Our tribute to Men's Figure Skating-

It's no secret that every two years, mama tunes us out and cares only about the Olympics. She's also timed starting a new job (2004), maternity leave (2006), quitting a job (2008), and general unemployed laziness (2010) around devoting 100% of her time to the last 4 Olympics.

This year, the most rewarding evening was definitely last night- the Mens' Figure Skating Short Program. Not only is male figure skating more exciting than womens' (better jumps), it also about 10 times more dramatic.

We love this guy. Evgeni Plushenko is from Russia, won the gold at the last Olympics, retired, and decided last summer to come back and kick butt. We've got him as the shoe-in to win the gold because he nailed the quad jump, which most figure skaters won't even try. Plus, he reminds us of a Heuchling with a mullet, which is very endearing.

Close behind Plushenko is Evan Lysacek. He delivered a near perfect program, despite the fact the won't attempt a quad jump. Plushenko spent all day today trash-talking Lysacek because of this. It is vicious. We especially like Evan because he's known as the manly, butch member of the America team. Isn't that obvious when you see his feather adorned Vera Wang costume? Or maybe when he burst into tears of joy after his program and cried for the next 10 minutes.

Out of the medal, but certainly number 1 in our heart is American Johnny Weir. This guy is all about drama and flair. He's receiving death threats at the Olympics because his last costume had fox fur on it and skates to Lady Gaga songs.

What really rounds out a good evening of male figure skating is the commentators. You've never heard a meaner bunch. If it were up to them, everyone that fell would immediately leave the ice and impale themselves upon their skate. It certainly is exciting.

We were so caught up in the thrill and drama that we let the kids stay up late to watch Plushenko skate. They were also impressed and did their best figure skating moves. Here's Henry trying the quick spin when they squat down and hold one knee.

They practiced on getting enough height to complete a quad jump. I don't think the Russians will be recruiting these kids any time soon.


While fatigue plagued June, Henry completed his required jump elements and moved on to the footwork portion of his short program.

While it was clear that both Henry and June were out of metal contention, they completed their programs for themselves. It's just about pride now.

Vertigo- June.

I've discovered the total fun self-inflicted vertigo. Mama didn't get a video of me really stumbling around the room because she was afraid I would run right into a sharp corner. (Mama and papa have watched this funny video about 10 times and just noticed Henry dancing in the background around :10).

I was really getting dizzy in this video. Try and get a look at my eyes spinning.

I've learned a lot from Henry when it comes to stalling. (Did you hear about mama's new strategy? She sets the timer for 30 minutes and any extra time we have when we finish cleaning up gets to be computer time. We love playing on PBSkids.org.) While this strategy works for Henry, I require a little more motivation. Mama wanted me to pick up all the play food, but I thought it would be more fun to pretend to eat. The results were adorable. There's a lot I can get away with because I'm so cute.