Vancouver 2010

Whew! The 2010 Winter Olympics FINALLY arrived! We have been planning and saving for this trip for FOUR years and it was worth every bit of stress planning it all out! We had a fantastic trip with my parents (the rest of the family copped out - you know who you are! :-)
February did not start out very well for us and even the week before the Olympics my parents were sick and we weren't totally sure they'd make the trip.

My parents have a one-week time share at Whistler (the same week every year) and it just happened to be the second week of the winter olympics, so all we had to do was get tickets and a babysitter! We went to four events (my parents did six) and watched live events on TV at the condo all day, when not at them. Canada has much better coverage of the games than the States - all events are live on at least one channel, so we learned about sports that we've never watched before - like curling! Yes, the rock on the ice sport! It's actually very interesting and competitive and the Canadians are bonkers over it! It does require a ton of skill, but I'm not convinced you have to be incredibly athletic to do it.

Saturday: Day 1
The first day we all got up and were out my parents door by 3:30am! We went straight up to our first mountain event (Ladies Super G) - Jason took Emmett and I stayed with the girls because we couldn't check in until 4pm. They had a great time, but Emmett did sleep through some of it. :)

Monday: Day 3
Giant Hill Ski Jumping
We had a sitter come to the condo, so Jason and I could go with my parents to this event. The weather was fabulous and except for the fact that we were standing instead of sitting (ticket screw-up...long story) it was great!

Stroll through Whistler Village
The village is always a fabulous place to hang out, but it was REALLY hopping during the Olympics. Some events didn't finish until the evening, so all the stores were open until 10pm and there was always live music and entertainment. We weren't lucky enough to get free tickets to the daily evening medal ceremony/concerts, but the music sounded good!

Bobsled (or blobsleigh if you're Canadian) Family Picture

Wednesday: Day 5
Grammie and Pa sent Gracie to her first day of ski school. It was 6 hours on the mountain skiing and doing some indoor activities, like lunch! She loved it and has been asking to go again every day since! I told her that she needs to ask her grandparents..... :)

Thursday: Day 6
Nordic Combined
Each athlete gets one jump on the Giant Hill and that places them for their starting position in the 10k cross-country race. The ski jumping took FOREVER! The weather was cold, wet, and windy so after they got halfway through the jumps (about 32), they took a break and started all over again to be fair to all the athletes! But, once they started up again it went pretty fast. I think this was the event we were all least excited about going to, but it turned out to be our favorite! The racing is incredibly exciting, but just watching how hard they work going up those hills makes you tired! Two Americans took Gold and Silver, so we were ringing our bells and cheering the whole time.

Saturday: Day 8
4-Man Bobsled Finals
I took Gracie to this so Jason could stay with Emmett and Jessie (we had to check out of the condo before the event started).
Gracie is probably the most excited, energetic fan I've ever seen! She's always been that way - football, baseball, and now bobsled. She rang her bell and waved her flag the whole time! It was a great time and it didn't hurt that the Americans took gold either! :)

Before we went we kept saying that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and it might have been. But, since we got home, all I can think is...I hope not!