Olympics with a Side of Chocolate!

Okay, so I did not realize that Kinder is made by the folks that make Ferrero Rocher, which sort of explains the addictive quality it is having with my kids.

Hence not cluing in on the Italian connection and why they are a sponsor for the Italian House or ‘Casa Italia’ down at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown.

Basically right next door to the OTHER ground zero for Olympic entertainment at Livecity.   We checked out the insane lineups to just get in there..yeah…not going to try that with three kids in the rain.

ANYWAY, Kinder invited us down to enjoy some family friendly activities with them and the folks of Casa Italia on Saturday….the 2nd day of the Olympics.

And while I sort of blanched at the idea of getting my family downtown..this was the perfect excuse….and thank goodness for that Canada Line and the people keeping us all moving along!

The crowds down in Yaletown were crazy…but the energy was so fun.

Adam and Caity thought they had died and gone to heaven.  It isn’t often when children are told to grab a back and ‘help yourself’ to ALL THE KINDER CHOCOLATE LAYING AROUND!

It was like a scene from Charlie and Chocolate Factory.

There was face painting…which all kids seem to feel a HUGE need for.

And they had a DJ blasting out family friendly tunes!

And they had a whole photo studio set up and apparently will email us these pro photos of our kids!

There was also an Italian camera man and the sexy Italian ‘host’ of the event too, who seemed to have a blast chatting with all the kids.

There was even WINE for us adults and amazingly yummy sandwiches!

THANK YOU for hosting us! We had a great time.
I also ran into some mom friends of mine from Today’s Parent Magazine which was awesome and I want to thank Emily, Gwen, Anne-Marie, and Mr. Raspberry for coming down too, even though both Emily and Mr. Raspberry ALSO had invites from elsewhere…..I think there was quite the crew through the Yummy Mummy connection.

After that it was quite the adventure to get through the Olympic throngs laden down with Kinder Loot to see what Olympic stuff we could see!

We staggered over to see the stuff at David Lam Park, and it did look amazing.  From the outside.  The music was blasting, and the images and lights were amazing..as was the insane line up to get in through security.

So we hopped (hopped – as in staggered with baby in Bjorn, backpack on back, and whiny kids in tow) down to Canada Place so we could see if we could see the Olympic Cauldron.

We followed the crowds and we did find it…sort of…..through the MASSIVE CHAIN LINK FENCE!

This was all I could see.

And I get the need for the security…when we have those yahoo protesters for hire smashing things up and totally muddying ANY message Anti Olympic people (like me) might want to get out to the world.

But I wish it was in a better location for us lowly humans (non game attending or media pass carrying) to see it better.

We finished of our Olympic night with some McD’s at a surprisingly quiet food fair at the Waterfront Centre. Where people kept singing ‘Oh Canada,’ and then headed down for another trip on the train.

I am glad we didn’t try to bring a regular stroller. We stuffed Tara in an umbrella kind, which did make like a lot easier, although people were all great and helpful and all an all the atmosphere in town is really fun and exciting.

I hope we manage to squeeze in some more exploration of the Olympic entertainment. Perhaps without Tara next time.