Homestyle Olympics (Or: Desperate summer day - not sure what to do with kids ...)

I love the Olympics. I'm actually quite addicted to them. I've said more than once (and I know others share this sentiment) that I can't wait until they're over so I can get a good night's sleep. Any semblance of a bedtime goes out the window when the evening rolls around, for who truly can go to sleep when gymnastics pops on the tube around 11 pm?

Swimming is a favorite of mine, in part because I can't do it myself (at least not very well) and also it's just incredible to watch. Aidan has shown quite a fascination with the sport as well, and we've been "talking it up" to him, perhaps sparking an interest. My boy strikes me as having a "swimmer's body" at his young age, so who knows how he'll develop ...

This afternoon has been one of those summer days where my kids (well, kid-singular, as in Aidan) needs a jolt in the creativity department. So we just staged our own backyard Olympics, with the featured event: the obstacle course. I couldn't get it all in one picture (above) -- the "course" goes down the side yard as well. We've got the slide, a balance beam, crawling action through the tunnel, kicking, hopping, rolling, you name it -- even mowing the lawn for a stretch and scootering down to the finish. It's quite cool, if I do say so myself.

Poor Grace is out due to injury, so she set up her own little island in the middle of the yard and has been cheering on her older brother. She's also the keeper of the timer (although that doesn't always fare so well).

I know, I know -- this is just so terribly creative of me to think of something like this ... and I also know that tens of thousands of backyards across the country look very similar to mine, if not way cooler. Ah, well ... it's my little effort. Now I must go finish up our medals out of cardboard and construction paper: yellow, blue, and red (the closest I could come to metallic shades). The time to beat is 41 seconds, which Aidan set this afternoon. I gave it a run myself at a straight minute (with some clear disadvantages in my court, considering my butt can't fit on the narrow slide, the hole in the "tunnel" is too small ... you get the idea).

Now to glue on some gold leaf ...