Spending the day with my boy

Two weekends ago, Patrick treated Caleb and me to a great day at the Delray Beach Open Finals.  

Baba watched the girls while I took Caleb to the tournament.  We had such a fantastic time.

 We arrived about 45 minutes before the doubles finals and had lunch.  Then we slathered on some sunscreen and took our seats to watch the Bryan Brothers from the US (Mike and Bob are twins!) play Cermak/Elgin.

 Thankfully, Mike and Bob are mirror twins (opposite handed); it makes it easier to identify them on the court.  Bob is left-handed, and Mike is right-handed.

 Bob and Mike won 6-2, 6-3.

I didn't get a shot of it because I wasn't ready, but Caleb managed to get Cermak's autograph before he left the stadium.  Then we hung around (and I took my cameras out) and got ready to snap a few of the Bryan Brothers.  I was a bit giddy, being a twin and all.

 Caleb managed to get both of them to sign his ball.  And then we headed out of the stadium and into the line outside to try to get a photo with them.  The autographs happened so quick, I didn't have a chance to get one then.  And the line outside the stadium was loooong.  So when Mike came by, I quickly asked for a photo.  I wasn't pleased that a stream of light fell right across Caleb's face and overexposed it, but beggars can't be choosers.  So we had to say thanks and roll with it.  (I converted it to black and white just to reduce the glaring hotspot on Caleb's face.)

   

 The match finished up quick.  So we had about two hours before the singles finals started.  We hung out, browsed the booths, and ate.  There was a fast serve challenge that benefited junior development.  And since we've never had Caleb's serve checked with a radar gun, I thought I'd let him give it a try.

 He couldn't bounce the ball and do any routine.  So his numbers were lower than what I've seen him serve.  Still, he served in the 50s with a few in the 40s.  An older boy went before him and was serving in the 60s.  Being pretty ignorant of speeds but able to compare that boy's serve with how Caleb regularly serves when he does his routine, it's safe to say that Caleb is serving in the 60s and even sometimes in the 70s.  Getting an idea of how fast he is serving has been a good motivator for him.  I can clearly see him getting more power behind it.  I'm so proud of him....okay back to the tournament....just passing time with my boy...

 Clouds started to roll in before the singles finals started, and I wondered if we would have to sit out for a rain delay.  Thankfully it never rained.

 The singles finals had Kevin Anderson of South Africa against Marin Cilic of Croatia.  Oh, I should say that my Nikon battery died right after the doubles match.  So I was no longer able to use it or my zoom lens and was left shooting the rest of the day with my Fujifilm at 35mm.  Boo.  I mean, I was glad I had it; it was better than nothing.  Still, it was limiting.

 Cilic serving...

 Anderson serving...

 And believe it or not, we sat right behind Kevin Anderson's family!  Seriously.  

 That's his dad on the far left, his coach in the front row with the white cap and shirt, his wife Kelsey, and the rest of his fan club.  It was kind of hard to cheer for Cilic at all; I just felt self conscious.  lol  Anyway, the match was the longest in the history of the Delray Beach Open- 3 hours and 8 minutes.  Cilic won 7-6, 6-7, 6-4....that makes for a long match! lol

And I have to tell you something funny.  Before the match got started, I saw this gentleman walk down and take a seat in the front row of the section next to ours.  To my untrained eye, he looked like a tennis player.  That's what I told myself.  Well, after Cilic won, another fan went down to this man and asked to take a photo with him.   That did it....I took Caleb over to him and asked him the same thing.  I told myself that I would figure out who he was later!  Sure enough, after Cilic won, he came over and shook this man's hand.  Turns out it was his coach, fellow Croatian tennis star Goran Ivanisevic!  I knew it was somebody big! lol

Although it was late, I asked Caleb if he wanted to hang around and try to get some more autographs. That was a silly question.  Of course he did.  And since I knew he could sleep on the drive home, I let him.

You know, even before the singles match started, Caleb declared to me that it was the best day of his life, ever.  He just melted my heart!  He is so precious, and the joy he experienced was written all over his face.  We had such a wonderful time.  I can't wait until his sisters are big enough to attend such an event.  Right now Havi has a hard time keeping quiet at his own matches. lol

Well, you know another funny thing about the day is that I had forgotten that the event was going to be shown on the Tennis Channel.  As the doubles was getting started, I had to ask Patrick to make sure he recorded it so Caleb could watch later.  Then when we had to take a bathroom break, I remembered that the Tennis Channel was there because we watched their live feed of the game when we had to wait until we could take our seats during the change over.  Well, the craziest thing happened while Patrick was watching the end of the singles match....remember I said that Marin Cilic came over to shake his coach Goran Ivanisevic's hand?  Well, the Tennis Channel happened to get it all on tape, and Caleb was standing right there in the frame!  And not only that, both Caleb and I are right above Cilic's shoulder during his interview!!!  Patrick couldn't wait to show us that we made it on TV.  Oh, what a way to cap a day!

Anyway, so this weekend my sister-in-law Michele and niece Lydia are coming down from Connecticut to help Madeline celebrate her sixth birthday.  We're really looking forward to seeing them.  I can't believe my precious little girl is turning 6!  Somebody needs to tell my dumplings to stop growing up!