We played in the waves

I mentioned a little while ago that my sister and brother-in-law would be visiting with the rest of their peeps as part of Andy's birthday celebration.  One of his requests was to hit the beach.  Easy enough; we're just down the street.  After eating lunch, we finally packed ourselves up and headed over.  Havi fell asleep during the short drive.

 And she stayed asleep the entire 10-15 minutes we spent splashing around.

Marsha, Andy's mom, watched Josh.

 And Phil, Andy's dad, kept Madeline company, while Patrick and Andy set up our umbrellas.

 My sister thought it would be great fun to jump the waves with Caleb and Leah.

And no sooner did Patrick get in the water, then the sirens blew, and the lifeguards had to clear out the beach because of lightning in the area.  For real.  It was such a bummer.

So we packed right back up and drove home.

Then we all jumped in the pool and swam for a long time because the thunder and lightning dissipated.  Gotta love how quickly weather in central Florida can change. lol

It was a fabulous day with great food thanks to Patrick- steaks, twice baked potatoes, buffalo wing dip, just to name a few.  I contributed a simple 2 layer vanilla cake, some chocolatey triple chocolate chip cookies, and cookie dough ice cream.  Our taste buds did the happy dance.  The guys watched some football while I hung out with my sister, and Caleb showed Madeline and Leah how to hit a tennis ball.  Havi and Josh practiced their sharing skills.  It was a fantastic, fun-filled day.

And we went to a weddin'

Yikes, I'm getting behind with my blogging.  I mentioned in my last post that we headed to a wedding after Caleb's last tennis tournament.  One of the iron men guys that helped to move us into our new house last year, Carlo, got married.  It was a family affair.  So the kids were invited.  The wedding and reception took place at this adorable little outdoor barn.

 The kids ran wild in the field adjacent to the barn. They also made s'mores.

 We spent the night talking all things camping with our friends Lisa and Shail while all 7 of our kids ran all over the place.

 Havi didn't stray too far from the candy table, though.  I think she thought the skittles tub was all hers.

It was such a special time together with friends.  It was a privilege to witness the union of Carlo and April, and we wish them a lifetime of love and joy together.

More tennis?

Well, we weren't anticipating another tennis tournament so soon, but as it turns out, another one happened to be scheduled not too far from my sister and brother-in-laws' house.  So we made a quick decision to sign Caleb up and headed over there Saturday morning.

 Tournaments typical start in the morning.  However, we learned at the last minute that play wouldn't begin until 12:30pm.  That threw a wrench into our schedule, as we had plans to attend a wedding (in a different distant town) at 4:00pm.  We made the decision to take two vehicles for the long drive over so that Patrick could leave early with Madeline, and I would stay back with Caleb and Havi.

 Despite the fact that a big Florida Gator football game was scheduled to begin at the same time, my sister and niece came to watch.  My sister's father-in-law, Phil, also came by to watch Caleb's first match.

There were not a whole lot of players for all the different age groups.  So girls were combined with boys.  There was also one 12 year old girl who was thrown into the Under 10 group because there were no other 12 year olds.  She has to play someone, right?  Well, that's fine, except she lied straight up to Patrick about her age.  The nerve.  Although he didn't beat her, Caleb played well against her.

And when a question came into play about scoring, he spoke up and set the score straight.

It was to great to watch Caleb play.  He split his matches again this tournament and also had the chance to play a bit of doubles.  We're so proud of him for playing so hard and for being so eager to participate in these tournaments.  It certainly has been nice to see my sister and her family a bit more.  And since most of the tournaments for Caleb's level are in her neck of the woods, we will get to see them a lot more.  Even Leah is considering taking lessons now, right at the same tennis center where the last tournament was held.

What's going to make these tournaments more fun is the fact that we have finally purchased our first ever travel trailer!  We should have it some time next week.  Yay!  There are a few state parks in the Orlando area that would be fun spots to camp at for the weekend and then scoot over to the tournaments.  In fact, we have already made some reservations in the month of November to celebrate Caleb's Family Day and Havi's 2nd birthday.  We are really looking forward to some fun family time in our trailer.

Anyway, I mentioned in the beginning of this post that we had to dash over to a wedding after the matches were over.  I pulled my camera out for a few shots when we were there.  So I will share those soon.  We all had a such a fantastic time. I think the kids are now convinced all weddings are laid back affairs. lol

{P.S.- All the action shots of Caleb were taken through the fence with my 85mm f/1.4 lens.  I'm so glad I brought it because I took one lousy photo with my iPhone, and I could barely make Caleb out through the fencing.  Yep. I love my camera and lens.}

He likes it a lot

...tennis, that is.  Yes, Caleb likes it.  Well, he more than likes it.  He loves it!!!!  

Yesterday he participated in his first ever Under10 tournament.  Ever since he started lessons in mid July, he's been asking when he can play in a tournament.  So I did some research and located one a short drive from home, in my sister's neck of the woods.

Before I share anymore about yesterday, though, I wanted to share a few photos that I found in the archives, ones that never made it on the blog because I was wrapping up my second photography class last summer and shooting everything in sight.  So these next photos got overlooked.

They were taken in September of last year.  Caleb's coach Stefan had just proposed lessons to the kids.  Caleb wasn't interested in starting lessons, but he said he'd think about it.  So we had to go buy some kid sized racquets.  Stefan just told Caleb to practice juggling the ball on his racquet to develop a feel for controlling the ball.  So he would often do this on our old driveway.

 That last shot cracks us up.  Yep, the ball came down on his head.

Following the purchase of his beginner racquet, Caleb would often hit the ball against a small section of wall on our back lanai.  Sometimes the ball would hit the exterior steel bathroom door, right next to the school room/office where I would be doing work for Patrick.  Man, the sound would startle me. lol

Caleb continued to hit the ball against the wall until we moved out of our old house last December. But that was the extent of his tennis experience prior to starting lessons in July.  Little did we know at the time, but that really helped to develop excellent eye-hand coordination, which gave him a jump start prior to beginning formal tennis instruction.

Now, back to yesterday.

We had to leave the house at 7am so we could arrive with plenty of time before his first match which began at 9am.

We weren't too far from where my sister and crew live.  So they drove over for part of the morning.  Caleb was so excited to have his extended family there to watch him.  Madeline was thrilled to play with Leah and her baby doll.  I was impressed with how well behaved Josh and Havi were.  Not even once did we have to remove them for distracting the players.  Phew!

Caleb played 4 matches- 2 boys and 2 girls.  He finished 2-2.  We are so proud of him!

He had such a great attitude throughout the entire tournament.  He played hard and always wore a smile.  In his second match, when it was match point for his opponent, he hustled so hard across the court and went skidding on his knee.  All the spectators gasped.  He popped right up and said he was fine.  There was no way he was going to sit out his next 2 matches!

Our hearts swelled until they burst yesterday.  We were so happy to see his hard work pay off.  His coach (and his brother who is now playing at the collegiate level) were both impressed with Caleb's performance at his first tournament.  Caleb is 8 years old, and it is the only age at which a player can choose to play either Under 8 or Under 10.  All other players must play in their proper age group, regardless of skill.  Unfortunately there are very few, as in maybe 1 a year, Under 10 tournaments in our area.  So if Caleb is going to pursue tennis, we will be finding ourselves driving a lot on weekends.  Maybe we can coordinate his tournaments with our camping ambitions.  Now that would be a win win!

We love you, Caleb, and are so proud of you!