Boys State Basketball

Last Thursday morning, we traveled to the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines to experience the state tournament for ourselves.

The boys were completely in awe when we got there.  We arrived about an hour early, to guarantee a good spot, and we finished watching the game before us.

I am so glad we decided to go, and experience this fun event with the boys.  I remember so many memories from when I was growing up from the state basketball tournaments, and I can only hope there are more in the near future to take advantage of as well.

The boys did so good during the game, especially considering we were there an hour early, and the game ended up going into overtime!  That is a long time to sit still, but they both did great.  Wes did do a little game playing, and of course.....took some selfies.

Wes wanted to take a picture with me, so I leaned over real quick, and snapped a picture with him.  He looked at the picture, showed it to me, and said "arrrrggggh."  I laughed so hard, because I had NO idea he was taking a pirate picture of us, and I have NO idea how he even does these things!  Too funny.

Sadly, the boys ended up losing that game, and ended up playing on Friday for 3rd or 4th place.  They ended up getting 4th place, but what a true accomplishment!  4th place in the state, and A-P basketball hasn't made an appearance at the state tournament in years.  Something to be truly proud of.  And come to find out----a majority of the boys on the team were battling a nasty flu bug.  There was supposed to be a pep rally on Saturday when they would be coming through town, but that ended up getting cancelled because so many of the players had the flu.  Such a bummer!

We made some great memories with the boys that day, and all had so much fun!  Since then, Carl has made the boys their very own "basketball court" in the garage, and they have already logged many hours out there.  We also discovered it's a great "math lesson" for Carson while he is playing.  He knows where the 3-point line is, and where to only add 2 points to his score.  He starts at 0, and rattles off how many points he has; either adding 2 or 3 without even thinking!  We are impressed with his quick adding skill, especially while he is busy running around the garage shooting hoops, and chasing his ball.

I leaned over to Carson while we were at the state tournament, and said..."some day you will get to play basketball in the state tournament if that's something you choose to do!"  He looked at me with wide eyes, and then turned his head back to the court.  Dream big, little ones!  You can do anything you set your mind to.  Choose to do hard things, because you are more than capable. I am so proud of these boys already, and can't wait to see where the Lord leads them.  It makes me a little sad to think that Carson is already 5-1/2 years old, but I am also so excited to watch him bloom, and support him in his journey through his school years!