We’ve Got Spirit, Yes We Do…

Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about fun kid photos and the stories behind them. Enter Plum's "Babies for Yum Caption Contest" on Facebook and you could win a $100 gift card or Plum goodies.

Olympic spirit, that is. 

We do a lot of traveling with the BLT*, and this past December we had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

*My kids, not the sandwich.

Together with MC's sister and her family, we checked out the entrance area while waiting for our tour to begin.

{T Bub and Lovely L... Future Olympians?}

This area was filled with items from previous Olympic games  The kids had a blast crawling into a bobsled, checking out actual Olympic torches and trying to mimic all the statues.

For the start of the tour, we were treated to an inspiring video showcasing our Olympic athletes. I'm not gonna lie, I totally teared up.

Yes. I also cry when watching Dumbo.  What’s your point?

…..

The tour guide took us through several training areas where the athletes actually practice and by the dorms where athletes can live year-round.  At the end of the walkway, there was a large glass wall where we could see athletes and trainers eating lunch in the cafeteria. 

T Bub and Lovely L were very interested in the eating area, but that’s probably because we hadn’t fed the kids lunch yet. 

After the tour, we were allowed to roam the grounds.

Did you know:  The five interlocking Olympic rings represent the ‘five parts of the world which now are won over to Olympism and willing to accept healthy competition’. 

Which five parts?  Counting North and South America as one ‘part’ (the Americas) and Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia, there are five. 

Sorry Antarctica.  I guess you need to be more ‘willing to accept healthy competition’.  ; ) 

…..

Along both sides of the walkway were signs showing all the sports played in the Olympics.  I really wanted each of the kids to find a sport sign to stand next to so I could take their picture. 

Bitty and Lovely L fought over ice skating and soccer, so they got neither.  I choose for them and you can see by Bitty’s expression that she wasn’t too pleased.

  {Yes, these are all winter sports.  It’s what we do in Minnesota.}

Since we always watch {some} of the sports when the Olympics are on, T Bub and Lovely L were excited to have been where Olympic athletes were practicing. 

Knowing they would see some of them make it to the summer games in London or the winter games in Sochi, they tried to remember the names of the athletes our tour guide had told us were at that facility.

Bitty, on the other land, stayed mad that she didn’t get to stand next to the soccer sign. 

What fun places have you taken your family this year?

 

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

When Life Gives You Snow...

That's right. We are expected to get another 3-6" here in the Frozen North. But being the eternal optimist that I am, I plan to make something good out of it. In this case, I plan to make... Snow Cream. What is snow cream, you ask? Ice cream. Made from snow. Pretty simple, right? In fact, it is. Well, it is if you happen to have a foot of snow still sitting in your yard that refuses to melt no matter how long the sun shines on it... But I digress. I wrangled Bitty B to be my assistant for this project, which in truth wasn't too hard once I explained what we were going to make. To start, we opened the back door and looked out onto a glorious expanse* of snow-covered yard. (*that's sarcasm, people) We scooped 4 cups of snow right off our back patio and brought it inside. At this point we realized we needed to move quickly; as soon as we brought the snow in, it started to melt. We measured out 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of milk and dumped them into our snow. Bitty B stirred and after a minute, noted that, 'mom, this looks like pee snow'. It did. I assured her that I thought it would still taste good and that no aminals had been near our back porch. After I gave the snow a good stir all we had left to do was taste the stuff. Uhhhh.... yeah. It was awesome. I have to admit to being a little in shock that this worked and turned out quite yummy. That said, this stuff melted insanely quick. I ended up adding another two cups of snow just to make it less soupy. Once Bitty B and the Lovely L had their share, we put the lid on our container and set it back outside to chill. Get it??? Chill? I crack me up. Later when T Bub got home, he added four more cups of snow to what we already had mixed up and ate it. Yep, he's a growing boy.

Snow Cream

4 or more cups snow

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar