But, I have two worthwhile photos from my phone from todays marathon day that started at 7:40am when we left the house for swim practice and didn't end until 7:45pm tonight when finally made it back home. Yes, it was 103 with humidity. Yes, my skin is sticking to itself at this very moment. Yes, we all have slight sunburns despite using sunscreen and staying in the shade as much as possible, and yes, Jared is on a campout with Caleb so yes, I am tired, but happy! So, I figured I'd take advantage of a quiet night and ease some of my latent guilt of getting a tad behind on keeping a record of our lives.
Gavin and Liam both played in their final tennis tournament today that included most of the teams in our surrounding area. There were 30 boys in Liam's division and 10 in Gavin's. Both boys played very well and I was impressed to see what great form they have compared to so many of the other players. Who knew! I spend so much time shuttling them from swimming to tennis I don't get to see them in action very often.
Liam came off with a win in the first (6-1) and second round (6-4) and was beat by a kid who knew how to hit one kind of shot and he hit it well (1-6). The boy was sloppy in his form, but he would get to most of Liams balls and just send them back with a load of backspin, which on clay courts is hard to get to. Liam was increasingly frustrated and I was able to talk to him at one point and suggest that he try to make the kid move (he wouldn't go for shots that weren't right back to him) which improved his game points, but it was unfortunately a little too late in the match. He was disappointed, but also recognized that making it to the 3rd round was a great accomplishment.
Gavin played his first opponent and "bageled" him with a 6-0 match score. His second opponent wasn't much better and he beat him 6-1. I laughed because the final point was played on a serve from the other kid that was clearly out. I asked Gavin why he played that serve even though he knew it was out and he said he didn't want to win on an error. I suggested he not take that approach with whoever he was playing next :) His next match was against an old classmate who is now at a different school. He was down 2-0, and later said he felt like he might cry, but then came back 2-2, then up 3-2, then back to 3-3, then he was up 4-3, then 5-3, then his opponent came back 5-4, then he won 6-4 on a total winner of a shot....it was beautiful! That should have been the final match because his last opponent for the championship was not as challenging and he won pretty easily 6-2.
Here he is with the final championship match score and receiving his trophy from the tournament host. Nice job Gavin and Liam!
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