We were his cheering section. :-)
Ricardo had been up there for several days, so Alexander (his and Michelle's son) was very, very excited to see him again.
He began practicing on one of the mats. It was really cool to watch him. This was him mid-kick. :-)
Everytime I get together with Michelle and Teresa, we have to have a picture taken together. Steve, Michelle's step-dad, had to make sure it wasn't a "normal" picture. ;-) I think I look quite nice with bunny ears!
Ricardo waited for his turn on the mat. His part that day was on forms. He doesn't actually hit anyone. He goes up against another guy and they do the same routine and they get judged on who does better. They narrow it down until someone is declared the winner.
Gotta tell you, my karate education has been from the Karate Kid movies. Though, I think that's definitely a great learning tool, it might not be the total karate package. ;-) So, I really enjoyed seeing how it's really done yesterday. Ricardo did a fantastic job too!
He won unanimously every time yesterday. Today, I hear, he didn't win the competition, but he did a great job yesterday and, I'm sure, kicked butt today too. We were all super-proud of him!!
Here was his complete cheering section. From left to right, his sister ChaChi, his dad (who came up from Venezuela for the first time in years to see him!), Ricardo, Alexander, Michelle, Michelle's mom Ranee and step-dad Steve. Michelle's sister, Melanie is next, then me and Teresa. It was such a fun day watching him and cheering on the USA!
After he was finished for the day, we hung around, so we could see the opening ceremony for the rest of the event. Ricardo, his dad, and sister were chatting, so I took a quick picture. Ricardo's dad was their karate teacher for years and years. Both he and sister run the karate school in Indy. It's definitely a family affair. :-)
After waiting around for a little while, we found out it was going to be a lot longer than we had anticipated before the ceremony, so we said our goodbyes and decided to go shopping instead.
First stop? The mall! We had to get lunch. And, what better place to go that Aunt Annie's pretzel place. Yum!!!
We did some shopping, then said our goodbyes. Had to take a quick pic (sans bunny ears) in the parking lot. :-) It was such a fun day together!!!
Because the event and mall shopping was literally a couple miles down the road from Jill and Adam's, I stopped by to visit them. I had promised the boys some flubber a couple weeks ago, so I fulfilled my promise and brought them each a container of it. Ty was very, very excited about that!
When I got there, they had just gotten back from a very busy day of Homecoming events! Trevor and Ty decorated their van to show their spirit. Had to take a picture of their awesome artwork! I got home later that evening around bedtime. So glad I got to go up and enjoy a day spent with friends and family. Next World Championships won't be as easy to get to, since they'll be in England, so I was really glad I had the opportunity to go up and cheer Ricardo on! Hope his time on the US Team is an awesome one!!
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