Palm Springs and Professional Tennis Players

This was a big year for my dad.  He turned 70 in March and we wanted to do this milestone up BIG!!!  So Lisa and I had conspired for months to take dad to watch professional tennis in Palm Springs at the BNP Peribas open played at the Indian Springs Tennis club.  I can't tell you how many times I almost slipped up and blew the surprise, but we all made it (including Sadie) and he was blindsided by the news. We bought tickets for three days of tennis which got us two of the men's quarterfinal matches, all mens semi's and the men's finals.  We also caught the women's semifinals and finals.  Needless to say, it was an AWESOME trip.  Really it had been a dream of mine to watch Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play before they retired, and so this trip was really on my life list.  

We flew in on Thursday and treated the birthday boys to a fancy dinner at Copley's in Palm Springs.  The restaurant is in what was Cary Grant's guest house and so the venue was beautiful.  And because the weather was amazing we were able to sit out on the patio and enjoy great food and company.  

Happy Birthday to my dad!

It was really David's birthday, so they gave him dessert on the house.

After dinner we strolled down the main street in search of Great Shakes.  On our way we found a great hat store and ducked in to buy dad a hat to wear to the tennis courts on Friday.  Lisa and I tried on a few hats for this years Kentucky Derby.  I felt like Eliza Doolittle in this one!

And we found Great Shakes… they made great shakes!  And they put tiny donuts on the straws which were amazing all on their own!

Friday = TENNIS!  Here we are walking through the tunnel from the parking to the tennis complex.

 And here is the dream team!  Only the best three players in the WHOLE WORLD!!! 

 But there is only one for me! Love Roger!

 "I am totally freaking out right now!"

 Davis prefers Rafa, and his ball.

 Curt is more of a Djokovich man.

 "It's really him!" He has the most amazing form and out of all the players he makes it look so easy.

 Although Rafa and Roger didn't get to play each other, which is the ultimate dream, this was still a huge moment for me.  Rafa plays with so much passion and intensity!  Vamos Rafa!

 

 He looks like he's enjoying himself, right?

 Cuz we are!

 Oh yeah, and Andy Murrey. He was a bit of a disappointment. I think he played his best tennis just to get to the semis.

 Oh, and who is that? It's Boris Becker! He coaches Djokovich.

 Oh, and who is this other incredible famous person? Gavin Rossdale. I doubt he gets recognized much since his wife is WAY more famous than he is now, but we remember his band from the 90's, Bush.

 Federer in post interview.

 We hoped to get an autograph. Unfortunately he was ready to get off the court.

 And this is as close as we came.

 Men's final: Federer vs. Djokovich. It was a great match that went three sets. Djokovitch pulled out the win in the end.

 We had great seats!

I really hope this was not my last opportunity to watch these great players live. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Serena Williams play… she pulled out of the semis with a knee injury. They waited to announce it until about 10 minutes before she was scheduled to play. That was the only mar on an otherwise perfect trip. I can't wait to get Max and Asher out on the tennis court this summer to start their professional tennis careers. Ha!

Still catching up!

All of these pictures were taken during March, mostly during Spring Break.  Grandma and Grandpa drove all the way from Idaho, risking windshields and all, to be with us for a couple of weeks.  We had a really good time, and the boys spent some real quality time with them when Curtis and I took our first away trip to California.  We were grateful for their help.  Of course it was hard to take on our regular routine after having the extra help, but we have managed. :)

 Boy time at the Mayborn.

 "Can you put-leese rethink sharing your popsicle with me?"

 Max still loves to build a campfire.

 On Saturday we drove to RoundRock to visit Uncle Jason's motorcycle shop.  They have recently become an Indian dealership and were having a demo day where the public could come take a ride. Daddy was all for it, so we had to wait around for him to get back.

 Looks pretty good!!!

 An ice cream treat was in order following the good behavior at the dealership, a.k.a. they didn't knock over and/or destroy anything too valuable.

 Just a little brotherly help in the morning.

 Max and Baker blowing some awesome bubbles.

 Cash spent the first few days of spring break with us too.  They played some epic games of Stormy Seas. But nothing survived Hurricane Asher!

 Did I mention he loves bath time?

 Anyone bored? How about we color some boxes?

 Max taking some pitched from Grandpa.

 Sabrina is Ms. Anne's granddaughter.  She spent her spring break in Waco, and it was lucky for us she did. She took Cash's place after he left and alleviated much boredom. We hear she will be here some this summer too.  Can't wait!

We drove around Cameron Park waiting for Max to finish robot class. This was up on Lover's Leap. It was a beautiful day.

 

Robot class you ask? Why yes, we have pictures. It was a great surprise to find and old friend (old in that he went to Max's old school with him) in the class too. Levi and Max worked together on the first day.

 The used Lego's and lap tops to build and program simple robots.  Max was really in his element.

Waaaaaay Behind

So yes, the blog is way behind.  So to catch up I am going to just start throwing pics up with an explanation or two and move forward.  Hopefully I will get a chance to actually sit down and fill you in with all of the good info, but this is the best I can do for now.

Toasting to the New Year, and thanks to Netflix we 

were able to do this about 9:00 in the evening.

 We had to get up early and hit the road to Dallas for the
Cotton Bowl.  Well, we and about the rest of Waco anyway!

 It was COLD! Asher was bundled up tight for
the long walk to the parking lot and back.

Cotton candy at the cotton bowl!

Thank goodness Karon and Randy went with us.
She had the magic touch with Asher and brought a
new toy for Max to play with during each quarter.

It was a good day… Would have been better if the
Bears had pulled out the win!

 Oh my, this baby loves blueberries. The frozen ones
are super messy! We only do this before bath time!

 Goats at Homestead.

 Babiators!

 Our tree climber.

 Um, yeah… just cuteness.

 And sweetness.

 Ms. Frizz and the Magic School bus at The Mayborn.
We have been there many times! Many, many times!

 Hi Ms. Frizz.

 Valentine's Party at WMS.

 Asher was the star of the party. Max's friends (and some kids
from other classes) chased him all over the play ground. It tuckered
Asher out… we had to leave before the end of the festivities.

Loves bath time!!!