Be prepared, my longest entry ever...
I know the Olympics are long gone but I had this idea awhile back and just couldn’t get the time to finding the pictures I needed.
I finally did.
I love the Olympics.
I adore the Olympics.
I can’t get enough of the Olympics. It gets my competitive juices and national pride flowing. Don and I watched nearly every minute of the Olympics, at least it felt that way at times, for example, as we watched the entire women’s AND men’s marathons – yes, we really did – all 2:20 some hours of each one.
Olympics is all about inspiration – setting dreams, setting goals and never giving up. The journey, the struggle and yeah, triumph is great too. I think this Olympics will be most remembered for Michael Phelps winning eight gold medals, to give him a total of fourteen gold medals in two Olympics. No one in history has ever done that, until now. 
That achievement might be what this Olympics will be remembered for, but there were some other great stories that many don’t even know about, unless you’re a crazed fanatic like me.
Here are some of my favorite and/or inspiring Olympics, in no particular order…
1. Dutch swimmer Maarten van der Weijden skirted just inside the final red buoy of the 10KM open water swimming event and grabbed gold, completing his recovery from leukemia - a swimming version of Lance Armstrong.
2. Natalie Du Toit, 24 yr old South African who also competed in the Olympic debut of the 10K open water race. She is an amputee, lost her leg in a motorcycle accident. She hung with the lead pack much of the race, but had a problem with her cap and couldn't keep up when the pace quickened toward the end of the two-hour ordeal. She came in 16th (she was 4th in the World Championship). But more amazing…she beat nine others – nine others who have two legs!
3. Lopez Lomong, qualified in the 1500, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who was abducted by guerilla soldiers when he was six years old, escaped, spent a decade in a Kenyan refugee camp and somehow, came to carry the American flag in the Opening Ceremonies as a world-class runner representing his adopted country. In an era of privileged athletes and state-run programs, Lomong is an unlikely Olympian. In telling the story, Lomong's adoptive father, Bob Rogers, talks about the day Lopez came to America: "We got him at the airport, walked down to baggage and I said we'd get his stuff and go to the car. He looked at me and said, 'You have a car?' " He has a website to spread the word about Sudan atrocities, http://lopezlomong.org.
4. Canada's lightweight women's double sculls rowing pair Tracy Cameron and Melanie Kok won bronze. Tracy Cameron shared a funny anecdote about playing mini Olympics with older brother Troy as a kid that reminded me of how my brother and I used to play together. She said, “We had a thing where when the other person would win, there was a medal presentation and you had to stop and raise the other person’s hand and declare them world champion. And I HATED it because I was always the one raising his hand. Finally, we’d have to call my mom in and she’d have do the medal presenting.” After Tracy climbed the Olympic podium, Troy gladly raised Tracy’s hand this time.
5. Taylor Phinney, 18yr old American, cycling – individual pursuit. His father, Davis Phinney, is a former Tour de France stage winner and champion of more than 300 races - plus a bronze medalist at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He now has severe Parkinson's disease. Against doctor’s advice, he underwent deep brain stimulation surgery with hopes of being healthy enough to follow Taylor to China. He did it and he was there and said that a little ding to his health was worth it.
6. When the Georgian and Russian women hugged each other on the winner's podium just days after the Russian- Georgian conflict began, hoping to show that an escalating conflict between their two nations will not spoil the sporting spirit at the Olympic games.
7. Henry Cejudo, a relatively unknown wrestler, Los Angeles-born son of two undocumented Mexican immigrants, whose life was filled with childhood struggles as he was raised with five siblings by a single mother who worked menial jobs. He lost in the first round of last year’s world championships, so how would anybody have heard of him? After major upsets, he qualified to wrestle for gold. After 3 more major upsets, he won gold. And upon given a flag he buried his face in it and his welted face cracked into a flood of tears. For a good 15 minutes, he cried and clutched the flag, and cried some more, and soon some in the stands were about to cry with him. Only in America, it seemed, could a kid grow up poor and anonymous and rise above it all to win an Olympic gold. Out of any Olympic champion, at least in these games, I have never seen such a genuine gratitude toward America. 
8. Okay, so everyone knows of the amazing Dara Torres, who at age forty-one swam and beat girls young enough to be her daughters. She definitely deserves a spot on my, or anyone’s, top 10 list. Even her goggles were older than her competitors. Here she is with Ryan Lochte on Florida Field - both ex-Gators.
9. Another well told Olympic story - indoor volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon. How did he find the courage to return to his team to lead them into the medal round after his father-in-law was killed at a tourist attraction in Beijing and his mother in law was seriously injured?
10. And, I guess finally, the chance to see inside of China and at least a little bit about the people who live there. Say what you will about the government, the citizens of Beijing came out to see and cheer for athletes of all nations…and the city put on quite a show.
In fact, it almost seems that everyone had a story in these Olympics. That’s what fascinated me most…all the great stories.
Finally, I'm always impressed with the grace with which losers handle their losses. How does a person deal with losing when they have trained literally for a lifetime to be the best at what they do? How difficult it must be to force yourself to smile when your heart is breaking. But, they somehow found a way. Impressive.
Girly fun with Sammy and Ellie...
Baby fun with Alexandra...
Cookout at the pool...
Enjoying the spread... Don's smoked chicken was good but Veronica's spring rolls stole the show!
Scott + Dara = Kid Magnets...
Olivia and Chance...
Since Scott and Dara live soooo far away in SC, we lingered in our goodbyes and visited Morningside Nature Center before they headed out of town...
Penny the adorable cow...
