Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow everyone is piling on the OP. Our family went to the LA Olympics when my sister and I were 13 and 9. I agree that OP's kids are a bit young for this, but when they are older it'd be a great experience.

Sure, but the 1984 summer games were in the US. It's a much more conceivable trip than Rio. I am not sure OP realizes the complexity of her trip - especially since her goals seem to be for "motivation." 5-year olds don't get motivated by long lines. I believe OP will be best served by watching all the feel good personal stories that will be aired during the regular Olympic coverage.

It's Rio. I would take my kids to Bejing, London, Athens, Sydney...but not Rio. Dangerous, dirty and really hot.

Anonymous wrote:Wow everyone is piling on the OP. Our family went to the LA Olympics when my sister and I were 13 and 9. I agree that OP's kids are a bit young for this, but when they are older it'd be a great experience.

Sure, but the 1984 summer games were in the US. It's a much more conceivable trip than Rio. I am not sure OP realizes the complexity of her trip - especially since her goals seem to be for "motivation." 5-year olds don't get motivated by long lines. I believe OP will be best served by watching all the feel good personal stories that will be aired during the regular Olympic coverage.

Wow everyone is piling on the OP. Our family went to the LA Olympics when my sister and I were 13 and 9. I agree that OP's kids are a bit young for this, but when they are older it'd be a great experience.

Anonymous wrote:If you really want to teach your kids something, instead of wasting thousands of dollars on a stupid Olympic trip, donate the money for a good cause and have your rich kids learn something valuable.

Please - stuff it

even if you wanted to go, getting tickets now would be virtually impossible for prime events. You needed to enter the lottery via CoSports months ago. I see some tickets available for a handful of sports, but it's thinks like handball and weightlifting. There are still some full packages available that include hotel and tickets to multiple events (including marque sports, but usually preliminary competition days), but those cost minimum of $5,000 per person and don't include things like getting to and from Rio, ground transportation, most of your meals, etc.

My 5 yo wouldn not enjoy that, therefore I would not enjoy that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Too many health issues and crime issues.

This.

Also, they are kind of young to appreciate it.

+1 All of the above.

Rio is pricey as it is, and it'll be much worse with the Olympics. They don't have enough hotel rooms, so they'll be parking cruise ships there so people can stay on them instead of a hotel (I'm not kidding).

Crime will be lower than usual as the police will be out in full force, but it'll still be a total mess. Skip it.

This is coming from someone who has been to Rio many times, and was in Brazil for the World Cup (but not in Rio that time.. no way..)

If you really want to teach your kids something, instead of wasting thousands of dollars on a stupid Olympic trip, donate the money for a good cause and have your rich kids learn something valuable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:. Gymnastics? We take the kids to GWU gymnastics meets.

What a great idea! It never occurred to me to take DD to a college meet. Pardon my ignorance, but is that something you buy tickets for, like you would for basketball?

NP here. At my alma mater, you pay at the door. Here is a link for GWU's gymnastics:

https://getgwtix.com/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=GYMSM&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=

You can see tickets are cheap. If you are REALLY concerned about getting tickets, call the ticket office. I can't imagine they actually sell out since gymnastics isn't a revenue sport.

Another NP here, NCAA gymnastics is a ton of fun! The meets around DC are more low-key because the teams aren't at the very top, but it's an easy experience that's fun for everyone, including families - lots of animation, the kids get to meet the gymnasts and get autographs, etc.

The meets rarely sell out in the DMV unless there's a huge meet with Florida, OU or another SEC or Pac-12 team coming - actually I'm not sure they sell out even then. The big meets in the SEC do sell out and are pretty crazy, if you're ever in that area. They put on quite a show, and it's very impressive to see 10,000 people in an arena cheering on gymnasts!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:. Gymnastics? We take the kids to GWU gymnastics meets.

What a great idea! It never occurred to me to take DD to a college meet. Pardon my ignorance, but is that something you buy tickets for, like you would for basketball?

NP here. At my alma mater, you pay at the door. Here is a link for GWU's gymnastics:

https://getgwtix.com/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=GYMSM&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::context_id=

You can see tickets are cheap. If you are REALLY concerned about getting tickets, call the ticket office. I can't imagine they actually sell out since gymnastics isn't a revenue sport.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you want them to be "motivated" to do? Be better athletes? Set goals & have dreams?

OP here - Yes, motivated as athletes and life in general. I want them to see the rewards of physical and mental work, being focused and determined. Also to see the agony of defeat and good sportsmanship. Dream big and set goals. I think there could be a lot of good life lessons to witness.

I am sure there are safer and easier ways to demonstrate all that...

Yes, watch on tv

Anonymous wrote:. Gymnastics? We take the kids to GWU gymnastics meets.

What a great idea! It never occurred to me to take DD to a college meet. Pardon my ignorance, but is that something you buy tickets for, like you would for basketball?

Have you read anything about how furious the locals are about the Olympics?

You want to motivate a five year old by taking them to the Olympics? What kind of crack do you smoke exactly?