The Today Show

I have downloaded the pictures from our camera so that I can share some of them with you and the stories that go along with them.  I am going to start with the Today Show.

Matt Lauer and Carter
Matt was also on our plane from
Moscow to New York, Carter
said, Hi, as we passed him
in first class.

We ended up going to the Today Show filming twice.  The first time we went we were unsure how to get to the actual filming.  We could see that the show was near the entrance of the Bolshoy Hockey Arena, but we did not know how to get through security to get there. We tried one entrance and found another American couple trying to do the same thing.  They were told to go to the next security point, so we followed them.  They were turned away, but said to us, "You can probably get in," as they pointed to our credentials from the Olympic Village.  My husband and I looked at each other and said, "Lets try." We did a quick flash of the credentials and kept walking.  It worked, but we had to encounter another security check point.  At this point, the volunteers did not speak English, so there was a lot of pointing and saying show.  They thought we wanted to get into the hockey game that was going to be starting shortly, but eventually our persistence paid off, and they got us the guy from the show that handed out passes for getting to watch the filming of the show.

Meredith

While we were there, Carter did some pin trading with a man that had been going to the Olympic games since the 70's.  He was very nice and Carter was able to choose about 5 or 6 pins off of his large smock of pins and only had to give up one of his own!  He was thrilled! Then Wesley got to do the same!  He was a very generous man and had some really cool pins.

Al

It was interesting to watch the show being filmed.  There was not too much time that the cast was actually on air while we were there.  But it gave us a chance to catch up on the stories from the Olympics because we were not watching tv on a regular basis.  When the cast was not filming, they did come down and talk to the crowd.  They were all very nice and asked us questions about where we were from, what we had seen, and if we were having fun.

Savannah talking nails with Carter

When we were done, I found a Wi-Fi spot as fast as I could hoping to alert our family that we may be on.  Thanks to the fact that Wisconsin does not see the show live, our family was able to catch a glimpse of us.

The second time we went to the taping, it was just Carter and I and it was a Saturday morning, so there were far fewer people in the crowd.  However, the experience was way cooler and we had a sign taped up that said Hi Grandma!!  (Pictures are posted in an earlier post). We met three athletes and some of the families.  Plus, the Today Show has different broadcasters on the weekends, so we met new celebrities.  While at this taping we met Noelle Pikus-Pace the day she won the silver medal.  She was there with her husband and children for the interview, but in the crowd was the rest of her family.  They were so nice and talked with us about Noelle's story and win.  They even gave Carter one of their big signs that they were

Savannah

holding up to cheer her on and he was able to get it autographed. Noelle was as great as she seemed on tv.
We also met Tracy and Lanny Barnes. They are twins that compete in the Biathlon.  Tracy made the Olympic team, but her sister Lanny did not because she was too ill to compete to try to make the team.  Tracy decided to give up her spot to allow Lanny to go! It was a very touching story and these two ladies were also super nice and chatted with us for a long time while the show was not on air.
Look up and read the stories of these three athletes, they are amazing people.  The athletes are one of my favorite parts of the Olympics.  Most of them are amazing people chasing a dream and because they are not professionals, they sacrifice, but the dedication is incredible. I love the stories.