FCBarcelona

He chose the FCBarcelona Soccer Club jersey. He had such a great time and stayed for both the 2-4 year class and the 5 and up class. He managed to score a goal in the 5 and up class during a scrimmage. When the scrimmage was over he promptly stomped off the field and fell on the ground crying. I asked what was wrong and he said he didn't score enough goals. He got in big trouble for that, and will be happy with one or no goals scored from here on out.

Levi's most natural soccer skill? Taking a dive on the tackle, shot, dribble, throw-in, and just plain running. If a European club saw him they would sign him up right away. You can't teach a person to fake a good fall in soccer you have to be born with it!

Levi's Dilema

Levi starts his first soccer class today and he is super excited. The coaches told us that he can dress up in a soccer jersey if he had one and wanted to. That fact just doubled up the excitement for him.

One of the cool things that people have given him over the last several years are soccer jerseys from various countries all over the world. This is a picture of all the jerseys he has right now and they come from Spain, Turkey, Honduras, Ireland, and Portugal. Each one of the jerseys were purchased in the country they originate from by family who traveled there. His collection has grown over the years and he loves each and every one of them. It will be interesting to see which one he chooses to wear on Saturday. My bet is that he is going to go with Eircom from Ireland, because it has matching shorts and it's his newest one. But he loves the black and yellow Avea shirt from Turkey. I'll let you know what he picks.

Flamenco y Futbol

It's been a fantastic two days. On Thursday we spent a low key afternoon in mom's town of Camarma. Levi and I went to visit mom at her school and watched Ivy (mom's dog) play soccer with all the kids during recess.

In case you don't know, mom has been here for almost a year working as a teacher for a school called Evangelical Christian Academy. She works with kids who struggle academically in school and ESL students. She plans to stay on through December and then...?

After an early meal (by Spain standards) Allison and I jetted into Madrid to see one of the shows put on during the Suma Flamenca Festival. We saw Juan Carmona perform and dance. It was really cool. Then we toured the streets of Madrid on foot taking the ambiance of the city all in. We did not however go into any of the numerous Museo del Jamon bars that were open and packed with people eating dinner (it was 11:30 p.m.). Spain has a really different eating schedule. Anyway 'Jamon' (ham) is a MAJOR staple in the diet of Spaniards and this bar was packed. Allison had had enough ham at at 30 wks. pregnant she couldn't take any more of it!

1. Flamenco dancer La Moneta during her performance.
2. The ambiance of Madrid at night (another panoramic).
3. Inside the "Ham Bar" in Madrid.

Today (Friday) was just FREAKING awesome. We took a tour of Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, which is the home field for Real Madrid soccer team. They are basically the Yankees of the Futbol world. When mom came to visit in January she brought Levi a full Real Madrid outfit and he proudly wore it on our tour (which was self guided by the way). He was greeted by the stadium staff like he was Beckham it was really cool. We got to tour the presidents box, the pitch, locker rooms, and museum. It was a whole lot of fun. If I ever fall into a several thousand dollars we don't need I would like to fly over to Europe and attend a couple of Premier league games (and play golf in Scotland on the off days...whose in?).

1. Real Madrid team photo.
2. Levi answering tough questions regarding Real Madrid's upcoming match.
3. View from the cheap seats (no uncle Brandon we aren't sneering at you).
   
4. A Soccer Mom in the making.

I am writing this at 11:00 p.m. on our last evening in Spain, and I can truly say it has been an out of this world trip (thanks mom!). We already want to come back, that's how great of a time we have all had. If we do come back we would like to try and tackle Barcelona or Sevilla. Tomorrow we are off to London to spend a few days and staying with our friend Mary and her three year old son Joseph. Unfortunately I won't have internet access at Mary's house so the "J-Wild Goes to Europe" posts won't be as frequent. I am going to try to pop into an internet cafe to get in a couple of updates if I can.

Oya Oya Oya

I think our family is succumbing to the lure of the world's most popular sport...Soccer! My mom got Levi this outfit for Christmas and he loves it. Right now I enjoy watching soccer as much as I like watching golf (I really like watching golf especially on my brother in law's TV, so it's a compliment). Allison and I played fall soccer and I am pumped about spring soccer (Allison is on medical waivers at the moment and won't return until the fall of 07'). I gaurantee that the first organized sport Levi plays will be soccer. He loves it and I can't wait till he is old enough to sign up for a team, it will be so much fun. Eventually Brandon and I will coach his squad all the way to the six year-old national finals. Then we will be on ESPN in HD while Brazil and Argentina will be broadcast on ESPN 4 in black and white. Viva America!

Does anyone have this album? Is it worth purchasing? I really like the Beatles (because I know I am supposed to), but I don't listen to them. This seems to have really interesting mixes of good songs on them. I have tried to make the argument to my brothers that the Beatles are the greatest band in history, but they don't believe it. Truthfully I only say they are the greatest because I know this to be intellectually true. The second greatest of course is U2, but that's a given too.

Also, do any of you have The Grey Album and would you be willing to send me a copy? I can't find any copies availible online and the The Grey Video was hot and I'd like to hear the rest of the album.