pool, read, ate a yummy lunch and the toured part of the island by boat to get to the main town on the island. I felt like we had travelled back in time while we were there. Jacy and I loved walking through town and watching all the colorful, small fishing boats that are a part of village life.

I love this boy

He has his naughty moments, but he has his precious moments too. This afternoon he was precious!

Poolside

I have never been a laying out kind of girl. Have you seen what happens to a pale girl who lays out for too long? I HAVE! So I was very careful to find shady spots to nap and read in when I ventured out to the pool on our vacation. I even layered on the sun screen and towels to enjoy the baking sun next to my sun lovin' hubby. I never thought I would think this, but it is fabulous to sit next to a pool for hours on end, especially when there are no children to save from drowning, an endless pile of great books to read and smiling wait staff delivering never ending glasses of Diet Coke and yummy lunches.

Rainy Cancun

Rain started and ended our Cancun vacation. I love these pictures of Jacy. The first picture is our first 15 minutes in Cancun and the second is after a five minute walk we took to buy some souvenirs. I promise, the rest of my pictures are more exciting and interesting, I just wanted to put some cute pics up of Jacy enjoying his stormy days in Cancun.