Much to my surprise, they both really enjoyed it. They quickly got the hang of tennis and followed our team. They were silent when a point was played, and joined everyone in screaming, hollering, clapping, and dancing with the pep band and cheerleaders.
You heard me right. Cheerleaders. With a pep band (think drums, tubas, and cowbells - I just gotta have more cowbell - hee, hee.) It was very loud! When the crowd got excited by pivotal points, you'd have thought we were watching a sport where crazy, face-painted fans are normal. This was not the serene gentlemen's sport you might think when you hear "tennis."
This chaos is one of the reasons that some of my favorite memories are of each of the boys sleeping through play. They fell sound asleep, in their nearly-aunt A-becca's lap and stayed right on snoozing through renditions of "Get Fired Up!" cheers and fans around us blowing horns and screaming. And I was worried about them missing naps... silly me.
It was also a patriotic place. With the outfits and demographics, it could have been a Republican National Convention. It was not, of course (we're in Oregon!), but it was very colorful. It was, however, a fun place to cheer "U-S-A" with thousands of other people.
One piece of clarity from the weekend is the little time we have before organized sports are a bigger part of our life. Obi-1 now wants to be just like "Danny Roddick." Grandma & Grandpa are chomping at the bit to see the boys start sports. With Uncle Bo-Bo coaching an eighth grade basketball game Saturday evening, we could have spent even more time as fans, but I pulled a Mean-Mama-Move and kept the boys home with me.
While everyone else headed to see more sports, we watched the Rockettes' holiday show. To my delight, they loved it - exclaiming in joy over the tap dancing and singing. The boys dubbed the dancers "Rock Kets," so as to not confuse this fun holiday dance show with spaceships. For me, it was a wonderful breath of arts and music, and special time with our boys.
So, there you have it: a wild, exhausting, wonderful weekend. The best part was probably the dozens (and dozens!) of people who complimented the Obi's behavior. Of course, I thought they were fantastic, patient, and wonderful fans, and I know they're amazingly cute. But, you know, I admit I'm biased. It's good for the little guys to hear those compliments for themselves, and we did hear it (over and over and over) from family and strangers.
I started the weekend trying to pretend to be grateful, but worried about all the things that could go wrong. I ended the weekend truly grateful - for the many, many things that went right.
2 comments:
It sounds like you all had a blast! You are brave to risk it at nap time. Glad it paid off :)
anon- yes, it was worth the risk. I suppose most great experiences are!
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