The oldest 2 kids got to do the coolest thing in early December.
They took part in a basketball camp at UNI with the men's basketball team!
We headed to Cedar Falls for an afternoon with Keaton and Lola and took them to "Panther Pals". On the day of the basketball camp, the kids got to go around between the UNI-dome, the rec center, and the media room, and spend time with the Panthers basketball team and their coaches, learning about basketball.
They were all split into groups by grades, so the kids were both on their own.
(Which, by the way, would have made me a nervous wreck at that age.)
The kids didn't mind a bit and had a great time meeting new people and making new friends.
It was a very cool experience for the kids to have direct contact with these
"famous basketball players"
and they had so much fun having an afternoon without the little boys too!
They each got a basketball, a t shirt and a poster (cast) to take home.
After the practice portion of the camp, the kids got to go around and get each player's autograph (and the coach's!).
Lola got her basketball signed, while Keaton got his poster signed
…and even some on the back of his shirt!
Lola with Ben Jacobson! (The head coach.)
It was amazing how casual and personal the whole afternoon was.
We had a very good experience!
Then, THE COOLEST PART:
they got to perform during halftime of one of the Men's Panthers basketball games
…AND it happened to be ON Lola's birthday!
So, we loaded the kids up after school on Lola's birthday and headed to Cedar Falls.
We ate a very quick supper out…and then went to the game.
The kids had a blast at the game…we got to sit in the 2nd row.
Cruz LOVED the popcorn and the music!
Lola always has a little problem with static…. :)
and the lady pictured beside her was her new best friend that night.
Somehow Lola always makes friends and chats with the people next to us.
She has the gift of gab!
Of course, the kids didn't really want to cooperate for a picture…
there was WAY too much going on to pay attention to boring old mom and her camera.
Keaton always watches EVERY second of the game and has become a HUGE sports fan!
He loves to follow the Panthers
(and the Packers, the Heat, and, of course, the Clayton Ridge Eagles).
Cruz, well, he just LOVES to do whatever it is that Keaton is doing.
So, he was right in there cheering with Keaton yelling
"GO PANTHERS!!"
(Actually, I think he kept on yelling "go eagles"…but only because those are the games he usually gets to go to.)
It was finally halftime and the older 2 kids made it out onto the court for their big performance!
They actually got in the front
(which I was super excited about…
because then they were easy to find and take pictures of!).
They did some dribbling tricks and drills and were AWESOME!
Afterwards, I tried one more time to get a picture of all of them….
Not sure if you are able to see the future or not…
but if you look at this picture below…
well, you can just about guess what Cruz did with the basketball seconds later.
Yep…he threw it at Keaton…
and Keaton didn't see it coming since he was paying attention to me.
Poor kid!
(he didn't get too hurt though…he puts up with a lot!)
The rest of the game was a bit of a challenge, since Cruz now knew we had basketballs along…
but luckily we were able to keep the basketballs off of the court…during the game at least.
The Panthers Mascots are Lola's favorite part of the game.
(Oh, and, of course the cheerleaders.)
They roam around during the game and hang out with the kids in the stands.
T.C. is the male panther (T.C. stands for The Cat)….
and pictured below with Lola is T.K.
(yep…The Kitten).
I actually DID just google this to make sure I was right….clever, huh?
Anyway we told TK that it was Lola's birthday,
so she spent some extra time with Lola and gave her some extra hugs.
Lola was beside herself!!!
The problem with taking the kids to UNI games is this:
they don't start until 7:00 PM…
which is only about 1/2 hour before
we generally start BEDTIME at our house.
This kid below gets t.i.r.e.d.
So…I gave in and gave him his binkie and blankies for the 4th quarter.
(No, we haven't gotten rid of these yet….someday)
Oh look, Cruzie fell asleep.
(At least this is what he looks like when he is fake sleeping and snoring.)
He is HILARIOUS.
When we came out after the game, the weather had changed.
Poor Jason drove us all home on terribly snowy roads, while we all slept peacefully.
So glad our kids will sleep on the way home…
it gets to be a late night…but they recover well.
And most of the time, we consider it "worth it".
The Panther Pals program was really fun for the kids…
hopefully we can do it again next year!
(And maybe talk some friends into joining them!)
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