Olympic medals

A Look Back at Milano Cortina 2026

16 days of glory go by very quickly, and the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics have sadly already come to an end. Here’s a quick look back at all of the fun we’ve had!

Of course we had to stop by the Olympic Spectacular outside Francis Olympic Field at Wash U in St. Louis…just last month, (future) Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu visited these same rings!

Chickadee and I made our favorite edible Olympic torches:

And we cooked a ton of (very delicious) Italian food!

  • Biscotti
  • Zuppa Pavese
  • Frullato di Frusta
  • Italian Bread
  • Carbonnade à la Flamande
  • Insalata di Arance e Finocchi
  • Radicchio in Padella
  • Limoncello Spritz
  • Crostata di Ricotta e Visciole
  • Marinara
  • Basil Pesto
  • Ravioli
  • Zeppole di San Giuseppe
  • Italian Grilled Cheese
  • Peposo
  • Creamy Polenta
  • Italian Limonata
  • Sporcamuss
  • Pork Milanese
  • Antipasto Salad
  • Seltz Limone e Sale
  • Panna Cotta with Berries

We also picked up a few Italian treats from the store:

There were crafts:

And a girls’ outing to go ice skating:

We had fun keeping track of the medal count at the end of every day…here’s a final look at our chart:

I love the Olympics, both winter and summer, so much, and I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with myself now that they’re done…but I’m already looking forward to L.A. 2028!

2025-26 School Year–Week Twenty-One

We had another busy Olympics week! In algebra, Chickadee learned how to use the equation for a parabola in the form of 4p(y-k) = (x-h)² to identify the vertex, axis of symmetry, focus, and directrix. In religion we talked about Lutheranism after the death of Luther and the Saxon migration. She used that information in writing as well, to write a short chronological narrative about Luther. In history we talked about the European Theatre of WWII, especially D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, and also the Pacific Theatre and the atomic bomb. She read about the speed of sound, what a decibel is, and the difference between sonic, ultrasonic, and infrasonic waves in science. We talked about the Bill of Rights as we continued making our way through the body of US Constitution. She continued to read As You Like It. And of course we made our favorite every-other-year craft, Olympic medals. Chickadee chose to make hers in the shape of a snowflake for the Winter Games:

In addition to enjoying more Italian cooking, we also tried a few treats I picked up at the store:

And here’s a look at our medal chart, which is almost complete!

I can’t believe the Olympics are almost done already!

Summer School 2024

I can’t believe that both the Olympics and summer vacation are over, but here we are. There were so many great moments, and today I’m taking a look back at our Paris 2024-themed summer school, starting with our visit to the Olympic Spectacular right here in St. Louis:

We made our favorite edible Olympic torches, and had a lovely toast to Paris 2024 with sparkling cider. I’m not going to lie, I was a little mad that we had already built the Lego Eiffel Tower years ago, because it would have been a nice summer school activity, but at least we had a ready-made centerpiece!

Our big activity for the summer was trying out some French recipes. We cooked a lot of different things, starting with a special series of meals for the Opening Ceremonies, and culminating with the pièce de résistance of the summer (and maybe my culinary career!), the Croquembouche. It’s nice that we’re finally at a point where both Ladybug and Chickadee can do a lot in the kitchen!

  • Croissants
  • Salade Niçoise
  • Vichyssoise
  • Bœuf Bourgignon
  • Macarons
  • Crepes
  • Salade Lyonnaise
  • Quiche Lorraine
  • Chocolate Soufflé
  • Gougères
  • Lavender Madeleines
  • Steak au Poivre with Red Wine Pan Sauce
  • Plateau de Fromages
  • Lemon-glazed French Sable Cookies
  • Croquembouche

I had a good book list, but coming up with crafts beyond cooking was a bit of a challenge. We did try to be fashion designers…do you think we’re ready for French haute couture?

And of course we made medals:

We had a lot of fun being creative with cooking and crafts!

I’m so glad Ticket to Ride Paris came out in time for us to play this summer! And we also played Ticket to Ride France (and watched all of the episodes of Rick Steves’ Europe we have set in France), which educated us on just how little we know about French geography!

Here’s a look at our complete medal table…Team USA definitely won!

Summer wrapped up quickly…on Monday, we begin the 2024-25 school year!

Olympics School–Day Ten

Today we finished reading Hour of the Olympics and its companion “Fact Tracker.” After we were done, we then talked about the reinvention of the Olympics in modern times…the who, when, and what of the games. This served as a good review of a lot of the things we’ve learned during the last two weeks, and even introduced a few new facts.

Since we learned all about London yesterday, and spent a lot of time looking at a map of London, today we went back to the geography of the United Kingdom. I had the children color the different parts of the Kingdom on a map I had printed. It was fun to look at how the different parts of Great Britain relate to each other, especially since we’ve some events in the outlying areas, such as football in Cardiff.

We also made medals for our family Olympics, which we’ll be holding on Monday. Four years ago, we made glitter medals, so this time, I decided to do something different (and more permanent). We made salt dough medals, which we were able to decorate and paint, and after the Olympics, we will also be able to keep them as ornaments for the Christmas tree. I love a dual-purpose craft! The dough was easy to make: 1 cup salt, 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup water mixed together and kneaded until a dough forms…you could even throw some glitter in the dough if you desire. Roll it out, cut with biscuit cutters, make a hole with a straw for the cord, and decorate. We used toothpicks to etch designs, but you could also press designs into them, or leave them plain. Then, bake at 210 degrees for a few hours, until dry. Finish up with paint…we did all of ours in gold; of course you could also do silver and bronze. If you chose not to decorate before baking, you could decorate with paints at this point.

Today’s Passport Stamp: Olympic Medal