To relieve the stress of this present moment!

As I begin this post, United States has just scored their first goal in the Gold medal Olympic Hockey game.
I am breathing a little easier at the present moment.
I am sensing the fact that Canada has a "bone to pick" with the States. (can't we all just get along?)
Not to mention that I am surrounded by a bunch of traitors.
As my 6 year old would say, "We are cheering for the Canada's, mom. Why are you cheering for the America's??" (what is he, a fifteenth century explorer?)
My dear child, it is a matter of principle.
I am a true patriot.
While I feel that Canadians are a lovely people, it would go against everything I believe to actually cheer for them, instead of for my own countrymen! (O.K., this may be slightly DRAMAtic, but it is the way I feel...at least in THIS case!)
Need I remind him of the fact that HE WAS BORN in the "America's"!
But they keep trying to sway me.

Cheer for the Canada's.
Cheer for the Canada's.

That is what my 6 year old is chanting at this moment.

And one more thing.
Do I need to remind my "love" that he willingly "renounced" his Canadian citizenship?
Is it even legal for him to cheer for Canada anymore??
I'm just sayin'!

So, in lieu of this very stressful moment, I am choosing to go to a happier place.
The beach, at sunset.
What could be more stress relieving than that?
These were taken in White Rock, B.C. last weekend.
Yep, that would be the Canada's!




I love the way the sun, hanging low in the sky, is falling on these little "cherubs".


My niece. She is genuinely cherubic!! She lives in the Americas. But part of her heart belongs to the Canadas.







Hopefully, this will help. It has already lifted some of my inner turmoil.
I think I may be able to rest a little easier for the next 11 minutes and 54 seconds.
And if you happen to read this after the game,
No matter who wins.
Just remember.
We are all part of the same team, the team called "the human race"!

Selah!

Now I will kindly pass this computer over to my dear D-man, who is, at this present moment, gripping his chair, clenching his teeth, holding his breath, and turning blue.
He's in need of a little stress relief.

p.s. Don't tell anyone, but I was hoping that the Canadian ice dancers would get the gold. Shhhhh.

The Olympic Experience Part 2

As if you haven't gotten your fill of the Olympics over these past two weeks, I thought I would go ahead and reminisce about them here at the Peanut Gallery.
One last time.
All for posterity's sake!
Thanks for allowing me to indulge myself!


I stuck my camera out my car window here. See those three large buildings. That is the athlete's village. Each building houses a different country's athletes. My Mother-in-Law had the privilege of volunteering here. Yep, I'm sure she's on a first name basis with most of the athletes by now!
But we are not jealous or anything. wink wink


That's D-man's mom in the Canada sweatshirt. She's a blast. Definitely young at heart!

B.C. Hydro built this dance floor. When danced on, electricity is created which, in turn, kept the lights on in a little house built right next to it. Did I mention that the little house was built with wood from trees destroyed by the infamous pine beetle?
Very Cool!
Very Green!
But that is what B.C. Hydro is all about.
Did I mention my Father-in-Law works there?


I mentioned in my last post that there were about 271 kazillion people downtown on Saturday. So the very act of trying to maneauvre our way down the streets with 7 children in tow was quite a feat. Of course, it probably didn't help that I'm bringing up the rear, with my camera stuck to my face. At least I know the peanut in the backpack isn't going anywhere.


So this fine little boy in plaid is J-boy's cousin. He's just doing some light reading. Someone must have handed him this Bible tract. How could they have known that he wants to be a pastor when he grows up? On the other hand, could you please pray for J-boy?


He's had enough and would like to go back to Gran's house.


Gran and Grandpa had a pile of pins for the kids to choose from. Of course, right up C-boys alley.


It is a scientifically proven fact that the greater the number of children, the greater the odds of not getting a good picture.


Here is the proof.


And here is the man that made our Olympic Adventure's possible.
Thanks Dad!
You're the man!
You look very nice in red, I might add!


And not to make anyone envious, but I failed to mention earlier, the hubs and I made our way to the Russia vs. Czech Republic hockey game.
You know, hockey is such an "insignificant" sport in Canada.
Owwwee...somebody just hit me in the head with a cow-bell.


Who said a goalie has the most difficult job?




It is difficult, if not impossible to describe the enthusiasm of the crowd.


And Canada wasn't even playing.
Maybe FERVOR is a better word. Or perhaps, frenzy bordering on hysteria.
Now that I have used up all of my vocabulary for the evening, I'll just say the volume in this place was CRAZY! I can't even imagine what the Canda/Usa game, played later that evening, was like.



And finally, for posterity's sake, I figured we should acknowledge this athlete one more time. Apolo, we appreciate you!

And that was our Olympic adventure in a nutshell.
Now, go turn on your T.V. and soak up these final days.


I know I will.

Before and After...

We spent Saturday in downtown Vancouver. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but I left my 50mm 1.8 lens on my camera. That was my first mistake. I really missed the zoom capabilities. I had heard about the chain link fence around the Cauldrons, but didn't think about the 271 kazillion people that were going to be downtown on a Saturday. Needless to say, there were not many photo ops with the massive crowds and 7 children in tow! Oh well, you win some and you lose some. I lost.

So here is my shot. Almost all of them are pathetic. I'm sure the sweet lady in this picture was happy when I clicked this one. Isn't her little girl cute?
The tree adds a special touch too. Not sure why I didn't move over a bit.


Usually I don't even bother editing pictures that aren't that great to begin with. It's just too time consuming. But I thought I'd give it a try. I decided to crop the life right out of the picture. And then use that handy cloning tool and clone out that tree. CLONE. What a strange word. I rarely use this tool. It was late when I was working on this so please excuse the crooked crop.


**Edited with Photoshop Elements 6

Pixel Perfect has some great before and after photos today!

I'm hoping to get to my "final Olympic post" at some point today!
I'm sure you will be waiting with baited breath.
Or not!

The Olympic Experience Part 1

I thought I'd dedicate this post to Apolo Ohno.



Thank you, passer-by, for offering to take the one and only picture of us together at the Olympics!


Just before being strip searched at the entrance. Well, not EXACTLY, but we did have to take our belts off.


The walk just to enter most of the venues is quite extensive. But look at the scenery!


WE ARE AT THE OLYMPICS!!!!

This gives you a feel for how far back we were.


And there he is just warming up. It was interesting, after they had called the skaters off the ice, Ohno continued skating for a few moments longer. I think he was enjoying the recognition. Of course, the crowd is chanting his name. I'd probably stay out on the ice for a few extra seconds too!


The quarter finals


He's breakin' out...makin' his move!


At this point, we were safe to cheer because Canada also qualified for the semi-finals. If they had not, I probably would've restrained from cheering. You should see the size of the cowbells these people were ringing. I probably would have got one in my head.


Again, in every race he was the last one off the ice. The whole time he is out out there, the crowd is going wild. I must say, he dries his skates very methodically.

I'm sure there is a great reason for this. We wouldn't want rust to form in between races!


He had smiles for everyone...especially when I yelled, "Hey Apolo, SMILE!" I kid, there was some serious distance between us and the ice! SERIOUS DISTANCE!

After qualifying in the quarter finals, J.R. Celski was disqualified in the Semi-finals. I guess you're not allowed to pull other skaters down with you. Oh well, maybe in 4 years. (doesn't that just sound depressing)


And now the FINAL. They call each player to the start line. At this point, the whole place is a MAD HOUSE. TWO, I said TWO Canadians were in the finals and that was serious grounds for some SERIOUS COW-BELLING!! Is anyone aware of this? I think seeing it on T.V., so much of the noice is drowned out. But the crowd was ELECTRIC!! The cowbells were the biggest surprise! You can always hear them in the background on TV. But I never got the memo about wearing earplugs in case of a over zealous fan banging a cowbell behind your head!


If I was about to make history, I would probably stretch like this too! O.K., maybe not if I was being viewed by millions of people. But, hey, he's dedicated to his sport!


GET READY!


GET SET!




GO!!! MOCK ONE WITH YOUR HAIR ON FIRE!!
See what I mean about the NOISE!!
Sorry about the camera shake. I was seriously stressed out for these skaters.




Eat my dust, Canada. Not really! I love Canada, my husband was conceived there!
Tonight was Korea's night. AS PER USUAL!


Look at that show of sportsmanship.


Yep, the most decorated Winter Olympic athlete in the world.




And that's a wrap! Thanks for the memories!

We're ba-ack..

We had a BLASTiferous, GRANDabuluos time.
It was definitely an "Olympic experience".
Whatever that means!
We are driving home at the moment.
When all the kids are tucked snuggly into their beds, I will begin to browse through some 400 photos.
The screeching howl coming from the back seat is hampering any attempts at recording an "Olympic account" at this juncture in time.
So....until tomorrow...I will leave you with this little bitty, teensy- weensy Olympic preview....





You're Welcome.

Canada, eh

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.


My In-Laws will be proud to know that I just made D-man sing this and he knew all the words. (almost)
We are on our way to the great North!! Some of you may not know that D-man was born and raised in Canada, eh.
When he became a United States citizen, they made him "renounce" his Canadian citizenship. (Nice, huh?!)
As he took the oath, his fingers were crossed behind his back!
His parents live near Vancouver and have been involved,up to their necks, in all things Olympics. In fact, we were surprised when his Dad wasn't the one lighting the Olympic cauldron! :)

They were gracious enough to give us tickets to a few events!

So, away we go!

The only time I allow my kids to be "plugged in" for 7 hours straight!

L-boy is not impressed. Every once in awhile, he blesses us with a blood curdling scream.

Just to remind us that he is there.


Hello "El Guapo"!! Hey, keep your eyes on the road. We've got precious cargo on board!


Much better!


Dear sir, I am so sorry for you!

Glad it's not us!


HELLOOO MOUNTAINS!!


Did I mention, this is the only time that I allow MYSELF to be "plugged in" for hours on end. This mobile,wireless internet is most excellent.
"What's that, honey?? Oh you need something. You'll have to wait. Mommy can't unbuckle, it's not safe!"(wink, wink)


Actually, she's too busy labeling Apolo Ohno's most amazing "flavor saver"!!

Speaking of facial hair, did I mention that we get the high privilege of watching "The Amazing Apolo" skate in the 1000 meter final?? The one where, if he win's, he breaks an olympic record for the most decorated winter olympic athlete!! I'm sorry Bonnie Blair, your title might just be ripped out from under you!

And I'll be there, with my zoom lens...trying to get a shot of that most amazing facial hair.

Just for you, Kevin!