London Olympics, 2012: Cycle Race

It has begun!

Sat. July 28th and the Olympics games has started! After an absolutely mega 4 hour slightly eccentric -and very British -spectacle staged in the Olympic Stadium by director Danny Boyle the Olympics has officially kicked off and started with the men's and women's bicycle road race that went through our neighborhood and then followed a few days later by the bicycle time trials which went literally down our street and right past our front door!!!!

The men's road race although expected to be won by GBR was won by Kazakhstan with not a Brit in sight and much to the great disappointment of the team and country however, redemption was to come quickly a few days later on Aug. 1st at the time trials a memorable race which started and ended at our local Hampton Court Palace and here is the view of the track coming over Hampton Court Bridge:

Olive getting a better view on daddies shoulders:


And then here was the view from our front room:


...and in front of the house!


Pictures can not quite translate the atmosphere and energy which was quite amazing and i am not particularly into cycling but it was exciting and uplifting to be there and to be a part of the event albeit just as an onlooker it was infectious and historical.

And then to top it all off, the 1 Olympic event that we got to witness right in front of our house GBR takes the gold and here is our world and Olympic champion Mr. Bradley Wiggins:

What a great day! Go on the Wiggo!

Olympic Torch Relay: July 27th, 2012

On the 70th and final day of the Olympic torch relay the torch arrived on our doorstep at Hampton Court Palace to board the Queens Jubilee barge Gloriana and travel downstream to the opening of the Olympic games at the Olympic stadium in Stratford East London.


Over a thousand people turned out to see the spectacle (and the queens barge is in the top right!) you couldn't get over Hampton Court Bridge let alone get close enough for a decent view! Regardless, the atmosphere and the excitement was palpable, a truly historical moment in time!

EAT IT!

Baxter is well on the solids, meaning the pulverized and smushed up kind! And he loves it!...well, sort of...at least, he loves to make a right big mess of himself! And is there any respect for mummy's gourmet sweet potato smoothie? Na! just shovel it in quick, spread it around your face and then chuck it on the floor!

Get up, stand up...!

I had to get this sequence of images up to illustrate exactly what my Baxter likes to do with his awake time. You put him on the floor and he's off! That is, until he finds something to pull himself up with or on -usually it is the sofa -and then he bobs about not sure where to go sits back down and then he's off again!

And he love's it!

It must be said that at 6 Months Baxter is crawling and pulling himself up to standing much earlier than his big sister did. She didn't crawl until around 8 months -not that it's a competition or anything!