London Day 4

I herby dub today Olympic Park Day! Here are all the Gordy details... And pictures to go along as well.

This is the view from our kitchen window. I just noticed it this morning while I was toasting my bread. How in the world have I missed this?

Locking up number 212 for another day out and about!


Back at St. Pancras international. It is just beautiful! Sorry for the dark pic... The iPhone is great for quick pictures and posts but not always best for quality!



We made it to the park and walked by the aquatics center.


Then made the trek to the basketball arena.


Mom and Dad made it! And I guess I did too since I took the picture.


USA vs China was today. There is really nothing like hearing our National Anthem played in a big setting like that with people from all over the world. I make sure to belt out the song and cover my heart so everybody knows I'm with the USA. Not to mention it is one of my absolute all time biggest pet peeves when people (athletes in particular) don't sing the national anthem. Why would you not sing!?! Are you too good for that? Do you not like our country? Do you really not know the words to the song they play at the beginning of every singe sporting event? Come on, now. Everybody show a little pride and sing the national anthem!

All right then. Enough of that.

The US won by 2 in overtime. At one point we were behind by over 20. It. Was. C-r-a-z-y. I don't think I can handle many more games like that one. Whew. But we won. And the crowd was SO wonderful! I just can't say enough about how great the British people had been. They are completely into the games. Every event is sold out and there is even 24 hour televised coverage of the games. It is really amazing and really awesome to be a part of this.


After the narrow win we all got to talk with MA for about 20 minutes outside of the stadium before she had to head back to the village. Here's another dark picture of us together.


Then we found some much because we were all starving. We had a great sandwich. It was salted beef with slaw and gherkins and mustard on rye. It was super yummy. I had a Fanta as well, and let me tell you that the Fanta here in England is about 1,000 times better than the US version. That's why they are so popular and I see every other person drinking them! They taste good here! Haha!


Another pic of the stadium.


At the velodrome. This was where the cycling took place. It was closed today though. I really wanted to go in.


It was an amazing building!


There was live music in a nice ampitheater.



In the open central park area.


Dad waving hi on our way to the stadium.


There were neat booths and performers all over. I took this picture of the unicyclist for Grace.


We waited in line 10 minutes to get into the stadium. Then when the gates opened they told us our pass wouldn't get us in. Boooooooooo!!!!! We really wanted to see the track and field, but we just had a day park pass which let us into most events but not into the stadium.


So we walked through the rest of the park towards the subway.


We saw a sign that said "to the tube" so we decided to try a new route back home. Big mistake. Huge mistake. We walked and walked and walked and walked and walked....


Until we finally found the Abbey Road DLR station (which was not even the one we wanted) and hopped on and SAT DOWN!


We were going to head back home a bit easier than we had been getting back, but the Lego store just sucked us in and there was no going back... Early at least. :)


Any Lego. Any size. Any color. Any shape. Take your pick.


And we found the kids souvenir. There is no doubt that this will be a popular toy! I mean we all know how many hours of play have been logged with the Little People yellow school bus (thanks Aunt Debbie). Can you imagine how much fun they are going to have with a RED (jack's favorite color) double decker bus!


And we had to complete the set and have the Queen and Duke of course.


We ran in a grocery store and dad bought some jams and bread and cheese. I saw this...


And this... Not Lays, but Walkers. Somebody is making some serious money at a marketing and design firm somewhere.


I even got to go into my dream store, Cath Kidston. Ahhhh... I'll have one of each, please. This was seriously a "to-do" on my list, so I was glad to check it off... If only I was independently wealthy and could purchase a stores worth and then ship it home. ;-)


For dinner we ate at an organic French bistro type of place. The service was not the best but the food was pretty good. I had a spinach and 3 cheese quiche and salad.


And then we made it uneventfully back home to watch some more Paralympics on tv and wish we were there cheering with the crowd.

And what was for dessert tonight?


Lemon curd tart. Mmmmm. It kind of got jostled on the way home but was just fabulous! Absolutely my favorite sweet treat yet... Except for maybe the honey comb gelato I had in the mall earlier... I was so busy enjoying it I forgot to take a picture! Now that's good! Hahaha! I think I've gained 15 pounds already (and not in my wallet. Hardy-har-har.). It's a good thing we are walking 10,000 miles a day or I may have gained more!


That just about sums up our Olympic Park day. Now I'm ready for some sleep!