Family Olympic Games

Smith_Family_Olympics

I love the Olympics…

Olympic Games

Actually, my entire family loves to watch them.  We eagerly await the opening ceremony and then spend the next 2 weeks glued to our television sets, rooting for our favorite athletes.

Now, you may think that since we like the Olympics so much, that we must all be athletes ourselves.

While a few of us are quite athletic – most of us aren’t so much (including me).

But, that didn’t stop us from preparing for the ‘Smith Family Summer Olympic Games’.

Olympic Games

Family Olympic Games

Our athletic event was to be held at Double S Farms, where my mom and sister (and her family) live.

My mother, who organizes this entire event, assigned to teams a few weeks ago and my sisters and I had fun making the t-shirts for our teams.

As we arrived for the big day, in our ‘nifty’ new Olympic t-shirts – it was time for face painting by my sister, Jennifer.

Olympic Games

My nephew, opted for an American flag on his nose…

Olympic Games

Now, it was time for the team pictures.

Team Great Britain

Team Great Britain

Team USA

Team USA

(Channeling the 70’s)

Team China

Team China

(Four members of our extended family are adopted from China).

And…   

Team France

Team France

To keep everyone ‘honest’, we had two Olympic judges (my daughter and my mom) and three ‘Official Observers’ (my granddaughter Lily and twin nephews Danny & Dean).

Olympic Games

Now, it was time for the Olympic events!

Our first event was the ‘Mustache-Straw’ relay.

The photo below explains it all…

Olympic Games

If you dropped the straw, you had to stop and put it back up, run to the end and then run back to your team.  (I was terrible at this game).

Our next event was what my daughter referred to as the ‘SpongeBob’ relay.  The goal was to take a yellow sponge full of water and run to an empty container and squeeze out the water.

Olympic Games

The first team that filled up their container with water, won.

Olympic Games

My mother, one of the judges, kept an eye on everyone, making sure we were following the rules.

My sister, Grace, had great form…

Olympic Games

The third event was the ‘Water Balloon Shot-Put’.

Olympic Games

My mom explained the rules.  Whoever threw their water balloon furthest, won.

To make it fair – she broke up the competition into two parts; one for the kids and the other, for the adults.

Olympic Games

My brother-in-law, gave his son, pointers on how to throw the balloon.

Olympic Games

At this point, we heard thunder and saw storm clouds gathering fast.  We only had a little while left before the monsoon storm hit.

I had so much fun taking pictures of this event because I was able to capture everyone’s great ‘form’ 😉 

Olympic Games

My sister, Grace, had a great throw.

Olympic Games

My sister-in-law, Marisue, did great while my brother looked on.

Olympic Games

My brother-in-law, Jason, decided to go with ‘granny-style’.

Now, it was the kid’s turn and we had to hurry, because it was beginning to rain and lightening wasn’t far off.

Double S Farms

I love how my son, Kai, puts his all into his effort.

Double S Farms

Next, it was my nephew, Oliver’s, turn.

(Can you see the Gatorade on his t-shirt 😉

We just barely finished the event and then it started to pour down rain. Thankfully, our last few events were indoors.

Olympic Games

Now, it was time for Shooting.

Double S Farms

My daughter, Rachele, was up first.

Double S Farms

Then it was Gracie’s turn.

Olympic Games

My brother gave my sister pointers on shooting.

Olympic Games

Then it was my turn – I hit one of the targets.

Finally, it was my husband’s turn….

Olympic Games

My husband is the expert shooter in the family.

But, I beat him!  To be fair though, I taught me how to shoot years ago 😉

Our last event was Diving.    

Olympic Games

We had to throw a sponge ball into a container of water.

All too soon, the events were over and the scores tallied.

Now it was time to eat!

Olympic party

We had Cornish ‘pasties’ for dinner and English trifle for dessert – delicious!

Then it was time for our medal ceremony.

Olympic party

My mom had created our Olympic medals from ribbon and large metal washers from the hardware store.

We had to sing the national anthem from each country.

It was a fabulous day and I can hardly wait for the Smith Family Winter Olympic Games in 2 years!

**How about you?  Do you find yourself glued to the television, watching the Olympics?

Have you ever had an Olympic party?

The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat

Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
5 replies
  1. JOHNSON, Cotswold Hills, England.
    JOHNSON, Cotswold Hills, England. says:

    What a great idea, Noelle. I've not heard of anyone doing this over here but I think they should! We did have lots of street parties to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, 'though.

    Now that the games are taking place, Britain is in the grip of Olympic fever. Everyone is talking about it, watching it on tv or just travelling up to London to soak up the atmosphere. Some lucky ones have, of course, tickets for events.

    It really is a very exciting time and we Brits, not normally known for our patriotic fervour, are flying the Union flag wherever and whenever we can. All we need are a few gold medals!

    Did you watch the opening ceremony? I'm not too sure just how easy it was for those overseas to follow the story of how Britain changed from a rural idyll to an industrial nation and then moved into the digital world. However, hope you enjoyed it regardless.

    Johnson

  2. Little Expanded
    Little Expanded says:

    Really great looking event! Put a smile on my face here in SA! I must say those first 3 pics with dog in the background couch is like, oh fun, not fun, zzzzzzzzz! If you follow! How old is he/she? Great post! LT

  3. rosiemomma
    rosiemomma says:

    What a fun time and a great idea! Did you get your pasties from the Cornish Pasty Company in Mesa? They look just like the ones we enjoyed over the weekend too! We made British "chips" and lemon meringue to go with them.

  4. arizonaplantlady@gmail.com
    arizonaplantlady@gmail.com says:

    Hello,

    Thank you all for your comments. I'll try to answer your questions…

    Yes, I did watch the Olympic opening ceremony. I have been attached to my television almost non-stop, watching the Olympics. It makes me want to visit London again.

    The dog in the photo is Sodapop and she belongs to my sister. However, she is the daughter of my dog, Missy. Sodapop is about 7 years old.

    We did buy our pasties at the Cornish Pasty Company in Mesa. They were delicious!

    I hope you all are enjoying the Olympics as much as I am!

    Noelle

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