The Olympic Opening Ceremony: LIVE.


Last night, we struck Olympic gold
and got to attend the opening ceremony
for the 2012 games here in London.

While I'm sure you watched them
and don't need a tour of what happened,
I am offering a peek at the ceremony 
from our view...

which was a view behind the big tree.

{Well, just above it actually... you'll see.}

So we got the park really easily.

{Bravo, London, for being so freaking organized. Public transportation was a dream.}

We breezed through security,
not because of a lack of screening
but due to the massive amount of screening lanes.







We wandered through the park 
got to giggle at what people were wearing...





... got to eat some bad food at the park
{which, I have learned, is a universal misfortune}

.... and then we kinda just wanted to go to our seats
and get this party started.





Who didn't love the Pandemonium scene 
when the English countryside
transformed into the industrialized city of London?




I got chills.

Then the NHS/British Lit part was fantastic...
Mary Poppins, Death Eaters, Captain Hook,
all of it was perfect!

{I was hoping that everyone in America stressing about socialized healthcare
paid attention to how happy the UK is about it
to have done a song & dance in it's honor!}




The Queen "parachuting" into the games...
the best Bond girl I've ever seen.


Tyler waving his "pixels" around during a light feature. They trained us before hand. :) 

The countries entry parade got, well, boring.
We didn't have commentators or commercials to help up through that one.




Then the flame was fantastic!




Beckham driving a boat?
The music?
The transforming torch?

Awesome.

And the crowd was pretty fun, too.




We made a few friends... like this guy, Ian.
{Who, as you may suspect, was off his head drunk.}




We didn't get home till almost 2:30,
but it was so worth it to have made such wonderful memories!




How did you celebrate the opening of the 2012 Olympics?




*all images original to Aspiring Kennedy

33 comments:

  1. Absolutely love this post, especially the part, "I was hoping that everyone in America stressing about socialized healthcare
    paid attention to how happy the UK is about it
    to have done a song & dance in it's honor!". This is exactly what I was thinking. And I totally laughed out loud at you meeting that extremly drunk guy! hehe

    Such a proud to be British moment :)

    Rachael W.

    goodloveisotw.blogspot.com

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  2. How awesome that y'all got to be there! I can imagine it did get boring with no commentary. Good thing ole Ian was around ;) my mom and I watched while eating a pinterest find: chocolate cake in a mug! HA! Now you understand why I live vicariously through all of your wonderful eating adventures!!!

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  3. Sitting in front of the tele (heh) with my fur babes & some ice coffee- I also sent pictures to my Hubs to keep him in the loop :)

    Thanks for sharing with all of us!
    Eat Cake

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  4. What an awesome experience! We watched the ceremony last night but I bet being there was even better! I love that you pointed out that fact about the healthcare system because I said the exact same thing last night. LOVED the ceremony and definitely loved seeing your post and pictures!

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  5. I would have loved to have been there!! The ceremony looks way more impressive from your seats than it did on TV last night. Thanks for sharing the awesome pictures!

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  6. Oh my gosh that is amazing!! I just loved the Opening Ceremony. How fantastic that you got to see it firsthand! I have definitely added "Attend the Opening Ceremony" to my bucket list!

    xoxo

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  7. Lauren- LOVE all of your photos. SO JEALOUS that you got to go, but also so excited that you DID!!! Also, don't stress about the parade of nations' commentary. NBC's commentary was not only LAME, it bordered on racist. I was really embarrassed for Matt Lauer and Bob Costas because they were so dang stupid. Love you tons- thanks for posting your experiences!

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  8. I pulled good youth pastors wife duty and watched the pastors kid while they were out. Need.ess to say the 10yr old was not as impressed as I was...we then got locked out of the house ans wandered down the street to an ice cream shop to watch there. I'd say I missed 90% of it:( Loving your pics...it's the most I've seen of it haha.

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  9. Zac and I made fish and chips, drank some croninbergs, and enjoyed watching every minute of it, 6 hours later!!! You are so lucky you got to go! Please continue to post coverage! Cat

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  10. These photographs are amazing. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be there. I was completely blown away by the whole ceremony. Mary Poppins fighting Death Eaters is just brilliant. I am living vicariously through you and your photographs =)

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  11. Well, I watched it online on some BBC stream (probably got a virus, boo) because I knew NBC would drive me bonkers later. Then watched it again anyways and sure enough, Matt Lauer drove us crazy. It was SO fun. I really enjoyed all of it. I kept thinking of you being there! It was fun to read your twitter feed. lol :) Glad you got to see it! :)Cheers! Happydally

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  12. We drank Pimm's cups and watched with a group of friends. They all thanked you for introducing us (and them) Pimm's. The party was so loud that we couldn't hear the commentators. I was so confused when the doctors and nurses were dancing with Mary Poppins and Voldemort! I watched it again today and was amazed at the collective effort it took to pull that off. Well done, London.

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  13. I've been waiting for this post!!!!! I wanted so bad to hear your words about it and I love love love the photos. Oh man... to be there live must have been crazy! I ate Chik-fil-A and sat on my couch. Not as cool as you.

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  14. the drunk guy. so perfectly british. Loved the ceremony (loved even more that you made the NHS comment...although my guess is 90% of americans decided to not pay attention to that during the ceremony)

    S and I flew back from Northern Ireland that night and made it just in time. snuggled on the couch and watched. Then i talked in an english accent for kicks.

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  15. wow, how amazing! What a great experience, I am beyond jealous. Looks like a really fun time and definitely something you'll always remember!

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  16. Love your pics!! What an awesome experience :) I thought the opening ceremony was so well done... I'm sure it was even more amazing in person!! Such a great memory.

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  17. How did you score tickets?!?! It would have been a great atmosphere. I watched from a pub in Clapham, followed by a night of partying and not getting home till 6am!

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  18. Incredible!!!! I was watching at home, supervising my son's sleep over, and couldn't quite make it to the end. So, seeing it from the inside....is so very cool.

    Love the photo of Tyler holding out the 2 tickets. That is classic!!!

    xoxo Elizabeth

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  19. So fun! And so amazing that you got to be there. Thanks for sharing your photos : )

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  20. So amazing and something you will definitely never forget! I loved keeping up with you on instagram and THANK YOU for not giving anything away ;)

    I just watched it on our couch - nothing all that exciting.

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  21. What an incredible night you had! Your grandkids' grandkids will be shown these pictures about how cool their great-great-grandma is

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  22. I was watching it at my parent's house & thinking how I "knew" someone who was there- must have been awesome! Except for the parade- you'd think somehow they'd manage to make that a bit more interesting by now!

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  23. This is spectacular! I can't believe you were actually there! Lifetime memories!

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  24. So fun! I am loving watching the Olympics! I am planning to head to London and the countryside next June with my kiddies...would love your suggestions !!!

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  25. I watched them with a 4 year old commentator. "What are they doing, Mommy? Who is that? Why do they have a big baby in there? Why are all those kids sleeping?"...etc, etc. Of course, ever since she saw and realized there is a REAL queen, it is all I have heard about.
    So, my memories of the opening ceremonies were of educating a 4 year old on the monarchy...who kept wanting me to rewind the tv to see her again. :)

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  26. One in a lifetime event! Well not really. But still so cool.

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  27. That's so awesome you scored tickets! Did you have to buy them well in advance or get them last minute? Definitely cool that you experienced it, especially since it's in your neck of the woods. Oh and as for the team parades... I can go ahead and tell you that it was boring at home, too. Except for me realizing quickly that I actually and embarassingly DON'T know every country in the world... oops.

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  28. I think those British flag tights look really cool ... I wish I could get a hold of some US flag ones! :P Its amazing that you got to be there!

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  29. That is incredible that you went to
    Opening ceremonies!! What an experience. Love those flag pants :) I'm sure you'll never forget being there!

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  30. Honestly, I got choked up even watching the ceremonies on TV, so I can't even imagine how wonderful it was to see in person. Truly amazing!! What an experience for you guys! xo, vmac

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  31. So, so, so amazing. Can I come live with you?

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  32. Hi, I'm Ian (the drunk guy from the photo!). Really enjoyed seeing these photos and can't believe I stumbled across them after all this time! It was great meeting you guys and it was just the greatest night. So glad you had a good time! :-)

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