My vacation abroad: the Olympics

One of the biggest bucket list goals that I have accomplished so far is attending the summer Olympics. The. Summer. Olympics. Even a month later, I get all teary-eyed when I see the pictures of all that took place during the two week period. And it's even better knowing that I was there to experience a small part of it.

The back story: about six years ago, I started plotting this trip, and I jokingly asked my cousin, Cheyanne, if she wanted to join me. Chey was 10 at the time. So imagine my surprise when her grandmother agreed to let her go with me! It started coming together in 2011, when tickets went on sale and I bought some. No turning back at that point!

Fluffy clouds on our flight into London.

Oh, you know, just running into random friends on London streets.

Waiting in line to get our tickets.

Our first event--beach volleyball!

The men's teams from Canada and GB.

Our first view of Olympic Park and the torch.

It rained, in typical London fashion. 

We happened to meet some of the Team GB Basketball players. KD would have been better, but I can't complain!

If you go:

• Consider purchasing tickets to semi-finals or finals matches. Even the cheap seats had good views. If I could do it again, I would shoot for tickets that take place closer to the medal ceremonies. Your chances of seeing someone from the USA will be a lot greater!
• Buy tickets to something the host country is good at. The spirit of Team GB was fantastic, even though they lost both matches that we saw. I can only imagine if we had seen dressage or cycling or crew! 
• Give yourself a day to catch up from jet lag. We had to hit the ground running, and I may or may not have dozed off at the beach volleyball. (At least I didn't fall asleep in the National Museum, like last time.)
• Stay within walking distance to the major attractions. The Tube station got a little crowded, but we lucked out and could walk to Hyde Park, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, and so on. 

All in all, I had a wonderful time, and I am already planning my next Olympic adventure. I've always wanted to go to South America! I think know I watched too many Betty Grable movies as a kid. 

So long, summer

I can't believe summer is almost over! This summer was so unexpectedly great, but unfortunately I did a poor job of documenting it. However, Laura's birthday was last weekend, and I actually got some pictures of that! Yay me!

It was a great birthday party and a great way to start a new school year. For the first time in my life, I am not going back to school in the fall. I certainly appreciate the lack of homework, but I do miss class. I also miss sleeping in and taking naps in the middle of the day. In fact, I think all U.S. businesses should implement mandatory naptime. Everyone would be so much happier and more productive! 

In other news, Laura is moving closer to her new teaching job with one of our best friends. She is moving to a great house in Oklahoma City, and Abigail is moving in with me. I'm going to miss Laura, but it will be nice to live with Abigail again, too. I am probably going to majorly distract her from her law studies, though. I am already planning a High School Musical marathon!