More Basketball Fun

Last Thursday and Friday we had so much fun that the boys keep asking to do it again. Thursday afternoon we packed up the van and headed south (to Springfield, MO) to see their Uncle Isaac (Nick’s brother) play basketball again. His team had made their division’s national tournament, and after they won their first game on Tuesday we knew we had to make the trek down to see game #2!

I stealthily packed overnight bags for all of us, just in case we decided to stay the night in a hotel and hang out with Isaac the next morning. The boys were thrilled enough that we were going to a basketball game, but they were even more thrilled when Nick told them he’d sit in the back of the van for part of the 2.5 hour drive and let them use the iPad. Sadly, the iPad didn’t prevent Chase from asking “are we there yet” a good 10-12 times on the drive down.

He was quite happy by the time we got there though. The boys enjoyed the game, but I think they were more interested in getting a snack at half time. Lily slept through most of her first basketball game…

The boys were always excited though when Uncle Isaac was in the game. They were pretty quick at finding him on the court (#20 in the dark shirt) and knowing when he had the ball!

When Isaac wasn’t in the game, the boys were busy walking up and down the bleachers or being goofy for the camera.

Isaac’s team won that night (and their next game which put them in the Championship game, which they lost unfortunately) and after meeting him after the game we decided we’d stay the night so that we could have breakfast with him the next morning.

Know what that means? Yep. We had our first night away from home as a family of 6. We went straight to the Hampton Inn and got a suite. Nick and I learned our bed-sharing lesson last summer when we tried to share double beds with the boys. I was all set to stick the boys in the pull out couch in one room and claim the giant, awesome looking King sized bed in the other but Nick had other ideas…

Yep. He gave away our bed to the boys. I think at about 3am he was regretting that decision – that pull out was small and uncomfortable! Lesson learned. Next time the kids get the uncomfortable couch bed. Not too mention, they certainly didn’t need all the space that bed offered. When I helped Chase back into the bed at 5am, all three of the boys were huddled up in the middle of the bed.

There was one MOTY (Mother of the Year) moment I have to confess to. By the time we checked in, it was 9pm and none of us had really eaten dinner. While I got the kiddos all ready for bed, Nick went down the street to Walmart to buy some food. About 5 minutes after he left I realized I hadn’t seen Chase in several minutes. I started frantically running around the room yelling his name, but he was no where to be found. I ran to the door and flung it open only to find him standing in the hall, looking up at me and near tears. He had tried to follow Nick out and couldn’t find him and then couldn’t get back in the room! He was clearly as freaked out as I had been. Lesson learned for Chase. And lesson learned for me… when in a hotel room with small children, use the lock at the top of the door to keep the munchkins inside!

All in all? A successful first night away! The boys keep asking to go back and watch Uncle Ike play basketball and they, of course, also want to visit the hotel. And now, a little video of the boys’ thoughts… (Tyler appears first, then Jackson and then Chase)