Rehersal

There was a lot of standing around and waiting at this rehearsal. I had nothing to do so I just took some snaps and heckled the bride and groom.

Maybe these boys had just a bit too much time on their hands. The wedding coordinator said that she would go over their duties the next day, right before the wedding. She had no faith that they could remember her instructions overnight. She was probably right.....

But then somehow everybody got all lined up.

They look ready!

A New Camera!

Earlier this week my lens froze on my Nikon. It was my only lens too. I had been complaining about my camera for a while now, its old, in digital camera years anyway. So in order to have fabulous wedding pictures for his sister's wedding, Mitch went out and bought me a new Nikon.
Here is the first picture taken:

My crazy brother-in-law posing for the first picture with the new camera. Thank goodness it didn't break!

My son. He is growing too darn fast.

And my Ham.

Thanks for posing for the new camera boys!

Bridal Luncheon

Yeah, yeah, I know it has been a long time since I updated. But I figured it's about time I post some recent pictures and my sister-in-law's wedding seems like a good place to start.

Here we are at Kelly's bridal luncheon. I think I was only invited because I was driving Grandma up, because I was not in the wedding party. It was a fun and tasty lunch and good to meet Jeff's Mom, Sister, and his nieces. We could not have asked for better weather for an outdoor lunch!

Fall Leaves are a BIG Pain

I imagine this spider feels a little differently about the fall leaves than I do. A leaf crashing into her house is like the whole tree crashing into mine. She worked for about 1/2 hour to get it out. I watched the whole time, wanting to help, but pretty sure that me pulling the leaf out would have done more damage than just letting her do it. She got it out, did some minor repairs and was back to waiting for more house crashers.

Water Polo School - Help T Score

This was T-man's first year of water polo, and he had not yet scored a goal, so during the tournament this week, they launched "Operation Help T Score". This is how the operation went down.

First they tried just passing him the ball. Whoops, he missed, and the race for the ball was on.

Well that did not work out so well, T basically looks like he got run over by his opponent.
This move was repeated before a time out was called.

During the time out the plan was re-explained to T by J-dude. He was supposed to just go hang out by the goal and they would get him the ball.
BREAK!

So the third time was the charm - he hung out down by the goal, they got him the ball and he gave the ball a toss.

There was no "THWAP" sound, but in it went, and "Operation Help T Score" was a success. The photographer got a little excited about the operation and lost focus and the ability to take coherent pictures. We would fire her - but wait - that's me. After the game, and win, the whole team celebrated the success of the operation, and somehow T got player of the game. In my opinion the success of the operation says a lot about this team, they had to work hard to make that happen, and repeated the operation with some of the other younger players. Everyone felt good about that and had a great time, and THAT is what it is all about!

Water Polo School - The Steal

Next we will demonstrate a steal.

First you approach the opponent stealth-fully, keeping your eye on the ball.

Next, give the ball a little tap, right out of your opponents hand.

Finally swim after the ball to complete the steal.
Try not to make it look like you dunked your opponent when you made the steal - because you will get a foul called on you. If your opponent is a good actor you will get a foul called on you anyway. Practice the "faking getting dunked" move - it comes in handy!

Water Polo School - The Block

The block is very important - done properly you can make your goalies life way easier.

First - stay close to the person that you are guarding, so if they do try to make a shot you can mess it up for them. Again - you want to hear the "THWAP" sound, this time on the arm of your opponent.

Second step is to go after that ball that missed the goal. Relief for the goalie, ball retrieval for your team, sore arm for your opponent. Everybody wins. Well, everybody on your team anyway.