Winter Carnival Ice Show

This isn't really a photography type post, and these pictures weren't really taken by me, but pressing the button is only half of the picture! The other half is editing them, which I've done so I think it is okay to put them here! Winter Carnival is a very fun filled weekend in Neillsville. I look forward to it every year. This year especially though because of the ice show! I started a Learn to Skate program in Neillsville for kids in the area who wanted to learn how to skate. I thought at first I would only have maybe 5-7 skaters. Well within a couple weeks I was up to 17 skaters, and we are still adding more. The hockey coaches asked me if I would do some sort of figure skating event during the Winter Carnival hockey games here in Neillsville and that is just what we did. I broke the kids into three different groups, 3 year old, middle level and upper level. We learned new elements of skating in each group based on their skill level and added music with those elements to make a program. And today, everybody skated their program very well. It was definitely a lot of fun and I look forward to it next year! 

 These are my little little girls that I coach. Olivia, Kennedy and Haylee, all three years old, skating to Lollipop. They are so much fun to coach and sure learned a lot... a lot more than I ever thought teachable  to a three year old. Olivia is the tiny super woman. She's so, so little but always seems to amaze me how tough she is. Kennedy is the little laughing girl. She is always laughing and is great friends with Olivia. Haylee is the one who likes to teach herself. She does what she feels like but teaches herself new things while she does it. I think last week she was doing one foot glides and spins all on her own! 

 These are my middle level skaters. I wasn't sure how their program was going to go today since they didn't always pay attention. But it ended up going very well! I love this picture with everyones hands up!  This was the ending pose of the Mercy program.

And here is me, skating my artistic program. The ice was very soft with a peak temp of 46 degrees down at the rink. I was afraid to jump cause I thought my skate might stick in the ice! Overall it went good, definitely could have been better. I say I am a better skater just cause I can skate on a melty, outdoor rink!

Toe-loop success! 

 Love all of the kids watching in the background here!

 This was our finale, announcing all of the skaters again!

And a group picture, minus the little girls who did not want to come out again.

Close Up Grape Vine

I love the detail in this picture and how clear it is. I found this grapevine in the woods while taking pictures for an assignment. These grapevines have to be hundreds of years old. They are HUGE and there are tons and tons of them.

More Extras

I never seem to focus on taking pictures for the assignment that I have. I just go around taking pictures of anything and everything that might be a possible photo. My aunt wanted a picture of the pig so when I went out to feed him I tried to get a few pictures of him at the same time. It was then that I found out he absolutely hates when anyone stands around him while he's eating. 

 The thorns in this picture really stand out on the bright background. I like the silhouette effect in this picture too.

 And.. just a sunset through the trees. I usually try not to take a lot of pictures of sunsets just because everyone has seen them a million times. But I guess every once in a while I need to get a sunset picture.

Trees

These are just some extra pictures I took while getting pictures for my assignments. The subject of both is a tree but both are just completely different ways of showing the tree. The tree in the bottom picture is the tallest one in that section of the woods. It's probably the oldest tree too along with the grapevines that wrap around the tree.

Fishes!

These are my new saltwater fish. I think they are called damselfish. I set up the tank in the living room one day while everyone was sick and sleeping. A few days later mom bought some fish and a starfish to throw in the tank. 

Abandoned

 Benji, the miniature schnauzer, was abandoned by his previous owners about 7 years ago. And about 7 years ago my family rescued him from the dog pound in Sparta, so he is no longer abandoned.

 Every winter, the kayaks are abandoned for months on end...Well they used to be, but now pig enjoys pulling them around, down to the river, into the woods...

 This truck was probably abandoned by the kids that used to play with it around 20 years ago. Now it sits in the tarp covered sandbox (so the cats stay out) with decorative balls in it.

Of course I had to take pictures of the abandoned house. It's a very obvious example of abandonment and is easy for viewers to understand without reading anything about it. Anyways, this house is a very interesting location to visit. I think if this was cleaned up a bit someone could live here without bringing any extra supplies. There really is everything inside this house, which can be seen in one of my posts from October 2010.

One of many wagon wheels, I think this one shows that the wagon that this wheel used to be connected to has been abandoned and the wheel has sort of been recycled and now sits by the house as decoration.

Patterns and Repetition in Nature

 Our theme for this past weekend was definitely a little more difficult than past assignments. Since nature is much more random than man-made objects it's harder to find repetition but can be done. In the first picture, I think this shows repetition because all of the branches are growing at an angle creating lines all in the same direction.

 This picture shows a pattern. The tiny coiled branches make a swirly pattern. It could also be repetition seeing as there is more than one in the picture.

 This is an old grapevine with a piece of it curling off. It could probably show a pattern. Not an artistic pattern but more of a process where the vines become old and then slowly peel away.

This picture shows repetition and pattern. The grapevines wrapped around each other multiple times is repetition.

Evidence #2 ... "So I made a sandwich"

So I made a sandwich, took a bite, the bite looked nice so I took a picture and would ya look at that... its evidence! Clear evidence that after 3 hours of coaching and skating I am starving. The poor little babies that I coached tonight had frozen fingers. The little, little girls, the three year olds, were having a great time out on the ice and were doing great too!  Skating forward, backwards, fast and slow, hops and baby spins... so cute! Then one of them tells me their fingers are cold. Oh boy. Instantly when they are complaining of cold fingers you best get them off the ice right now! So of course I did. By the time I get them off the ice it was time for the 14 other kids to get off so the "hockeys" could get on the ice. I tell them to get off, go in the building and what do you know, all the three year olds crying from their cold fingers. 

I felt bad for them, so I made a sandwich.
Maybe you could say, I eat my problems? ;)

Evidence

The assignment for the Adv. Art students was evidence this weekend. I went out Sunday afternoon after feeding the pig, to take some pictures. I didn't get the pictures I was looking for but I'll make these work.

 This picture above and below would show evidence of precipitation/rain. If you don't know me or where I live I can pull this one off, but if you do know me, then you probably know that everything is frozen this time of year and it typically doesn't rain. 

 The picture above and below show evidence of spring. We sure haven't had a winter yet this year. These buds have been here since January, which is very unusual in WI. 

 This picture above, if you use your imagination, is evidence that there are still rural areas in the world. Which everyone knows if you live in WI.