Summer Olympic Fun!

After the fantastic success of our London 2012 Olympic Games, it's hard to believe the games are here once again.

My daughter was only 5 back then, but she really enjoyed watching all the exciting events, witnessing the success of Team GB and listening to the enthusiastic commentary that further ramped up the feel-good-factor.

She was quite disappointed when the games came to an end and, once it was over, we had a conversation about how quickly the Rio 2016 games would be here. She was unconvinced, saying: "that's YEARS away! I'll be 9 then!" yet here we are already.

London 2012

Just like the Rio games, the 2012 Olympics were preceded with cynicism and were fraught with difficulty: 

• Would we be able to afford it in the middle of a double dip recession?
• Would it be an enormous flop?
• Would the opening ceremony be incredibly embarrassing? 

Happily, the opposite proved to be true and the 2012 games left a wonderful legacy for Britain, proving that we could host a major event in style whilst bagging an impressive haul of medals.

The road to Rio 

So far it's looking positive for Rio and I really hope this continues to be the case. By the looks of things, they nearly bankrupted themselves to bring us the games, not to mention having to cope with the very unfortunate and worrying outbreak of the Zika virus, which in itself nearly led to many competitors dropping out altogether. 

But with things not looking too bad, the games are shaping up pretty well, and even better, the Brits are once again proving that they are a force to be reckoned with.

It's not all about the sports 

The games always manage to bring an amusing side to enjoy too. My kids particularly like the water events, but their favourite bit was when the water in the diving pool mysteriously turned green. 

All sorts of guesses as to why were explored, including my personal favourite, "the dye coming off the Aussies' speedos". Sadly, the real culprit was hydrogen peroxide and the pool had to be drained. I can understand why. Apparently it was like diving into a swamp, with one disgruntled German diver complaining that it "smelled of farts". Nice.

Team Great Britain 

As I type, the Brits are second on the medal leader board, Mo Farah has worked his magic yet again, Andy Murray retained his Olympic crown with one of the greatest tennis matches in history, and Usain Bolt and the legendary Michael Phelps continue to astound us with their incredible talents. 

Despite all the foreboding and negativity leading up to them, the Rio games have proved to be a huge triumph and I'm so pleased for them. The Olympics delivers such a positive message in terms of encouraging future generations into sport that it deserves every success, whoever the host may be.

Jayne, Working Mum and Freelance Editor