Basketball (4th and 7th Grade)

Both Owen and Miles recently finished basketball season.  Miles played with the Warriors again, and Owen played pre and post junior high season with some version of the Wildcats, and played his first year of junior high basketball.  There's never enough basketball games and practices to satisfy them.

Miles' team traveled a bit more this year, going to Wichita and Lawrence in addition to all the tournaments in the area.  He had a great year--very aggressive and a good ball handler.  He really enjoys the boys on his team, as well as the coaches.  None of his teammates go to the same school as him, so it's fun for him to hang out with different kids.

Owen played 5-6 tournaments before and after junior high ball with coach Todd and kids that played together on the Wildcats--give or take a few others.  Adam helped out coaching and enjoyed his part-time role. For most of January and February, he played school ball which was a big change from travel ball.  He had fun playing with his classmates and for his school (and cheering girls at the home games).  His team finished about 500, including a couple of nail biter wins versus in-town rival, EMS.  Owen had a great season and can't wait for next year.

December tournament in KC.  The older the boys get, the BIGGER some of them get.  As a general rule, the kids use "armpit hair" as a measure of how big/tough they are.

This is what most Sundays look like on the way home from a fun, busy weekend of basketball.

One of Miles' favorite friends (Logan Funk) came to watch his Wamego tournament.  Miles also enjoyed getting to watch Logan play ball a couple of times.

Miles playing at Clay Center.

At our house we play basketball in ANY weather.

It was both fun and tough to play against one of your best friends.  I guess this is a good example of how nice it is to have boys--they go hard against one another for an hour on the court and five minutes later they are buddies again.

Some of the Manhattan boys went to watch their Wildcat teammates play for their home schools (Riley vs. Rock Creek).  So fun to watch their friendships extend beyond practices.

Graham has affirmed his friendship with Dillon (little brother of Jackson, who plays with Miles). Dillon's mom always has fun toys to play with during the games.

Miles hanging out with teammates between games at various tournaments.

Miles' team posing after winning the Manhattan tournament.  I think they won 3 tournaments this year??

Miles shooting free throws during a game in Manhattan. 

Junior high game.  Owen pictured with teammates Brogan, Brett, and Cole.  

Birthday--Owen is 12!

June = birthdays at our house!  With all the baseball tournaments, games, and practices, it's always hard to plan any type of party.  We usually wait and do something later in the summer when things are a little calmer.  This year Owen's birthday fell on a Saturday (baseball tournament in Liberty). Instead of cake we opted for chips/candy/Gatorade and his teammates sang to him.
At age 12 he still loves sports--playing, watching, analyzing, anything!  He also enjoys cooking, some video games, doing math problems, eating, playing with friends/brothers, and being outside. He has to be reminded to brush his teeth and read.  We've had him mow the yard this summer and he continues to "baby-sit" for short periods of time.  Happy 12th Owen!

He started the day with a smoothie from Starbucks (something we usually say, "No" to.  

He spent some of his birthday watching a friend's daughter play in a basketball tournament.  He may look bored here, but this is exactly the kind of thing he likes to do.  It's even better when he can sit and watch alone.  

 Enjoying some birthday treats--not the homemade kind!

He waited until we returned to Manhattan to open his gifts--Dick's gift card, certificate for his first massage, some cooking supplies, and a huge bucket of bubble gum.  He received money and gift cards from family as well and as of right now plans to spend his money on some new clothes (that fit), new basketball, or a food processor.

Tulsa--Baseball 2015

The grand finale for the 12U Titans was a trip to the World Series in Tulsa, OK (which means vacation for the siblings).  The boys finished 5-2 (3rd place) for the long weekend.  Although it did rain all day on Thursday, they were able to adjust and Friday-Sunday was HOT and sunny.

The facility had a huge park and splash pad outside the baseball fields.  Miles and his buddies made regular trips out there to cool off.  When they weren't out there they usually sat in a pack (the VIP section) to watch the games or they started their own whiffle ball game between fields. Truly it was a 4-day playdate for Miles.

The "JV squad" at the hotel pool.

Graham spent a lot of time playing with Bodyn (Dayne's little brother) this season.  They aren't quite old enough for the freedom that Miles had, but at least they didn't need constant supervision to make sure they didn't fall/choke/etc.

 Owen at bat.

The hotel had an outdoor pool that the kids were in whenever they were allowed to be.  Fortunately there was an end shallow enough that Graham could play without having an adult with him all of the time.

Graham has lots of buddies that seem to tolerate him more than his own brothers.

 The "JV Squad" watching the final game.

The last post-game talk--definitely some sad boys.

Owen--Baseball 2015

This was Owen's first year playing with the Manhattan Titans, and he had a wonderful experience. Throughout the course of the season, I think he played every position except 1st base and maybe one other spot.  The team traveled a lot--mostly to KC.  For the first time since we've had kids playing baseball we seemed to get the remote locations in KC (near the airport, in Libery, MO).  As with the Braves (his former team) we loved the other families and Graham and Miles had lots of siblings to play with at games.  If I remember right, every tournament was affected by rain (usually delays or altering format to get games in).  Maybe we brought the rain!  The boys ended their season with on a 28-3 run, finishing 3rd (out of 32 and 24 teams) at two different World Series.  They were undefeated starting bracket play at the State Tournament when it was canceled due to lightning.  

There were many early Saturday mornings.  When I had to take Owen myself, he paid me back by helping grade papers in the car.

He switched from #9 to #5 this year since Dayne was already #9.  Now he is #5 for both basketball and baseball.

 Playing baseball in the front yard after rain canceled a tournament.

Early morning traveling.  I think this particular time we left MHK at 5:00 AM to arrive at 7:00 and be put on a 4 hour rain delay.

Team shot at a tournament in KC.

Taking it easy between games in Liberty, MO.

Watching Miles play with Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Mike.

End of School--Owen

Believe it or not, we have a middle schooler! Owen had a wonderful year in 6th grade.  He loved Mrs. Oberhelman as his teacher.  Some highlights included dissecting a cow eyeball, math groups, talent show, district-wide 6th grade activity day, end of year 6th grade party, and field trips.  I'm glad that he enjoyed elementary school all the way until the end, and didn't seem to get "too cool" for the building.  Although he might complain about reading every now and then, he is a kid that likes school, likes his classmates and teachers, likes the food, recess, and even continued to enjoy the before and after school program (even though we probably would have let him walk home after school).  

The last spirit day of the year was something like neon/crazy clothes day.  We've got neon covered (on a daily basis), but on this day he took it to the next level in head to toe highlighter yellow with some of my crazy patterned running tights underneath for just the right effect.  

End of Basketball

Sadly, it has become a summer goal to update this blog from winter/spring events. First up--hoops! Basketball is a big deal at our house, whether it be playing, watching, or analyzing. I can't believe how much they know--players, records, stats, college, high school, NBA, youth teams. This was probably Owen's last year playing with this exact group of boys since things will change once they go to junior high and have to factor in school season and additional rules of play for off season. We have been so blessed to be a part of the Wildcats for four years. The coaches, boys, and their families are wonderful. They make it worth the drives to KC and Wichita. Although we know Owen will continue to play in some fashion with these boys and coaches, we were all a little sad for season to end. I had to miss the last (and sounds like best) tournament due to the dumb flu!  After the season, Adam supervised a few of the boys in a 3 vs 3 tournament which was a lot of fun. You can see in the picture below that Miles was the assistant coach. 

Miles participated in his first season of traveling basketball this year. He loved playing and you could tell that he'd been beat around by his older brother. Although the coach probably liked his aggressiveness, he was usually in foul trouble. It was a blast to watch this scrappy guy. We didn't really know his teammates, coaches, and their families beforehand, but they were also a pleasure to be around. Miles is looking forward to next season and hoping that he will finally get a two day tournament (all of his ended up being one day this year) that requires us to stay in a hotel or with Uncle Quint. 

Wyatt, Melissa, Maggie, and McKinley came to watch a KC tournament. 

Group huddle after a "big win."

The Manhattan Warriors. 

Miles and first place medal. 

Adam, Miles and Dayne at 3 vs 3. 

Champions at 3 vs 3 (Dawson, Dayne, Owen, Brett). Plus Bodyn and Graham. 

End of season party at Zengers. Coach Todd giving the highlights for Owen and Dawson. 

Miles playing in 3 vs 3 with classmates Landon and Owen.

Owen, Landon, and Miles. Miles is mad they got 2nd place. 

And in case we didn't get enough basketball with our own children's games, we followed the NCAA a tournament religiously. Family bracket plus pay-to-enter pools (boys ended up 2nd and 3rd out of about 75 entries).....then we woke up and started baseball.

Hoops

IBoth Owen and Miles have been busy playing basketball every weekend--Wichita, KC, Topeka and also some local tournaments--Wamego, Clay Center, Chapman. They both love basketball and really like their teammates.  Adam has become the psycho dad who takes his own stats at Owen's games (Miles' games still have too many jump balls and turnovers to keep very accurate stats). Actually, he just has a cool iPad app he enjoys using and Owen likes to go through it after games.  My parents have been able to watch both boys play and Mike and Rosie are planning to be at the Manhattan tournament next week. 

On The Road Again

Both boys' basketball seasons are underway which means we're burning up the road every weekend. Miles is excited to play on his first traveling team. They've played four games and won three of them (and just barely falling to a 4th grade team). He's having a blast and doing a great job. The league they are in now allows only half court defense, and he keeps getting whistled for guarding too early. He is done until after the holidays when tournaments start. 

Both team pics are missing one player. 

Worn out after two early games. Catching a nap on the way to Owen's games. 

Owen is playing on the same team that he joined in third grade. It amazes me how good (most) 6th grade teams are. They went to a huge tournament in Wichita this past weekend. They made it into the top division, but lost a couple of close ones including a double OT game. Of course, Owen loves every minute of it. Miles and the other younger siblings have a great time in the stands. We stayed in a hotel this weekend and that was a big deal to the boys. Not so much for Mom and Dad who had to sleep with Graham.