USA vs. CZE

Have you met my husband? If you have, then you probably know he likes soccer. For those of you who haven't met him - he likes soccer. :) Kyle founded his high school soccer team and played for a while back in the day, but he has followed it for longer...and is quite a fan.

I love this about him. I love that days after buying my first car, we took a spontaneous weekend trip from Arkansas to Ohio to watch the US Men's team play Mexico. It was my first soccer match. I drove 10 hours to get there, and got my first speeding ticket on the way home, but loved every bit of it. During the 2006 world cup, we bought our big TV -why? So Kyle could "see the games better" Anyway, we haven't had a chance to attend any more games since then - until last night.

Kyle was pretty excited that the US Men's team was playing a mere 2 hour drive away in Connecticut. One of their last games before heading to the World Cup. How could I say no? We were super fortunate that our friend Karen was available to take care of Abby for us for the evening.

**tangent. This was my first time since Abby was born that I did not put her down for the night. It was my first time leaving her in the (very capable) hands of somebody else for that routine. Honestly, I was a little nervous at first. Not for Karen, but because I felt guilty about leaving. Hi, my name is Laura, and I'm a mom. Of course Abby was fine. When I told her I was leaving, she looked at me for half a second then came over to give me a hug and a kiss, pushed my shoulders and said, "bye-bye!" How did she come out of this better adjusted that me? **

Back to the story. Kyle and I headed out, stopped for a bite to eat, and got to the game just fine. We even managed to avoid the $15 parking fee and got a parking spot front row by our gate! Crazy. I think there were just over 36,000 people at the game. Lots of energy.

at the gate - can you see how happy he is?

Sam's Army - the zealous crowd.

Kyle got us fantastic seats! We ended up sitting in the middle of a bunch of ESPN-U people and felt special listening to them discuss business deals and strategies during the game.

action shot. ;)

We didn't win. Boo. But, that's ok. We didn't play our best players either - since they're resting up for South Africa. It was still a fun game to watch, and we had a great time.

Because Kyle is a member of some special fan club, we got to go down on the field after the game and play around and take pictures. It was fun. :)

I'm so glad we went. I'm glad Abby did beautifully while we were gone and that I didn't have to worry about her. It's fun to be spontaneous and to do these types of things as we're able - they create great memories. :)