Nationals

Great weekend in Detroit for Evan's tournament. Went 2-1 and just missed the finals. Some pictures included.

Evan's Odyssey of the Mind team competed without him on Saturday and finished 3rd out of 29 teams in there age group. Evan worked real hard on getting the project ready to present.

Graham had his first soccer game and scored 2 goals. Saw the video from the game and he looks like a natural. Thanks to the Twiddy's for taking him and Grammy for showing up in support since Mom and Dad couldn't be there.

August 3, 2010

Big soccer day for Evan today. Started off with Triangle United soccer camp until noon. Then he hung with Grammy before heading to YDA free play for half an hour. Then his first session of Next Level Academy over in Cary. He did real well at Next Level and he should really thrive in that program. One day a week of high intensity skills training that lasts 10 months.

Graham had a good day at school and played very nicely with his friends. He's had some transisition issues since his move to the preschool room. Good to see him getting more confortable with his new surroundings.

Thanks to the Twiddys for coming up last weekend and helping us get some stuff done around the house. Feeling even more like our home now.

May 10, 2010

Another busy week last week. Evan had benchmark testing the first half of the week and it sounds like he did really well. He then invited MB and Grammy to a Mother's Day Tea in his class on Friday. He had written a couple of poems and got up in front of the class and read them. He did a good job with all of them, but our favorite was the one he wrote about the color red. Graham made his mom a nice gift at school - a picture of him hugging himself with the word "Hugs" written across and another picture of him blowing a kiss with the word "Kisses" written.

Saturday brought the Danny Fox Lacrosse Tournament in Burlington. Evan had games at 8:15, 12:25, and 1:30. I think even Graham knows that there are 3 hours between 9 and 12. MB and Graham stayed home for the first game, but my cousin Jackie and her daughter Skylar came to watch as they live about 5 minutes away. The Eagles played well against a Raleigh team and came away with the win. Evan had a goal and some great passes. After the game, we hung out for a little while at the field with Evan's teammates, then grabbed lunch with his friend Connor and his dad. My aunt Joan came to the second game with my cousing Katie. It was so nice of her to come out and watch Evan play. They played a big team from Raleigh and ended up losing this one. It was great to see Joan though. She's turning 80 in a couple of weeks and we're going to come back up for a big birthday bash. She still looks great and always brings the boys some M&Ms. MB and Graham made it up for the second and third games and Jackie and Skylar came back too. The Eagles took game three and Evan must have set up half of the goals through some great passing. After the game, the season came to an end and Evan turned in his jersey. Whoever wears number 30 next year will have some big shoes to fill.

Mother's Day started with breakfast in bed for the mom and then we headed down to Apex for a soccer game against another U10 team. Our b0ys thoroughly controlled the game but could only put one goal in and ended up with a 1-1 tie. Evan had some good runs and passes and banged one off the post on a bullett from 15 yards out. We rushed back to Durham and had Mom and the McDaniels over for a Mom's Day cookout. The moms hung out and rested while the kids had a great time playing outside. Dinner was good and we had a wonderful day. MB and I will enjoy her Mother's Day gift this Saturday when we go see "Wicked" at the DPAC.

Evan has tryouts for YDA on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The big question for us is whether he plays U9 or U10 next year. We're confident that he'll have a great experience either way, but I just hope he gets to play with some friends again next year.

Jimmy

Myrtle Beach Soccer Tourney - May 1-2

Myrtle Beach Soccer Tournament

Had a great trip to MB for the soccer tournament two weekends ago. Got in and had a little trouble getting into our room, but finally got it situated. We met Giacomo, Alex, Kellen and their families at a calabash seafood buffet and had a good dinner. I went all fried to start while MB went with some crab legs. Graham sat at the table with the kids and thought he was hot stuff.

Evan had an 8:00 am game on Saturday and Evan slotted home the first goal right before halftime. They ended up scoring one more and won 2-0. We went back to the hotel to get the kids some AC before the second game. The second game was against a bigger team who hadn't lost in 2 years. This team played pretty rough (and occassionally dirty) and took our guys out of their game. We ended up losing 4-1 but still made it through to the semi-finals the next day. After the second game we grabbed lunch with Dad and Julie and then headed back to the hotel. I hit the waterpark across the street with Evan while MB tried to get Graham to take a nap - not successfully unfortunately. Evan's buddies were already at the waterpark and they were psyched to see him. That made him feel really good. That night we went out to eat with the whole team at an Italian buffet and had a good meal. The team finished the night off on the beach playing soccer.

Sunday morning brought the semi-finals and the boys went up 3-0 before winning 3-2. Evan played well and had some good runs and great passes. After that win, we had about an hour before we had to play the team we lost to on Saturday in the finals. The boys handled the physical play a lot better this time and the score was tied 1-1 with a couple minutes to play. The other guys scored on a break-away and then got one more while our guys were trying to score. After the game, they got recognized by the tournament organizers and received Finalist medals. We were so proud of Evan and the rest of the boys. They played really well and really hard. Go Birmingham City!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Dad and Julie for coming down to the tournament. It was a really fun weekend and a great event.

Jimmy

April 28, 2010

Just got done trying to finalize the Summer camp schedule for Mr. Evan. Looking like all sports camps all the time. Actually signed him up for the Nate James/Chris Carrawell camp tonight and it was painful. Maybe he can dunk on one of them.

Evan had a great soccer game on Sunday - 4 goals and some great passing. Hope it carries forward to the soccer tourney this weekend. We're looking forward to the tournament in Myrtle Beach. He plays at 8 and 11:45 on Saturday so we'll have all afternoon to play on the beach and at the waterpark. Granddaddy and Grand Julie are going to meet us down there too. Don't know why they bowed out of Saturday dinner with nine 8-9 year old boys.

Played golf in a fundraiser for East Chapel Hill HS on Monday. I actually played pretty well and we finished 8 under. Didn't place but I won some free yoga passes in the raffle. Looking forward to those.

Took the boys to Torrerros for some Mexican food last night. Evan went with the famous Mexican dish of Chicken Nuggets and French Fries while Graham chose Cheese Quesadillas with rice and refried beans. He liked the everything but the beans and we determined that he is a big fan of salsa. Definitely our kid.

Everybody has to cheer for Stately Victor in the Kentucky Derby this weekend. The horse was named after my friend Bud's little brother who died in a car accident when he was 23. The horse is owned by his childhood friend's family and they named the horse after Victor. Bud and Toni are having a big Kentucky Derby party at their house in Brooklyn this weekend. Should be fun and very emotional.

Go Heels.

April 21, 2010

MB and I both feeling under the weather today. Hopefully its a short-term thing. Graham has had a little bit of a cough, but we think it's going away.

Evan got his report card this week and it was very good. Reading well above his grade level and doing very well in Math. Good job!! I went today and worked with his reading group in class. MB and I take turns working with Evan and 4 other AIG kids. We're reading Fantastic Mr. Fox now and the kids seem to be enjoying it. They did a good job answering all of the questions.

Good lacrosse practice tonight. Worked on a lot of stick work.

I have to work at our Warehouse Sale tomorrow night and Friday night. Not looking forward to a couple of late nights.

Jimmy

April 19, 2010

It's tough to keep up with this blogging thing sometimes. Been a very busy week and a half. Had a good visit with the Twiddy's, who were nice enough to come up and hang out with Evan for a couple of days. Then had a fun visit with Dad and Julie. Went to Evan's lacrosse game, where he scored a goal and then made it to the UNC Spring Game with Dad and Julie and the McDaniels. Evan got some cool autographs and Graham had fun on the bounce houses. We watched the game with 30k other fans and I'm sure we all think Bryn Renner should be the starting quarterback. Finished the day with a great dinner at our house celebrating Aunt Molly's bday. Super-fun day.

Back to work and life last week. It was so busy I don't even remember what happened. We did have another fun weekend though. Evan and I went to the Railhawks soccer game with Giacomo and his dad on Friday night. They didn't get the win, but the boys still had a good time. Saturday we went to Evan's lacrosse game and he played well again - another goal and a couple chances that just missed. Graham went to a birthday party at Bull City Gymnastics in the afternoon. It was a great place for a party. The kids got to jump and slide into the foam block pit and jump on the trampolines. Thanks to Vidya for the fun party. Went to dinner to celebrate our Anniversary on Saturday night. Good night at Cypress on the Hill. Best calamari I've ever had. I had a nice Halibut for dinner and MB had a flash-fried Snapper - the whole thing (head, tail and all). It freaked her out a little that the fish was looking at her while she ate it, but it was very tasty. Had a nightcap next door at the Crunkleton and saw a friend that I used to work with.

Evan had a soccer game on Sunday against another U10 team and the boys really played well - came close to getting the win. They all looked very comfortable with the ball and were more aggressive than I've ever seen them. Evan had a good game and just missed a goal on a one-on-one with the keeper. Took the boys to Jason's Deli while MB went to bible study. They love the free ice cream after dinner - I'm a fan too.

Back to work today - busy, but got a lot done. Connor and Grammy came over after school and hung out with Evan until I got home and took Evan to soccer training. Then they hung out with Graham while MB went to a meeting at church. I got a nice 4-mile run in during Evan's practice. I caught up with an old friend from Myrtle Beach after reconnecting on Facebook. John Brunty lived in our neighborhood in Forestbrook and we went to school together in 7th-10th grade. I haven't talked to him in at least 20 years. He's living in New York after spending most of his post-college years in Charleston. Doing real estate and design work. Great catching up.

Going to be a busy week as I have to work our warehouse sale Thursday and Friday night until 9-10pm or so.

Jimmy