05/08/2012 - 10/08/2012 - Voll Hand the Wrest

Sporting yet more paraphernalia outside the basketball arena whilst warming up for the handball 

Outside the Olympic Stadium with
bags of Olympic tat - deja-vu?!?

Sunday was spent enjoying watching Murray win the ‘5^th major’ with family, and watching the highlights of the night before – this would happen a few times over the coming week! As would plenty of couch time to take advantage of the amazing amount of coverage the BBC were doing throughout.

Those famous rings, against the
backdrop of TeamGB's stronghold -
the velodrome!

Volleyball at Earl's Court - complete
with giant player!

Volleyball continued our Olympic agenda at Earl’s Court, where unfortunately no TeamGB presence but Spain Vs Montenegro was an interesting one – their flags are virtually identical so you could hardly tell the supporters apart! A night out with Andy on the British leg of his tour finished off the night, and Mr Ilett was once again a welcome sight for James first thing in the morning!

Handball, enjoyable although amazingly confusing - the
superheroes also were having a ball!

More handball with Irish cousins
Angeline and Susan getting involved
in the superhero party!

Next up on our live experiences was handball – was a fun spectacle but even though we were sitting next to a specialist (Annaliza’s cousin, Angeline) we left still scratching our heads over some of the rules! The basketball arena was great, amazing place for a temporary building, and nice to have some more time chilling out in the Olympic Park. Went to the BBC studios again, and this time were rewarded with a fleeting glimpse of Daley Thompson and John McEnroe. Also bumped in to a couple of TeamGB gold medal winners (the rowers Helen Glover and Heather Stanning), before getting our hands on an Olympic torch – sweet action!

Munching carpet at the wrestling,
where exuberance was the name of the
game - typical Americans!

Last event of the week was a return to the Excel Arena, where Annaliza then got a taste of wrestling (and the bodies writhing around on the floor!). Tony was left to enjoy the show being put on at Hyde Park, with Dave, Sam, and Cristian - due to obscene drink prices they relied on the crowd noises to figure out what was going on in the various events...

Pre, during and post wrestling action!

It wasn't all about the Olympics - also got to enjoy the English
summer! Tony's godson, Edward, has a fantastic
taste in ice-creams!

03/08/2012 - 04/08/2012 - The greatest show on Earth

If the day wasn't special enough already, bumping into Jess in the stands took the biscuit! Led to some excessive
celebrations, both inside the Olympic Park and out...[Note Annaliza's extra large Union Jack onesy - ridiculous!]

Horse Guards Parade - even Nelson
was getting patriotic!

More beach volleyball action -
the party event of the event!

Headed in convoy with M&D Balfour back to the big smoke for the second instalment of our Olympic adventure. Beach volleyball at Horse Guards parade was first up, a great way to get the party started.

Spot Tony on one side, and Annaliza on the other - also
some fun and games with the locals, then later at Ping Pong

A group shot outside the temporary stadium at Horse
Guards Parade

Welcome to the Olympic Stadium indeed! 

Warming up for the big night ahead
by purchasing some TeamGB kit...

Go on Jess, go on, go on! You
little rippa!

The real treat however was the Saturday night, where a date with the Olympic stadium awaited. After braving the London transport system (which was far better than we expected throughout the whole two weeks), we got a bit patriotic with TeamGB apparel in the shopping centre at Stratford… Had to be done!

The jump of destiny - done as JEnnis was doing the lap
of honour - great timing!

God Save our Gracious Queen...

The atmosphere in the stadium was electric, and it was all gearing up to the 800m heptathlon final where Jessica Ennis was the home hope as the face of the Games. She romped home in absolute style, not content with the overall win instead smashing the field on the home straight accompanied by a wall of sound. Shortly after, one Greg Rutherford stepped up and jumped 8.31m in the long jump, which was good enough for gold, and we were in dreamland. Enter Mo Farah. Now you can get a bit excited about distance running on TV, but when it’s live and there’s a home interest it’s a different beast. The wave of cheers rotating round the stadium for the 25 laps meant we’d lost our voices well before the end, it beat any Mexican wave we’ve experienced. Awesome performance by Mo, and 3 TeamGB golds in 45 minutes in the Olympic stadium is a feat that might never be repeated. Still sends shivers down the spine writing about it now…

Mo, mo, mo your boat, gently down
the stream...

No-one in the UK had ever heard of the Mo-Bot - all
that was about to change forever...

Didn’t want the night to end, so hung around by the BBC recording studio in a desperate attempt to get a glimpse of Jess before heading home. Wasn’t quite that lucky, but enjoyed the renditions of Mo Mo, Mo Mo Mo Mo, Mo Mo Mo Mo, Mo Mo there’s Mo Farah! [to the tune of No Limit, in case you’re wondering…]. IronRik even managed to get in front of the cameras, although the rest of us weren’t quite so lucky.

If truth be told it was a fleeting appearance...

31/07/2012 - 02/08/2012 - Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

The Sturge and Balfour families collide at the Captain's Table

New Polzeath beach

Come on - those cowries have to
be down here somewhere!

Once again we headed down South, this time to Polzeath and a throwback to Tony’s childhood in Broome House for some time with the wider family. A bit of a smaller affair than Tony remembered though – only 25 for lunch! Tony got beat by his Dad in hunting for cowries (only just!) and we almost escaped the weather on a trip to the Pepperpot from Padstow… The performance of holiday horror by the young ones was superb, although Dad Sturge and Auntie C’s acting let the side down!

Some Lotti (no 'e'!) Love

A quick game of whackers
on the way to the Pepperpot

Sunset just outside Broome House

When Annaliza sees the flower
arrangement, she knows she's home

A Looe with a view

Decided against an early morning swim before heading back to Torquay with M&D Sturge, via a quick lunch and toilet stop at Looe. Casa Balfour awaited, where a trip to next year’s wedding venue was followed by Big Al’s Torquay Tour. The Captain’s Table at the Cary Arms was an ideal setting for pre dinner drinks, followed by a lovely meal. Fortunately no illness hampered proceedings this time, and it was the Sturge’s turn to be a bit late!

26/07/2012 - 30/07/2012 - Let the Games commence

The extended Balfour crew at Excel for some weightlifting

Where should I put these
76 boxes sir?

Best man locked in!

After landing in Plymouth, we headed straight to Torquay for a quick stopover (and some fridge raiding – thanks again M&D Balfour!). Also timed it to perfection in that our Australian shipment arrived that day – all 76 boxes of it! Still not quite sure how we brought back that much…

Catching up with familiar faces at Trinity Church Square

Ministry of Sound -
not everyone was impressed
with the worm...

Didn’t have too long to sort it out, other than count the boxes, as we had an Olympic opening ceremony party to attend! Cheers for the hospitality Dave and Mairead, was a fun evening and great to catch up with so many friends from the past. Not sure the trip to Ministry of Sound was really required, but despite Annaliza going missing for a while it was a top night!

Getting into the
Olympic Spirit

Getting fit (or dreaming of!)
with Wenlock

Watching the show with a multitude of
Londoners in Hyde Park

Wouldn't want to go toe to
toe with these ladies!

Taking table tennis to new levels

The next few days were the real start of the Olympics for us - despite missing the cycling road race we saw a world record in the women’s 56kg weightlifting and some frankly ridiculous rallies in the table tennis!