Tennis roadtrip!

At the very beginning of the month, Caleb had an opportunity to play in a high level tournament for boys 12s, one in which selection into the tournament is based on ranking.  As you might have guessed, he was selected to play. He was quite thrilled at the opportunity, even though he knew that most of the players would be ranked higher than him.  This boy loves a challenge!  Anyway, at this tournament they also have doubles, and Caleb partnered up with one of the boys that he trains with back at home.  We were fortunate enough to be able to take his partner Amadeus down to Miami with us in our RV, Charlie.  It was a fantastic weekend of tennis and togetherness.

The boys started off with their singles matches.  And unfortunately for both of them, they drew seeded players.  They might not have won those first round matches, but they played pretty well.  Despite the extreme heat (over 100 degrees on the court) and rain delay, Caleb easily pulled off a win in his first match in the consolation draw.  He was pretty pumped.  His third singles match was, again, a tough one, completely outmatched in size, but still, he played well.

After singles was finished, it was time for dubs (doubles.)  Although completely unplanned (unlike lots of the girls teams), the boys managed to pull together a few coordinating outfits for their doubles matches.

You see those two big smiling faces?  They belonged to the winning team in that first round of doubles.  What made that victory extra sweet for Caleb was the fact that he beat the boy who cheated him in the semi-final match at the 10s state chamionships back in June.  Oh, it was pretty awesome.  And I have to give a big shout out to that boy's partner, who was very honest and overruled his partner's bad call in favor of Caleb and Amadeus.  It was a pivotal point in the match.  Playing a pro set to 8, they had been down 2-5, but they clawed their way back on top and won it 8-6!  It was an incredible comeback!

Their next doubles match was against the #2 seeds and the tallest 12s doubles team ever....I'm not kidding, as the following photos will prove it.  Anyway, the boys knew they were outmatched.  They just wanted to get out there and play their best.  They did such a great job of managing the match, even though they lost 8-1.

See what I mean about size?  I bust out laughing when I downloaded my photos later.  Caleb's feet don't even touch the ground, as these two on his right are nothing but legs.

This shot above demonstrates how Caleb had to hit most of his shots....well out of his strike zone and all the way back at the fence.  These boys hit hard and deep.

Yep, it's hard to believe the boys on the left were playing in the 12s, but they were. lol

Anyway, it truly was a great opportunity for Caleb to play against the top 12s players in the state.  It has certainly boosted his confidence in subsequent tournaments.  He can hang with the best of them, and now he knows it.

Well, just this past weekend, he had the opportunity for yet another tennis roadtrip.  This one took us to the heart of Gator Nation, Gainesville, FL.  We got into town early so we could check out the campus before the tournament.  I did managed to snap a few quick photos with my Fujifilm.  So I will get those up soon.

I apologize that I have been absent from my blog for (gasp) a month.  We have been busy getting back to our home schooling, in addition to dance and taking on even more tennis training.  That has left me very little time for shooting or blogging.  Once things settle down here in the next week or two, I hope to get back behind my camera more frequently.  Anyway, thanks for still hanging around and checking in on our little tribe.

Getaway to the Keys

Well, I know our summer has been busy, but sheesh....I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last updated the blog.  I guess it's safe to say we have had a fun-filled July.  And I'm just now getting the chance to share it.  

Let me back up to a few weeks ago. We had been planning a little camping getaway to the Keys with our camping friends since, oh, last summer.  And well, the time finally arrived for us to hit the road.  We managed to get down there late Friday morning and promptly hit the water.  Well, we tried to anyway.

 See all that seaweed?  Well, it made it a bit of a pain to get in and out of the water.  Water shoes definitely helped minimize the ick factor.  But the shore is very shallow. So we had to walk quite a bit through the seaweed and then some until we finally got to water that was deep enough to relax in.  It was a chore but worth it.

  The kids played games back on shore too, like ring toss. And when the sun got too hot, they hung out at the restroom right across from our site.  See that space below?  Well, even I could stand up straight underneath.  So that provided some much needed shade at times for the kids (and me too.) lol

 Our campsites sat right along the shore.  It was a pretty amazing view.

The second day was more of the same.  When the kids weren't swimming, they were playing board games inside to stay cool.  Then, of course, they couldn't wait to get back out in the water.

 One of the kids managed to spot a tiny crab inside this sponge.  Can you find it? (Hint, it's almost in the middle among a dark patch.)

 Day three rolled around and was filled with more of the same- swimming and trying to keep cool.  One of the kids decided to hunt for coconuts.  She found four of them.  They were such a hit!  So delicious.  Poor Shail, though!  He was in charge of the cracking.  After the third one, he called it quits.   The sweat pouring off him made it look like he just took a dip in the ocean. It was that grueling.  In fact, I think he rinsed off under the outdoor shower right after I snapped these photos, clothes and all!

We had a short but lovely time in the Keys with our dear friends.  We always enjoy their company, no matter how brief our visits are.  And boy, we're so thankful that the mosquitos and no-see-ums gave us no trouble.  That was a shocker.

Well, after our trip to the Keys, we were busy celebrating Madeline's Family Day, Caleb's baptism, aaaand having all our dumplings foreign adoptions recognized in the state of Florida (so they can obtain Florida birth certificates.)  See, I told you we were busy around these parts.  So check back a little bit later for all the rest!

Father's Day weekend getaway

For Father's Day this year, we thought we'd get away a bit to the other side of the state in order to enjoy the fine, soft sandy beaches and calm surf.  As much as Caleb enjoys playing tennis, we thought we would sign him up to play a tournament on the West coast of the state, instead of the typical tournaments he plays in the central part of the state.  That led us to hitting up Sarasota.  We headed over Friday evening...in a torrential downpour.  At one point, we had to pull off of the highway.  And when we did, Patrick remembered that he left the hose running that he was using to fill the pool back up a bit because the water level was low.  We were a good hour away from home, which meant quickly texting our neighbors to see who could get over to the house to turn the hose off.  Fortunately, one of them was able to help us out, and we were able to continue on our way.  Once the rain let up a bit, I took my camera out to try to capture some of the scene.

We were heading west, into the sun, and a lot of the rain was behind us.  So I managed to capture this rainbow in the mirror and then some of the sunset in front of us.

We finally arrived at our hotel about an hour after we originally thought we would.  So we quickly settled in and climbed into bed.

Thankfully, Caleb had only one match on Saturday in the middle of the day.  So that meant we could enjoy a nice, relaxing breakfast out and then head to the tennis tournament.

Although he only played one match, he had three lightning delays.  That meant our plan to hit the beach afterward was a goner.  On Sunday, he played in the semi-finals, and although he didn't win, he played a great match.  We're so proud of him.  And since his tournament finished up earlier than he was hoping, we decided we would hit the beach.  And boy, are we so glad we did.

Apparently, everybody else thought that Siesta Key beach was a good idea too.  We couldn't believe how crowded it was.  But oh, we didn't care.  The sand is so white, soft, and fine compared to the sand on the east coast. And the waves...or the lack thereof...just glorious for relaxing in the water.  It was funny to see people using pool floats and noodles, but that was because the surf was so calm.  Even Havi was floating on her back and swimming (though I warned her not to open her eyes under water because it might hurt.)

It was truly an awesome time.  We decided that Caleb needs to play more tennis tournaments over that way. lol  We absolutely loved the beach.

Anyway, we love you Baba, and we hope you enjoyed your Father's Day at the beach.