Sammy's Basketball League

Pretty sure anyone who knows our family, knows how much Sammy loves basketball. 

I found a league here in Vegas and signed him up. They had practice twice a week, played 8 regular season games plus play-offs...and he loved every single minute of it.

His team ended up winning the championship for their age division! It was so exciting for him and he can't wait for next season!

First game of the season. Official uniforms hadn't arrived yet.

 Action shot (he's #4)

 Team huddle

 Championship game!

Champions!!

Clippers Meet and Greet

If you've been reading this blog for a while now, you know that the boys are big Clippers fans. One of the players, Eric Gordon, was making an appearance at a Kia dealership in Orange County on Sunday afternoon, so we drove down there to check it out.

We didn't tell Sammy where we were going (or why) until we got there and he saw everyone in line. When it was finally our turn, I could tell that Sammy was a little shy and he kept lifting up his leg to show Eric his shorts.

**Side note: Sammy is really into wearing his Clippers shorts (that are way too big for him) and shirt. He puts it on every day as soon as he gets home from school or church or where ever we've been. He calls it his uniform and tells me that he's got to get ready for the game--and then he'll proceed to play basketball in the family room.**

So he points to the Clippers logo on his shorts and tells Eric:

"Look--I play for the Clippers"

Fortunately Eric and the Fan Patrol girls (i.e. cheerleaders) that were with him thought that Sammy and Hannah were totally adorable and he went along with it and told Sammy:

"You do? I do too."

Sammy was beaming. Eric signed their basketballs and I took some quick pictures and we were done. The pictures are terrible because the sun was coming in behind where they were sitting and I was trying to rush because of the long line behind us.

Oh--and we also saw Muno (well, a cardboard cut-out of him). The kids, especially Helene, were really excited about it. Great photo-op--I couldn't resist.

Sammy's Birthday Party!

We celebrated Sammy's 4th birthday on Saturday at Chuck E Cheese's. It went much better than I expected, and except for a few terrified kids when Chuck E made his appearance (and who can blame them really? That huge mouse coming at you can be pretty intimidating!) everyone seemed to have a great time.

He was excited to wear the birthday crown (which I was surprised about), but he has since handed it over to Hannah to enjoy.

Sammy wanted a basketball cake. I am neither a cook nor an artist, so this was the best I could do. I used natural food dye for the basketball, thanks to this post--I can't say as much for the cake...it was Rainbow Chip.

There were lots of games to play!

And lots of food to eat!

Lauren having a good time!! So cute!

Opening presents!


Yet another attempt to get a decent family picture. I mean seriously people, I couldn't tell you the last time I was able to get EVERYONE to look at the camera at the same time and smile.

Hannah was miserable for pretty much the entire second hour of the party due it being her nap time--just ask anyone who was there. Here she is 5 minutes into the drive home. Poor thing. She napped for 3 hours.

Sammy had a great time and is still talking about it, so I guess it was all worth it. I'm just glad we are done for another year. Hannah is only turning 2 this year, so her expectations aren't as high yet.

Another Clippers Game

As previously mentioned, Samuel (and Sammy) are big LA Clippers fans, so when there was a day game for the MLK holiday Samuel asked me to check out Ebay for some tickets. I was originally going to just get 2 tickets so the guys could have some quality time together, but I got a GREAT deal on 4 tickets so we all went.

We were all dressed in our Clippers gear and ready to go. The kids were excited, as always.

Hannah insisted on wearing Samuel's cap

Hannah was so excited to have a seat all to herself!

The fans!

There was an area where the kids could play basketball and they took pictures that you could later access online. They turned out cute, but of course they are waaaaay overpriced and they have a watermark so I can't post them here. This is the best we got from our camera.

Sammy really got into the game and the Thunder Sticks were fun!

Hannah didn't get a turn until the way home

We had a great time and it was nice to spend some time together since Samuel has been working so much.

LA Clippers Game

As most of you know, my husband, Samuel, is a HUGE LA Clippers fan, and since the first preseason home game was Thursday, we got some great tickets off Ebay and went to the game.

It's going to be a disappointing season with Elton Brand out for most of the season with an injury and Shaun Livingston out since last season with a dislocated knee and he probably won't return this season either. We still have Cory Maggette and the newly acquired Brevin Knight and Ruben Patterson--and of course, my favorite, Sam Cassell. I have to note that rookie Guillermo Diaz had a good game.

We have always taken the kids to the games and it has never been a problem, but I've only recently (since March) put the kids on an early bedtime schedule (7:00pm) and the game started at 7:30pm.

Hannah also is getting 4 molars in right now and has a terribly congested cough and runny nose. I wanted to just stay home with her and let the boys have a night out, but Samuel wanted to make this a family outing and plus we ALWAYS go to the games together. So we all went.

We arrived a little early and took a few minutes to check out the new Nokia Theatre that they have built across the street from Staples Center. The Dixie Chicks and the Eagles were performing that night so there was a big crowd there for that plus a lot of spectators just checking out the new venue. It's really cool new area that they are building up around there--check it out sometime. (No pictures of the Nokia Theatre, I was too busy chasing Hannah around)

Our seats were great--just over the tunnel that the players come out of and pretty close to the court.
Since it was preseason there wasn't that many people there, so we had about 6 seats to ourselves which gave Hannah and Sammy room to play around. Hannah did okay--better than I expected her to be and everyone was so nice about her crabbiness and my taking her out--and having to let me out of the row numerous times.

Sammy thoroughly enjoyed himself and it's so cute to see him get more and more into the game as he is getting older--this is his 4th Clippers season.

We ended up leaving at halftime--Hannah was completely ready to go and nothing made her happy. Sammy was a little sad to go, but agreed that he was tired and ready for bed.

We bought each of the kids a basketball on the way out which seemed to help lift their spirits a bit. They were passed out within 5 minutes of the drive home.


Next time, we'll wait for a Saturday matinee game so we can stay the entire time. Go Clips!