Summer Olympics Soiree

Thank you, London, for hosting the 30th Olympiad. The Summer Games were thoroughly enjoyed stateside.

In order to get the international event off to a good start, we decided to host a Summer Olympics Soiree. (Evite had an adorable Olympic-themed invitation with the iconic Underground symbol as one of the Olympic Rings, but I was unable to copy it from their site.) Just a barbecue with some pick-up sports equipment on hand for the kids: hula hoops (rhythmic gymnastics), jump ropes (high jump?) and badminton raquets and birdies. It's too bad we didn't have our own outdoor aquatic center because a dip in the pool would have certainly cooled off the 90 degree evening. Maybe we can have one installed before the 2016 Games.

Of course we had to make the space Olympics-worthy, so the girls helped paint red, white and blue cardboard letters to support the U. S. team.

The signage was hung with R, W and Blue ribbon, flanked by R, W and Blue string lights (courtesy of Target's Fourth of July clearance: $1.50 per 10-foot set).

For a little fun, the adults were subject to a brief trivia quiz, with star-splangled mints given to the players who came up with the fastest answers. Kids were lined up to do a (mini) discus throw with R, W and Blue glowstick necklaces for a prize.

Those were pretty cool to photgraph while they were twirling them around and making glowstick art in motion.

And as a final note to the evening, we gave the kids a lightweight torch (ie, sparklers) to carry. Who knows? One day one of them could be an Olympic champion!