Behind the "Perfect" shot.......

The first thing we talk about, when we are planning our family trip to the beach, is the FAMILY PHOTO. Tommy seemed confused by this, doesn't every family take a group picture at the beach? We have to pick a night when all family members are there, we have to choose the color combo (keeping in mind that the guys prefer ONLY white and khaki), we have to count on the kindness of friends with cameras, and we have to keep our fingers crossed that the weather holds out, and Waa-la... we have the Christmas card picture!

Or maybe not...Haley hates this one because her hair is blowing!

Or maybe not....Uncle Rick was always blowing 'raspberries' at baby Hope!

Or maybe not....we seemed to need a lot of help 'staging' ourselves which usually lead to a round of giggles.

Or maybe not....those red solo cups got everyone down to the beach for the dreaded moment but they do stand out in the family shot!

This may be our best shot of the day! Honestly, with a family this good looking we can't go wrong!

Yes, Alabama has a beach!

Orange Beach...and boy did we have a great time! We traveled from London, Boston, Birmingham, Millbrook, Charlotte, and Knoxville for a family gathering and this year we had babies to keep us entertained!

We shared Bushwackers and a few laughs at the Fora-Bama......

We played on the beach, took long walks, caught a stingray, and watched the dolphins and mullet jump the waves ......

We got up early one morning to watch the Blue Angles practice, only to have it cancelled due to low cloud coverage. But we did take the boys to the Navy Air Museum where they took a spin in a flight simulator.

We rented a Pontoon boat with a slide.....

It was a great "splash"! And then it was family picture time....stay tuned!

Team GB - In Style

"Massively Proud!"
 "Well done, Lads!"
 "Wucking hawd to bring ohm the gold!" (That's my Scottish accent)
Everywhere you look there are Union Jacks and "Go Team GB" is the predominant chant, as it should be with the Triathlon taking place in the heart of this beautiful city.  Sandra and I managed to catch a glimpse of the cycling portion as they raced around Hyde Park and down Kensington Road for a loop around Buckingham Palace.

After the seventh lap we raced across the park to the Diana Memorial near Isis, again hoping to catch a glimpse of the runners circling the Serpentine Pond...

Crowds were 10-12 deep lining the park and assumed every vantage point along the route with the majority supporting the Brownlee brothers.....

That's when I noticed it........Do you see a pattern?

Copy cats!!!

 The Brownlee Brothers took Gold and Bronze and it was a proud day for Team GB!

It's the people...

It's the endless volunteers, the loyal spectators, the TV news commentators, the folks giving directions, the friendly police and security staff, the beer girls - yeh! ....it's the people who are making these Olympics so memorable for those of us who have been fortunate enough to take part in the festivities! Just take a look......

We are just having way too much fun!

No statistics, just my personal Olympic highlights!

Remember the game "Catch me if you can"? Well I have finally slowed down, no more tickets....just 20 channels of continued BBC TV Olympic coverage.... and now, I just want to record some of my best memories of the first week of the 2012 Olympics...what a week it was!

Champagne and salmon with our good friends Consuelo and Paul and then off to the Aquatics Center for Men's Synchronised Diving. The boards were quite a distance for us to judge the dive but we could see the splash and we had a good view of the medal ceremony where the USA took Bronze.

The park was massive and the crowd flowed well so we explored the wildflower banks of the river ..... breathtaking....

Day 6   -  Beach Volleyball has got to be one of the most exciting sports ever created - for the spectators! We arrived with marching bands and sand-castles, security was a breeze....

Our tickets were great...I think the background of the Horse Guards Parade and the London Eye is the most memorable setting of all the Olympic venues. Beautiful athletes in bikinis and beach dancers set the stage, combined with an insanely enthusiastic disc jockey and the "Mexican Wave"...well, even at 8 am the next day, it was just fun!

You just never know when a pretty dancer might ask you to Cha-Cha, and someone else across the stadium has her zoom lens ready!

Back to the Olympic Park on Day 7 ....the crowds were intense with ALL the venues open for competition. I have been to Disney World at Christmas and this was huge, but the masses seemed to move respectfully and timely. We met up with our two guests for the day - Khalid, Rick's trainer and an EY colleague and fellow Auburn grad, Marianna.....a full afternoon of Women's diving ahead of us!

We walked around the whole park, circling every venue, and then back to the District Line at West Ham Station - almost too tired to stop at the pub....

Almost!!!