A ton of family fun

Well, we started off this past weekend with a little bit of tennis.  Caleb played in a Junior Grand Prix tournament that was held at the country club my sister and BIL got married at 10.5 years ago.  If you had told me at their wedding that I'd be watching my Chinese born son play tennis there with his two Chinese sisters watching, I probably would've thought you were crazy.  But those are the plans God had for us, even though we didn't know it at the time.  And boy, are we thankful He knows best!

 In attendance on Saturday was my sister Deb and BIL Andy plus their two treasures.  Also, Andy's parents happen to live in this community.  So they came on over to watch.  And not only that, but a friend of my sister, who also lives there, came by.  She just happened to lead her Florida 40 & over 3.5 Women team to a National Championship.  So she might know a thing or two about tennis. lol  Congrats Stephanie!  And it was great to finally meet you!

Caleb ended up playing 4 matches, and at the end of it learned he was tied for first place with another player, Nicholas.  So they asked the boys to play a 1 game playoff.  They were in pretty good spirits.

 Even though he was down 15-30, he brought it deuce and won!  Solo 1st place!

 He was so proud and such a good sport too.  He always had something complementary to say to his opponents.  He's just so sweet.  I honestly didn't watch too much of the 2nd and 3rd matches because I was chatting with Stephanie.  And if I glanced over at the court, I had no way of knowing if he was winning or losing a match because his attitude throughout the entire tournament was just so uplifting.  He hustled and skipped and smiled relentlessly.  He's just such a joy to watch.

On Sunday, we headed back that way after church because my aunt and uncle, Alison and Bob, came down for a quick visit. Since they were driving from Tallahassee, we had them meet up at my sister's place.  Before they arrived, the kids went down to the pool area for a little Halloween crafting.

 That's my sister walking with Havi, not me. I wanted to snap a few photos of Havi on the walk over, but she was only interested in giving me an attitude.

 The kids stuffed plastic gloves with candy corn fingernails and popcorn.  The bigs embellished theirs with spider rings.

 They grabbed a few Halloween tatoos and candy and then skipped on over to the playground.

 I was determined to snap a photo of all 5 cousins, since Havi was left out of the last attempt.  And I wasn't too particular about where I took.  Just get the two littles to sit still please...anywhere.

 And then I thought a brother and sister shot might be nice.  I probably could've asked Caleb to put down the nerds in his hand, but I'm not too particular I guess.

 Havi continued to refuse a photo on the walk back home.

 And since it took so long, we ran into Bob and Alison arriving while doing so.

 We hit up a local pizzeria for dinner.  Alison has a great dinner game she plays with the kids to pass the time before the meal arrives.  Somebody picks a letter in the alphabet and writes it down. Then another player calls out any letter to start.  Then each player says the next letter of the alphabet.  And you keep going round and round until the letter written down is called.  Whoever called out the letter gets a point.  And whoever has the most points when the food is served wins the loot on the table.  It works like a charm every time!

Again, that's my sister with Havi...not me.

 After dinner we grabbed some gelati. The temps dropped a bit after the sun went down, but we still ate our gelati. Havi put on a show for us, singing and dancing.  She was quite cute.  Then we snapped a few photos of the gang.

As soon as we finished the photos, I realized I had locked my keys in the car.  Lovely.  I always always check my purse for my keys before I lock the door.  I plant my eyes on those keys before I hit lock.  Well, I had to change Havi's diaper while trying to catch back up with everyone.  So that check didn't happen.  Thankfully I had taken the girls jackets out of the car, and Alison let Caleb wear hers. So the kids stayed warm when they were not hanging out in my sister's minivan.  And thankfully we only waited 30 minutes instead of the anticipated 90 minutes for the AAA guy to come and break into unlock my doors.  It was worth it, though, for a little extra time with my family.  Love you so much, Bob and Alison.  We just don't see you enough!

Well, our plans for Halloween involve trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood.  The kids across from us in the cul-de-sac invited our kids to join them for dinner and trick-or-treating.  So that should be fun.  Havi has refused to put on the costume I'm borrowing from my sister for her.  So I'm going to have to think of something quick.  And hopefully before Halloween comes and goes, I'll get the kids over to the pumpkin patch!