USA gets the GOLD!

The past couple of days have been unreal. As you all know, the USA Women's team beat Spain in the gold medal game, making history by being the first ever women's water polo team to win in the Olympics. Not only did they win, but the dominated! The score was 8-5. Maggie Steffens, a 19 year old, scored 5 of 8 goals in the game. It was so inspiring to watch her and everyone on the team be so composed and bring everything they had in order to win. I am sure most of you guys watched the celebration on TV of them in the water, getting their medals, and the playing of the National Anthem. Their excitement and love for each other was pretty obvious. Being on a close-knit team myself, I know how strong a bond can be between teammates and I really enjoyed watching them be so happy with one another in celebration of something so big. When the National Anthem came on, I completely lost it. Its such an emotional and unbelievable thing to witness. I also couldn't control my tears when Dan looked up and waved at me and Natalie in the stands. I am so happy for him! I really felt Skyler's presence, as I do in most big moments of my life, and know that he is looking down on Dan also just as proud as ever.

After the game, all the families and players had a private room in a casino where we all got to celebrate together. It was so fun because I got to know the players more than I did before and just have tons of fun. It was exciting being in the presence of the gold medalists. The medals are awesome and also really heavy!

The next day Natalie and I slept in very late. We didn't really do much besides get ready for another night celebration that the sponsors put on for the team and families. It was a super fancy celebration and, again, I had such a fun time with the girls, Natalie, and Dan.

This morning we were a little slow moving, but we had some things we still needed to see in our last day in London. We got a cookie at this AMAZING place called Ben's Cookies for breakfast (breakfast of champs, I know) and then headed to Buckingham Palace. We checked out the palace and some of the statues around it and then strolled into Hyde Park. Hyde Park is beautiful and it was fun sitting and chatting on the grass. Dan met up with us in Hyde Park so, we visited while soaking up the sun on the grass and then headed to Westminster Abbey. Westminster Abbey was by far my favorite thing to see in London. We were debating whether or not to pay the money to go inside or not and I am so glad that we did. Its such a historic and beautiful church. It's where a lot of the Kings and Queens are buried or where their tombs remain. Everything from the statues, to the glass, to the floors, and the walls was so incredibly ornate. It amazed me that everything in their was so old for how intricate it all is. Of coarse I was also excited to be there because it's where Will and Kate got married and I do just love them. Unfortunately, you cant take pictures inside Westminster Abbey, so I can't show you all what I saw, but I am just going to have to remember everything inside my head. After we were finished there, we headed to the P&G house to get dinner and we watched the USA vs. Brazil Women's Volleyball gold medal game on the big screens. USA came out strong in the first match but then lost in four. It was a bummer, but I am still happy that they will receive a silver. After hanging out a while, Natalie and I headed back to our flat. We are all packed up and ready for our flight tomorrow morning. I wish I had more time here. I loved this trip and it seemed like it went by so quickly! I know that this was a trip of a lifetime that most people never get to experience and I will remember it and cherish the memories from it forever. I got to travel to London England, see the US Women's Water Polo team take the gold medal in the 2012 Olympic games, and also spend some really quality time with my future sister n law, Natalie. I loved her before, but now I love her on a whole new level. She is such an amazing and happy person and I couldn't  be more excited to know that she will be a part of my family forever. It's an exciting year for her and Dan with the Olympics and their wedding coming up and I want the best for them because they truly deserve the best. It is experiences like these, the Olympics and the wedding, that you want to share with people who really mean a lot to you and she really does. I am so glad we got to spend this time together on this amazing trip in support of Dan and Team USA. I am sad its over, but these special memories will stay with me forever. Thank you so much to my family that financially allowed me to do this. I cannot thank you enough and I am excited to see some of you and spend some time at home. See you soon.

Kelsey

Tourist Day

I apologize for not getting my blog up last night. We had a touristy day and I was exhausted when I got back to the flat. We woke up yesterday and got a coffee and a croissant at a quaint breakfast place in Chelsea. We went to again pick up our tickets at the Gore Hotel for mens indoor volleyball which took place last night. Picking up the tickets, we ran into Will Montgomery and Jaime Crow. They are both former student athletes at UCI. We walked and talked with them for a bit and made some plans to hang out before going our separate ways. Natalie and I went to the USA house which is located right next to Royal Albert Hall. The USA house has lots of cool clothes to shop for and we did some serious damage there buying clothes for ourselves and for our family at home. We then went exploring around the area which included so many fascinating and detailed buildings. There was Royal Albert Hall, a Statue of Albert himself, and the Royal College of Music. The buildings here are so old and have such a different look than the ones in the states. When I see some really awesome looking building here, I always think that it is a big deal or some sort of famous building, but it turns out to just be a church hotel, office, or something normal. The are all so intricate and incredible!

We went back to our flat to change and take a little rest and then headed to Earl's Court for the men's indoor volleyball game. USA lost in three to Italy in their quarterfinal game knocking them out of the medal rounds. It seemed like their wheels were just spinning off and they couldn't pull it together after the initial deficit. It was pretty heart breaking to see their faces after losing the game. I cant imagine what that feels like. Our seats were very close to Will and Jaime's so we walked out of Earl's Court together to get on the Tube. Will had tickets to beach volley so Jaime decided to come with Natalie and me to see Big Ben, Parliament, and the London Eye, which are all very close in proximity.

The London Eye was very cool. It's essentially like an enormous, slow moving ferris wheel that lifts you so high that you can pretty much see everything in London. The duration of the ride was about 30 minutes. We had views of the beach volleyball stadium, Buckingham Palace, Royal Albert Hall, Parliament, Big Ben, and The London Bridge. Once again, all the buildings from this view look so cool because they are so old and different looking than the ones in the US. After we were done with the London Eye we took some pictures and got back on the Tube to go to the P&G house to get some dinner. Jaime's place that she is staying is located right next to the P&G house so it was perfect because we got off at the same spot for her to go home. Natalie and I got some dinner and watched the men's polo game on the big screen. They also lost in quarter finals last night against Croatia. In the P&G house the mood was somber among the mens volleyball team and the fans who were watching the water polo game, but everyone perked up and enjoyed watching the beach volleyball on the big screen. We were all cheering and very happy for Misty and Kerri and Team USA.

We are so excited for the women's water polo game today. My stomach jumps every time I think about it! I just know that they are going to come out on fire and bring it home. I am prepared with just about every article of clothing thats as red white and blue as you can get and ready to cheer and chant as loud as possible. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers and support by watching them either live at 12pm or on NBC! LET'S GO USA WWP. BRING HOME THE GOLD!! Below are my pictures from yesterday.

Kelsey

Semifinals.... Check!

Hello everyone,

USA won their semifinal game against Australia today in over time. The score was 11-9 and it was a hard-fought game. The US controlled the game the entire time by one or two points. However,  the score was 9-8 USA and there was one second left on the game clock in the fourth quarter and Adam, the head coach, called a time-out when the US was not in possession of the ball; giving the other team a 5-meter. A 5-meter is essentially a free shot at the cage 5-meters away from the goal. Australia scored this opportunity making the score tied at 9-9 at the end of the fourth quarter. Although the girls could have been bummed by this, they certainly stepped up to the plate and did what they needed to do. They went into over time and finished the game 11-9. After the game, Adam felt pretty bad about his mistake and costing the girls to go into over time. However, he set a great example for them. He apologized for his mistake and focused on what was ahead of them which is so important in sports. Dan said that the girls on the team had Adam's back and wanted to support and defend their coach just as he does for them when they, as players, make mistakes. I thought it was such an incredible display of how strong a player-coach relationship can be and the amount of care you have for one another to want to defend and protect each other. Anyway, it was a great game and I am so excited for team USA to be in the finals for the gold medal game!

Me and Natalie woke up this morning and went to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. We saw lot of cool things there such as fossils, statues, rocks, gems, diamonds and we learned a lot of things about the solar system, planets, volcanoes and earth quakes. It was fun and interesting because I had forgotten a lot of things about science that I had learned a long time ago. After the museum, Natalie and I headed for the Olympic Park to obtain ours and John Speraw's tickets. We ate at the enormous McDonalds that is in the park and then went to go meet Speraw outside of the water polo venue. I saw my friend Will Montgomery, who is a volleyball player at UCI, outside of the venue. He had scored some water polo tickets and it was really good to see him. After the water polo game Natalie and I got to get some pizza with Dan. When we were eating we saw Kobe Bryant and Aaron Peirsol walk by which I was very excited about. Dan isn't as excited as me about famous people. He had to tell me to calm down! After dinner, Dan went to the Spain vs. Hungary game and Natalie and I went shopping to buy some gear for the gold medal game. We got hungry for some dessert so we went to the P&G house for some free ice cream and then back to our flat.

Tomorrows plan is to wake up, get our volleyball tickets from Speraw, go to Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and the London Eye and then go to the men's indoor volleyball game vs. Italy. We are feeling very determined to get some touristy things done since we keep putting them off. I am looking forward to it. Here are today's pictures.

Love,
Kelsey Dyan