It's an Olympics Summer!

I am a big fan of the Olympics. I love the inspirational stories and the national pride (from Greece to Great Britain, from Albania to Zimbabwe). 

I love the competition and the pageantry. The hopes and dreams of nations and individuals on display. The best-of-the-best, once every four years, special-ness and uniqueness of a huge variety of sports.

I love that even in this torn up world, people can still come together and find some common ground.

And, of course, I love me some Bob Costas.

I have a lot of special memories, both watching the Olympics with my family growing up (my mom loves the Olympics as much as I do!), and then later as an adult. 

I remember watching the 1998 Winter Olympics {Nagano} huddled around dorm room sized TV's in Cook Hall, the 2002 Winter Olympics {Salt Lake City} in our first house as a newlywed, the 2004 Summer Olympics {Athens} feeling our baby boy's kicks from inside my growing belly, and the 2008 Summer Olympics {Beijing} in our current home with a 3 year old and a 1 year old by my side.

The Olympics mark time for me in a way, and one of my favorite questions to think about while watching them is Where will we be in two years? Or in four?

Even with all of my love for the Olympics, we have never hosted an Olympics party. It seems these days that I jump at any opportunity to celebrate just about anything. It's a way to bring community together and now that the kids are old enough to appreciate it, it adds some extra life and laughter to their young days.

While many of our days are rather ordinary around here (and I treasure those days as much as the more exciting ones), I also hope the kids will someday remember a family and a group of friends who did their best to make the ordinary extraordinary.

We wore our red, white & blue with pride, hung medals around our necks, chowed on Olympic worthy treats and snacks, and talked, laughed and bingo-ed our way through the Opening Cermony, well into the night.

I know what I'll be doing for the next 2 weeks. How 'bout you?

{Party Credits}

Printable Party Sign // Mirabelle Creations

Opening Ceremony Bingo & Memory Sheet // Thirty Handmade Days

Ice Cream Popcorn Torches & Watermelon Stars // A Small Snippet

It's An Olympics Summer! Pinboard