Another Day,

Another new library! It was just a few minutes from the athletic fields hosting A.'s soccer tournament.

The Huntington Beach Public Library had a spiral ramp down to the cafe.

Outside the children's room was a large aquarium.

Not as large as the used book store!

There was even a gift shop!

Other non-book things included an art exhibit,

a torus stone found in Bolsa Chica,

and a replica of a Chinese Terra Cotta Warrior Statue,
a gift from the Chamber of Commerce after visiting China.

I did get to see A. in action, both as keeper

and on the field!

Another good weekend.
It'll be different when we have no kids at home!

Weekend Tournament

I don't post about bike race weekends because I don't go to those since I am in charge of soccer (last year I was in charge of speech and debate). It has been a fairly even division of labor.

This weekend's tournament was in a soccer complex on the outskirts of Redlands, about forty minutes east of here. Each team was given a bag of oranges, maybe from the orchards right across the street.

I was too cheap to pay for parking and got lucky enough
to twice find a good spot on the street. I even parallel
parked on the first try. I was so proud of myself!

That's my kid in blue.

The kids all got pins

and t-shirts.

The team came in fourth place
(not gold, silver, or bronze - maybe this is copper?).

I was most proud that A. received this sportsmanship pin.

More Time Getting Filled

Soccer practice! Trying a low-key fall with AYSO.

Delivering brownies to the high school for a teacher luncheon the day before school started.
Lucky seniors who got a parking space were busy decorating them.

We tried something new in Pasadena.

Pay a flat fee and play all the arcade games you want.
Initially they had the place to themselves, but it filled up a bit later.

I left them there and headed over to the public library.

What a great place to hang out!

Today was the first day of school so only our international student and I went hiking.

I was amazed to see water.

Not shown - taking our student to the botanic garden, thrift stores, and Palomares Adobe in Pomona.  Also not shown, our student got to experience a California earthquake centered five miles from the house. Soon we will try a real American diner!

World Cup

Iceland has a population of about 340,000 people and does not compete with most other countries, except in Eurovision, which it has been a part of for about thirty years. That changed when Iceland qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1947, when the national team was created.

Just one of the displays at the airport.

Not to mention the games on television in the airport.

Jokes by people who don't care,

All the headlines in the local papers are about the games and the English paper has plenty, too. 

Áfram Ísland = Go Iceland

It was entertaining to see all the things for sale and the funny articles, but the highlight was watching the first game in a small cafe about 15km from the closest town of 60 people.

Ed. note - The center of this photo shows the large television and to the right is a painting of a choir, which seems to be like bowling leagues used to be in the US. This article says there are nearly two hundred in the country and I am guessing the stage at the cafe is used for performances.

It's a small world

Norman, Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma Memorial Union
watching two soccer games
(Barcelona v. Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich v. Benfica)

Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Rubin Campus Center
watching two soccer games
(PSG v. Man City and Wolfsburg v. Real Madrid)