2012 Gatchel Olympics: Frog Fishin'

The rules of the event were as follows:

1. Catch one frog at a time from the pool in the net
2. Carry the frog using both hands to the basket
3. Empty the frog out of the net without touching it
4. Repeat until all frogs are in the basket
5. Fastest time wins!

Noah went first and struggled a bit to get the frogs out of the net at the end. He struggled quite a bit, but eventually finished. We let Mikayla use her hands to get the frogs out of the net "to be fair" since she was younger. Kristi and I followed, showing our clever skills to entertain and stall while still having fun competing.

The final times were (slightly fudged):
Noah: 2:21
Mikayla: 1:40 (Gold)
Daddy: 1:42 (Silver)
Mommy: 2:04 (Bronze)

OK, so the event was a bit rigged from the start. Noah's been a little cocky lately about how he always wins and how Mikayla always loses. He needed to get knocked down a peg :-)

More pictures in the album.

2012 Gatchel Olympics: Musical Chairs

Today's event was "Musical Chairs." Kristi stayed out to play the music while Noah, Mikayla, and I ran in circles (although often some ran in the opposite direction) in a best out of 5 competition. It took Mikayla a bit at first to understand that she could sit in any seat once the music stopped, not just hers, and fortunately there were no injuries :)

Tonight's Results:
Gold: Noah (undefeated)
Silver: Mikayla (thanks to Daddy falling over the chair more than once)
Bronze: Daddy (participant award)

Again, more pics in the album

2012 Gatchel Olympics: Bowling

This year our first game was Bowling. We each took turns knocking pins down and counting our score.
<Mikayla> I said 1, 2, 3 ...
It was a close game between Noah and Mommy, but as you can see by the final score, the results were
Gold: Noah!
<Noah> I won the bowling. I won! I won!
Silver: Mommy
Bronze: Mikayla

Tomorrow's game will be: Musical Chairs

More pictures can be found in the album.

2012 Gatchel Olympics: Opening Ceremony

Today was the opening ceremony of the 2012 Gatchel Olympics!
<Noah> "I never ever heard of the Olympic Ceremonies before.
<Mikayla> "I like the teremonys"

First Mommy announced the start of the ceremony. Then we had our Parade of Nations when we all got to walk around the house holding our flag high and proud while our chosen song was playing. Noah's was "Life on the Highway from Rascal Flatts (in Cars). Mikayla's song was the "We Are Young" ("I'll carry you home tonight") song. Daddy's was the theme to Indiana Jones. Mommy's song was "1,2,3" by the Plain White T's. We also hung the flags sent in by our friends and family. Then we introduced our Olympic song, "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson.

After the Parade of Nations, we lit our Olympic "torch" and said our oath and got our very own shirts!

Finally, in honor of this years London games, we ate English food consisting of cottage pile, scones, and tea cakes :)

<Noah and Mikayla were contributing authors to this post>

More pictures can be found in the album.

Safety Town Graduation!

Noah's spent the last two weeks attending his much anticipated birthday present: Safety Town!

He learned all kinds of ways to stay safe and know what to do when you're lost or in trouble. The highlight was riding his very first school bus this week to visit the local fire station. You'll have to ask him about it sometime ;-)