Of course, the oldest always gets to go first...

With the weather warming up and summer approaching it is a great time to get active out-of-doors.   As moms, we are role models for our children – whether we are sitting on the couch or running around outside or hitting the gym or squeezing in a power walk during one of their sports practices. We’re quite active together as a family, but I also encourage the kids to be active on their own time too, teaching them to balance DS and Wii indoor time with lots of fresh air.

So I’m always looking for toys that will encourage our four kids to be active and stay outdoors (and lets face it – if they’re outdoors, the house stays cleaner!)

The Whiplash scooter fits the bill quite nicely – starting with the boisterous wrestling match over who would get the honor of trying it out first.

The Whiplash scooter is not motorized (yay for that!), but it isn’t your old standard scooter either.  It truly is the “scooter with a twist” as it uses wave torsion technology and has a caster wheel. Both help it whip from side to side and allow you to do all sorts of tricks on it.  Drifting, carving….all sorts of terms that my kids know and I don’t.Here’s how the company describes it:

“The Whiplash™ is a self-propelling, revolutionary new ride. It is part scooter, part Wave board (caster board) and totally fun. The Whiplash Scooter’s flexing deck and handlebar fuse together to provide riders with a cool, side to side, whip-like ride. Riders can self-propel the scooter so that their feet never touch the ground or ride it like a a traditional scooter.”

The one thing I do know is that this scooter has been a big hit, with my youngest (five years old) all the way up -seven, nine and eleven year olds.  No wonder it was  named one of the best toys of the year!

Drawbacks…..not much, except that we only own one.

My kids’ comments:

“This is the BEST scooter EVER!!!!!”

“It rocks, Mom!”

and my favorite…

“…You’re the BEST mom EVER!!!”

…of course I am, until it is time to eat their spinach.

So there you have it.  The Whiplash scooter is a keeper and it keeps them busy- and better yet, active, for hours.

Aren’t I the best mom ever?

I’ve been giving most of my writing over to the Canadian perspective of our Vancouver Olympic Winter Games and I think it’s time for a little Team USA love, no?  Here’s what you can do to support our athletes from Team USA, who have been training their entire lives will take the stage to represent our country.

Anyone who registers on Teamusa.org will have access to the latest info and will receive exclusive updates throughout the games. So get your spirit on and help cheer on our athletes!  (Yes, I’m Canadian, but we’re like sisters, right? Go Team USA, Go!)

Sign up to experience the insider’s view of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.  Be part of Team USA for 18 incredible days of competition!

Receive exclusive updates during the Winter Games
Get the inside scoop, event by event
Hear directly from our Olympic athletes as they chase their dream
Photo and video highlights, right to your desktop

AT&T Soundtrack Program

Download never-before-released songs and ring tones from top recording artists such as Mariah Carey, 3 Doors Down and Rascal Flatts. Proceeds from each download go to Team USA. Click here to learn more.

MyTeamUSARewards.com

Every time you shop at participating retailers, you’ll earn up to 15%* cash back at hundreds of online retailers! Plus, an equal amount of what you earn will be matched and given to support Team USA. Click here to learn more.

Pringles.com

Customize your own Pringles cans with new Team USA designs with the Pringles Pop Art Can Creator! For every can creation submitted and approved between 1/25/10 and 4/25/10, Pringles will make a 50 cent donation to the U.S. Olympic Committee. Click here to learn more.

Support a Sport

Choose up to three of your favorite sports and make a gift directly to them. The National Governing Body of that sport will apply your donation where it’s needed most. Plus, if you donate $25 or more, you will receive a limited edition Team USA Vancouver edition hat. Click here to learn more.

Honorary Team USA Captain

Donate $100 to become an Honorary Team Captain for Team USA. Receive a limited-edition pin along with a copy of the DVD Miracle, display your personal message of support on teamusa.org and receive exclusive photos straight from Vancouver” Click here to learn more.

TeamUSAShop.com

Support Team USA and get the U.S.Olympic gear that Team USA will be Wearing in Vancouver.Click here to learn more. Click here to learn more.

• Victory in Vancouver is a state-by-state, hometown-by-hometown effort to help the U.S. athletes who are our fellow Americans and neighbors achieve their dreams of winning top honors at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada!
• It’s been almost 80 years since Team USA won the most gold medals at the Olympic Winter Games, and they’re ready to do it again. Your gift today can bring the United States to Victory in Vancouver!
• Be a part of this historic bid for Olympic glory with your gift to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

SPECIAL OFFER:

• Receive this Team USA fleece jacket FREE with a donation of $20 or more.
• Proudly display your support for Team USA with this U.S. Olympic fleece jacket!

Sixth Ring Membership

• The Sixth Ring is an elite group of individuals who spearhead the efforts of the U.S. Olympic Committee to send the best, most talented athletes to the Olympic Games.
• Become a member of the Sixth Ring today and lead the team to victory!

Please let me know if you are able to post or tweet and if you could send me the link that would be fantastic. By spreading the word we can all help support our Team USA athletes bring home the gold.

Team USA News

lizap@teamusanews.org

So first off I just want to clarify that I did not, in fact, finish the entire foot long hot dog.  It was Olympic sized, but my stomach – thankfully – is not.  But Friday, the day of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, was not a good eating day.  Of course it was a bad day for Georgia, too, so I think my eating habits for the day may pale in comparison.

Steve and I woke up, herded the kids off to school and started to don our Olympic gear.  Steve was quite disappointed that he couldn’t fit into our son’s new Roberto Luongo Canada Jersey, but of course, before I bought it for our son, I did make sure it fit me!

We ended up leaving the jersey at home – I’ll be wearing it to one of the Olympic hockey games in a few days.  We made our way down to Vancouver (caught a ride with family) and stopped for lunch just outside the downtown core to avoid the Olympic craziness and find a place to park.  At lunch, we found out the very sad news that the Georgian Luger had passed away.  It was a somber beginning to be sure.  The news spread through the restaurant, on the televisions, from table to table.  Everyone was horrified and saddened at the tragic event.

After lunch, we made our way to the Molson Brewery, where we had been invited to a private reception in their beautiful little bar. Do I need to say it was a ton of fun?

At the Molson Brewery in Vancouver

There, we had a chance to meet the Molson and Coors family members and of course I just had to have my picture taken with Pete Coors and Jeff Molson to show Sian – she’s a big beer fan and I wish she was there with us!

Left, Pete Coors, me and Jeff Molson

We caught a cab downtown and made our way through security.  Because I packed a really small purse and Steve only had our camera case, we were able to go through the express security lineup.  The walk around BC Place was much longer than the wait at security and we were into the event in minutes.

Express lane - SWEET!

Along the way, we bumped into a family friend who is volunteering during the games and he looked really fly in his Olympic volunteer gear so of course I had to take a photo of him and my husband.

Steve and our good family friend Mr. T, who was volunteering at the ceremonies

Since we were early, we decided to grab some bevvies and my eyes lit up when I spotted the Olympic sized hot dogs, so of course I had to have one. I gave it my best shot but couldn’t quite make it through the entire thing, much to the disappointment of many of my twitter followers, who were rooting for me to finish it like a champion.

Olympic sized portion - yikes!

We tried to connect with our friends and fellow bloggers Erica (Strong Mommy) and her husband, but the crowds were too intense and via text we decided to hook up for drinks after the event.  We bumped into some more friends and chatted for a while, then made our way to our seats.

In our seats were our Olympic kit, which consisted of a beautiful book, and a “drum” box.

Our "drum" which contained all our audience participation goodies.

Inside the drum was a white paper poncho, a flashlight, a drumstick and a battery operated candle.  It looked like we were in store for a bit of audience participation!Sure enough, at 5pm the entire audience was lead through rehearsals of what we were to do.  This involved standing and counting down the last ten seconds before the ceremony started (Erica and her husband were seated ‘number 8′ on the countdown on the other side of the stadium and we were number 3, directly across from them).

Puttin' on the ponchos...

The flashlights were to be used in tandem for a song or two and the drum and drumstick were for a song as well. The candle was to be saved for the end, near when the torch would arrive.  Honestly, most people were too busy enjoying the moment and not really listening to all the instructions.

Candle, drumstick and flashlight - I'm dangerous!

I know the guys behind me were much more interested in the beer they spilled on me than practicing with their flashlights, lol.  After the generosity of Molson in gifting us with the tickets, I was happy that at least the beer spilled on me was a Molson beer – and thank goodness I had my poncho on!

When the ceremonies started, the stadium was electric and the mood stayed like that through the next few hours.  Everyone was so excited to be there and be a part of Olympic, Canadian and Vancouver history.

Snowboarder jumps the rings and enters the stadium

There was a great welcome from our first nations…

A little phallic, perhaps, but at least they raised their arms. An amazing dance and welcome!

I think my fave part was the whales swimming through the stadium and shooting spray out of their blow holes.  I watched the ceremonies on tv this morning, and the special effects are somewhat diminished – the entire show was absolutely magical in person!

The stage - a little too far away, so thank goodness we pvr'd the entire show on tv.

We did mess up (the audience, I mean) the candle part. We were supposed to light our candles in a pattern, and everyone seemed to light them all at once. I felt really sorry for our section volunteers who were our leaders – they tried so hard to get the crowd to do it right!

However, the tweets I received back said that no one noticed on tv, so I guess all was good in the end, lol.

The torch enters the stadium

Local hero and man-in-motion Rick Hansen entered with the torch and it was the moment we had all been waiting for.

And then kept waiting for.

Because one of the four torch arms wouldn’t raise.

1,2, 3, 4...wait, I mean 3. Where's the 4th arm?

I had a fabulous time and kept busy by tweeting out twitpics, video taping and taking pics until my camera died and my iPhone lost power. (At which point I think Steve may have been relieved!)

We met up with Erica and her husband after and enjoyed the party atmosphere of the streets of Robson and Granville, before hitting Milestones for drinks and appies.  Then, a walk across Cambie bridge back to our friend’s car and a ride back to our front door.  We flopped into bed around 1:30am, and grabbed a few winks before our son’s 7am hockey game.

Because in Canada, hockey doesn’t stop. Not even for the Olympics.

Let’s get this party started!!

How often do the Olympics come into your own backyard?  I MEAN right into your backyard.  I would say either never or once in your life time.  Well they are finally here in our home town, Vancouver, BC.  The whole city is buzzing with excitement and so are the GGS girls!  We have had the mildest January since history.  So what?  These are going to be the best games ever.   We are so pumped pumped right up!

The torch came in 10 minutes from where I live on Tuesday morning.  I knew I just had to go with the kids to see it first hand. There was a catch, it arrived at 630am.    But, hey its once in a life time opportunity but it would be a very busy morning.  It was so worth it!  It was such a thrill knowing that the torch started in Athens and was continuing to glow on the last stretch of its way to Vancouver.  The torchbearers looked so proud to be Canadian stretching their arms out to  the sky with the torch held high in their very cute sporty white snow suit on.  It brought a tear to my eye and shiver up my spine.  The reality of it grabs you

Melanie will be attending  a Men’s Hockey Game and the Opening Ceremonies, lucky girl.  I will be attending the O-Zone in Richmond,  which is a free event with my kids.  I am super excited to go.  I am also hoping to bring the kids right into the heart of Vancouver, as I hear there is a ton of events,  pavilions and live shows to check out.

The base for many of events are at this Cypress Mountain Venue. Yikess, its hard to ski when there is no snow?!

Want some more interesting facts about Vancouver 2010?  Well, here you go:

• The average temperature in February in Vancouver is 13.4°C (56.1°F). The warmest place to host the Winter Olympics EVER!
• The estimated total cost of the Vancouver Olympics 2010 is currently set at $1.76 Billion.
• The torch relay at the 2010 Winter Olympics is set to be the longest relay in Olympic history.
• Ghana, Bahamas, Gabon and The Cayman Islands will make their Winter Olympic Debut in 2010.
• The 2010 Winter Olympics will be the 3rd Olympics that Canada has hosted but the first in the province of British Columbia.
• The Vancouver Winter Olympics will be the 21st Winter Olympic games.
• The security budget for the events is said to be $900 million over five times higher than the original estimate.
• The number of participating countries who are sending Olympic athletes to Vancouver 2010 will exceed 80.
• Because BC Place stadium is a stadium with a roof, it is the first time that the Olympic torch will be lit indoors.

There are so many links and available information about the games.  We’ve got some of our own great posts about the games. Check out some of our favorite sites about Vancouver and great blogs devoted to Vancouver right HERE!

Will you be going to the games?  Is there a particular country/athlete you are rooting for?

Here in B.C., the flame was welcomed in the Kootenays and is making its way through the interior on its way to the lower mainland.

We can’t wait!

Jan 23

The Olympic Torch Comes to B.C.

15 Photos