Oops. Missed these favorite teams

Brazil was really whooping it up.
So colorful!

Blurry, but can't miss the plaid skirts.

I love the Caribbean so had to capture the Mexicans. They had the coolest hats.
The thing to do is to exhange club pins and my DD ended up with quite a few from Mexico.
She also was given a Mexican jersey.

USA Soccer Cup Opening Ceremony

The main sponsor, Scwann's, mascot

And the teams roll in...

And the teams start to come in. It is very exciting with a lot of hoot and hollerin'.
This seemed like the closest thing I will ever get to what is similar
the Olympics. I took a bunch of pictures and these are just some of them.
Cropped in Picasa as needed and uploaded from there as well.

This is the biggest youth soccer event in the USA as well as the
Western Hemisphere.

Japan & Sweden

This group from Japan was a lot of fun~!

I was happy snapping pictures of the various teams. I tended to snap the ones with the older kids as those are the ones our girls might meet at the dance.
Those Swedes are a nice looking group - don't you think?

More teams plus DD's soccer club

Snapped this Florida team for any POTD'ers from there.

Unlike last year, the teams came in from 2 different sides. We had great seats but unfortunately my DD came in the other side. Past visitors will probably know she is the 1st blonde on the right.

Sky Divers

Here I thought I might be a little bored. Not so. Once the program got rolling it was quite entertaining. Planes, sky divers, Italian national anthem and a wonderful firework display.

England

Lots of flyovers from various sponsors.
The team below, from England, lit the torch.
They were the only team from England and I believe these are the girls my
DD will be playing.
Poor thing, that big flame did not want to light.

Our team

Here is our team...well, 7 of them. Amazes me that the entire team didn't make it because it is quite an experience but maybe because it is in our backyard some don't perceive it as a big deal.

The band was quite good. Looks a bit like Bon Jovi?

After the Ceremony

One of the biggest highlights for the girls' is meeting all the boys from around the world.
These boys were from Iceland, above and Mexico, below.
There are lots of activities throughout the week. Our girls are doing the Wave Pool and the Dance.

USA Soccer Cup

Last night was the USA Soccer Cup opening ceremonies. This is DD's first year in the week Cup, last year she did the weekend Cup. The weekday event is a much bigger deal. So, all of this was new for us. Here we are meeting up with the rest of her team and soccer club amongst many other teams around the world, to get lined up for the ceremony. Wasn't sure what to expect, actually thinking it might be boring, but it was anything but. Quite entertaining and exciting to be a part of the world event.
Lots of pictures to upload later tonight.
***
Thanks again for all the comments yesterday. I will try to lighten them and get them reposted next week.

Pearls - teenage style~!

My DD and her friend wanted to do a photo shoot at one of my most favorite locations, an old picnic shelter, while at the lake last week. Luckily I caught my son before we left. Like to keep him in the pictures, too.


Pearls were all the rage with the kids this year in all sizes and lengths.

Playing with Virtual Photography...I think this was Diffused.

Wrong Footwear?

Which one isn't wearing the right footwear at our friends annual golf tournament?
Not me in the blue.

DH trying to dance on the green on a par 3

Rick follows suit.

We did OK for a scramble - came out even. Par is 36, ended with a 36.
The winners won with a 7 under.

These were all taken with Kodak Easyshare which is suppose to be my purse camera but it seems to end up with my DD most of the time. It was left at a friends house and we had a hard time getting it back and once we did, it was broken down. Ugh. There is no preview window anymore.
Cropped. The top one a lot which might be the reason for blurriness.

Fashion Statement?

Fashionable?
Trendy?
I am not sure but DD does seem to carry it off fairly well despite a few second looks.
We were at my nephew's graduation party playing a lawn game and the photo itself is rather shady so used PSE5.0 to pop the high tops.

[On my pc, the screen distorts photos...makes them wider. Now, I can't tell if the distortion is here or not. Does anyone know how to fix that?]

*Thanks again for the helpful comments. Shooting skate shots at the end of July*

Skate. Life. Art. Progression

I missed the shoe but got the board.
I did get the falling water bottle.
One of my pictures that is recently featured as subject's myspace profile picture
as of the last few days.
I think that is kind of cool.
Going to try and get some skate action shots one day soon.
*****
Thanks for all the comments. Makes my day~!
I did have a question about the post below.
The horizon line is way off.
Do you think that should be straightened and if so, how would I do that.
Played around a bit with PSE5.0 but it wasn't working.
Thanks.

Above picture cropped and Virtual Photography conversion

Barefeet

Does barefeet fit the theme?
I just seen this one today and it cracked me up.
I have zillions of tubing pictures but this one has to be a favorite of
my DS and DH.
And you know me,,,,very sooc~!

My DS Away at Camp

Life is not all about red shoes.
This is my DS at the start of Bible Camp with his buddy and counselor.
Wet?
Yea, right after we checked in, the storm erupted. I left them there with no electricity.
There was talk about taking the bus this year but DS really wanted me to come and take pictures. What pictures? Once he gets to camp he is off and running. No time for pictures.
When his sister used to go, her and her friends liked all the picture taking.
So, I made sure I got a few before I took off.

[I am missing that kid.]

One Red Shoe

I took this without even knowing this week was shoe week and it is not cropped. [Post it on camera - check upcoming themes.] Another attempt to get creative in the backyard. Combining 2 of DD's loves.

Now I am off to the laptop to get a picture of my DS.