Austin's 1st Day of Basketball

Friday was Austin's first day of basketball at the Indiana Basketball Academy. It seems like most kids his age are starting to play soccer, but he really hasn't been all that interested in that, and not surprisingly, he loves basketball. I checked out a couple of places and asked some people, and they highly recommended this preschool basketball class that meets once a week. It is led by Tom Abernathy, a former IU player on the 1976 undefeated team. I was really impressed with the way he and his assistant Andrew, taught the kids, but had such a good way with them. There must have been about 15 four or five year olds so it is a handful.

They worked a lot on dribbling, pivoting, and some shooting on lowered goals. They all use junior sized balls. Austin took it very serious (not a surprise)! He needs to understand you have to keep your dribble going without picking it up. Also, pretty funny when they lined up on the baseline and were supposed to dribble to the other end, Austin thought it was a race and just bolted to the other end. He did a much better job after Tom explained to him what they were doing. Interesting, for as reserved as he can be, he never hesitated to raise his hand and try to do whatever they were asking, even when he didn't know how to do it.

After a lot of dribble work, and some shooting, they got to play in a "real" game. He wasn't sure what to really do for the first time up and down the court, but caught on pretty quick. He was one of the very first up and down the court each time. He doesn't get his speed from me, but he looked pretty fast! He scored 1 point by hitting the net on a shot. Tom did a great job of making sure each kid gets to shoot during the game. There aren't a whole lot of made baskets, and Austin was guilty of guarding his own teammates, but pretty fun to watch! Considering I was in like the 5th grade before I ever played in a game, what a head start!

All in all, he did a great job for the first time in an organized situation. The class has been meeting for 4 times already, so he is coming in a little late. He also was the only kid to bring basketball shoes and his own basketball...If he is going to play, he might as well do it right. Notice the multi colored ball in the pictures. That is his!

Hopefully, he will practice dribbling without picking it up this week! I was really glad that I could be there for his first time. Unfortunately, I won't be able to be at every one, but I hope to surprise him when I can.

Enjoy the pictures!

Caitlin's 1st day of Tap/Ballet Class

Monday was Caitlin's first day of dance class. I just wanted to share these pictures of her all ready to go. I wasn't able to go, and Austin was having a major meltdown because he was seperated from Sis, so Kim didn't get to watch her too much. Uncle John stopped by and watched a few minutes. The little bit that Kim did see, she gushed about how cute it was, although Caitlin is not the most naturally coordinated little girl. She did love it though, and I am sure she will catch on and do a good job as she learns.

Enjoy a few pictures! And by the way...Austin starts his basketball class Friday. I took him to get his first pair of basketball shoes tonight, and he was so excited! I will post pictures of that, too.

Mickey Land

Sorry there weren't any updates during the trip and it has taken a few days since we got home to write this post. I didn't realize how tired Disney makes you! I still need a couple of good nights to get back to feeling normal!

Where do I start? We had a great time! Some challenging times when the kids got so tired and started acting crazy, but for the most part, a lot of memories!

I guess I should just list some highlights...

-Austin pretty much broke out of his shell on this trip. While Caitlin was pretty speechless in meeting her heroes in life, all the princesses, Austin would just talk, talk, talk...He even gave one of them his phone number! The dude was classic, and we kept joking that he was hitting on all of them. There wasn't one that he didn't just start talking to like he had known them forever! Caitlin pretty much just looked at them with so much awe. I think she couldn't believe that she actually got to meet them. They were all so nice and took time to talk with them. That really was cool to see the kids interact with them.

-All the character meetings were super cool. The kids got so excited for Mickey and the crew whenever they got to see them. They would take their autograph books up to them and would pose so nice for pictures!

-They love rides! They want to ride on everyone, whether they are big enough or not! There were hardly any lines and we pretty much got on rides very quickly. That made it fun for the kids and good for us! From classic rides to new ones, we had a lot of fun seeing how much fun the kids had.

-One of the coolest things for me was seeing Caitlin after she was all done up in the Bippidi Bopppidi Boutique. She actually went into a part of Cinderella's Castle and they made her into a little princess. She loved it. It was first thing in the morning, so while she did that, Austin and I literally rode some rides by ourselves...Can you imagine being the only people in the tea cups? Well, as we were headed back to meet up with Sis and Mom, I saw Caitlin from about 200 feet away...I immediately started to tear up she looked so cute...her hair was up with a little tiara, and she was wearing her Sleeping Beauty dress. She is something else!

-Our hotel, the Animal Kingdom Lodge, was unreal. It was absolutely beautiful and just totally unique. I stay in so many hotels all over the place, and this one was as nice as you could find...although very one of a kind. On top of that, the fact that animals were roaming about 20 feet from your balcony was really cool.

-There are so many anecdotes and stories, as you would expect, I couldn't possibly write them all here. We took about 775 pictures, and there are another 120 or so that we have to get from the Disney website that they took of us. I uploaded 136, I think, below. Enjoy them...I tried to include most of the ones that had the kids in them.

I think it will be quite a while before we go back. Maybe when the kids can ride all the rides. It is so exhausting, I can't imagine doing it again for a few years, at least!

I will see if Kim will post some funny stories from the trip, but enjoy the pictures below! HAVE A MAGICAL DAY!

One other thing...

I am not sure how many people even read this blog, but wanted to encourage anyone that does to attend a fundraiser for Tony Feller Thursday, Sept. 10th at Mudsock's Grill in Noblesville. You can find all of the information on tonyfellerfund.com.

I haven't ever met Tony, but have been absolutely touched by his story. I have learned that he and I were at IU for a couple of the same years. He has been battling cancer like a warrior for 5 years, and is only 37. He and his wife, Crystal, decided when they couldn't get anymore help in fighting the disease here in the United States, they went to Germany where Dr.'s would continue to help him battle for his life.

At Mudsock's, there will be great live entertainment by Mike and Joe, raffles and bidding for some unbelievable things, and overall probably a pretty awesome gathering of people coming together to support and celebrate their son, brother, husband, dad, and friend.

Crystal posted some of the things that will be available on an Ebay auction...wanted to post them:

-A meet and greet with Lebron James before a game
-Indy Car Experience around the 500 track with a driver
-Tickets to the Masters on the final day with suite accommodations
-Final Four tickets
-Colts sideline seat tickets with pre-game on field access, VIP parking
-Autographed items from numerous sports figures
-Tony Stewart autographed bumper from his car he raced in Michigan last week
-Pacer tickets with flight on the plane with the team and hotel accommodations
-A case of wine a month for a year
-Cubs tickets (rooftop) with food and beverages included

We will be out of town, but really want to encourage everyone to go, whether you know the Fellers or not. If you are just going out to eat that night, go there and drop a couple extra bucks to help support this family. Also, look for a story on Tony and the family on Fox 59's Morning News Wednesday morning between 7 and 9 a.m.

God Bless and comfort you Tony, Crystal, Ashley, and Will. You are touching lives of people that you haven't ever even met. That is powerful!

"Mickey Land" Eve

I couldn't think of a better description of the day. The kids are so excited, it is basically like Christmas Eve around here, so with our trip to Disney World looming at a very early hour tomorrow, I thought Mickey Land Eve was a good title.

Kim needed some time to pack and get stuff ready, so I took the kids down to the office today to play (nice to work at a place where your kids can run around and get some energy out!) and I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some pictures of Austin that would look good in his "Locker Room" bedroom. They also hadn't seen my new office, so they were excited to do that. There is a table with a couple of chairs, so they thought it was just perfect for them to come, have a snack, draw pictures, or watch the "big guys on tv." Caitlin had to bring her pom poms, although I was proud to see her try and dribble a ball and run around.

Below are pictures from today. Most are of the kids, but I put a couple in there of the new office for everyone that doesn't have a chance to see where I work.

We will post and add pictures from Disney World if we aren't too exhausted at the end of each day.

Have a Magical Week!