Tennis Lesson

Owen started in on tennis lessons with Chloe on Tuesday afternoons.  He couldn't take it sitting on the sidelines watching his sister have fun after the last six week session.

Yay for tennis lessons to get both kids more exercise and fun!

A Mobile, a Moon and Push Ups

Chloe was excited to take her mobile into school that she made after reading a Junie B. Jones book.

She worked hard at drawing the different characters, writing their names and then writing out parts of the plot to hang on her mobile.

Owen wanted to get in on the early morning pictures, if only to try to sneak in some bunny ears.  But I snapped a photo before he got them up behind Chloe.  Momma is too fast for this boy!  Sometimes.

The moon was still out before we left for school.

In the afternoon, Chloe had tennis lessons.

Thought she looked pretty cute wearing her purple and black dress with Owen's black tennis shoes.

She didn't make all the hits and had to do push ups at the back of the line.

Chloe's First Tennis Lesson

Ever since her birthday when she got some new tennis gear, our girl has been excited about playing tennis.  She was thrilled when we asked if she would like to sign up for tennis lessons this spring.  The first week/lesson got rained out and there were tears.  We were all thankful when we had sunny skies the following week and could go to the lesson.

Although she was excited about the lesson, she was not so excited to pose for me or my camera.

This isn't a blink.  It's shutting out the view of Mom and her camera.

See?  Total avoidance.

Chloe always has to be closest to the action and this tennis lesson was no exception.  She was front and center, listening to what Coach Michael had to say.

Coach Michael is fabulous with the kids at holding their attention and keeping them on the straight and narrow.

Chloe was a little pushy to get to the start of the lines for drills.  She's good at that.  We had a little chat afterwards that it's ok to let others go first.  It might be a good way to win friends and she will still get her turn.  

She did really great at making contact with the tennis balls.

As well as her follow through with the racquet.

She was all smiles.  The whole hour.

Look at that flying pony tail!

She already hit the ball here and giggled to no end about it flying up high.  Coach Michael makes all kinds of comments about swings and hits and where the ball travels.  He is awesome at making it super FUN for the kids!

Chloe looks like she is using her karate middle stance.  :)

Coach Michael tries his best to wear out the kids.  He makes them run laps throughout the lesson.  Or to the far fence and back.  And over again.  At the end of the lesson, he made them all run to the fence and back (twice) before they could receive a piece of candy.

Owen got to participate since he also helped clean up balls off the court throughout the lesson.  

He's so fast.  Always a blur in comparison to the other kids his age, no matter where he runs.

Chloe is our little slow poke.  Almost always the last.  

But she finishes and we talk about that's what matters the most.

We drove home after the lesson to get ready for karate and Chloe was just beaming from ear-to-ear.  AWESOME!

Tennis Morning Out!

Papa Wenzel and Grandma Sharon arrived two days ago.  Yay!  Which also meant Kelley got a morning off to go watch Todd play with his new USTA tennis team.  On this very cold morning out in the 40s.  Multiple layers and goose down blankets weren't quite enough, but it was awesome just getting to watch Todd play tennis and meet his new teammates.

And we also got the added bonus of a date night out.  We went to PF Chang's, a wander through the book store and then saw J. Edgar in the movie theatre.  Yay for a night out while the kids stayed home and got spoiled with their grandparents!

Todd's Tennis Match at Country Club of the South

Another perk of the kids staying Up North with Papa Wenzel and Grandma Sharon is that I get to attend Todd's tennis matches.  This morning, he was playing mixed doubles at Country Club of the South (one of the fanciest neighborhoods in North Georgia).

 Todd and Melissa won this match.  Go Todd!

Pro Tennis!

A pro tennis tournament came to town, which included some of the pre-qualifying matches to the U.S. Open.  Todd bought tickets for a Tuesday afternoon/evening.  Work got in the way of us leaving early enough to catch the 4pm match.  But we did see James Blake play Taylor Dent.

They wouldn't allow cameras with detachable lenses, so I brought my old Olympus point & shoot.  It did ok, but I was bummed seeing dozens of others who had snuck in their nice cameras and wishing I had mine.

Taylor Dent won the match.  It was a little disappointing seeing James Blake walk off the court with his head down and not signing autographs.  Although I can appreciate disappointment in self and knowing you could have played better.  Still.  He's a professional.

Once the sun went down behind the stands, my pictures got pretty grainy.  It waited until just after Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish walked out on the court.

It was pretty hot out, but I was still in jeans and a t-shirt.  We had a great time and were glad Todd's tennis friends Russ and Lori were there with their son.

Tennis!

One of the things I love the most while the kids are gone is that I can go watch Todd play tennis.  It doesn't matter how late we stay out and we don't need to arrange for a babysitter.

I love getting to tag along to watch Todd play tennis and hang out with the men on his team.  They are a fun group of guys and I enjoy getting to know them better.  I can understand why Todd enjoys spending so much time with these guys!  

Todd's partner in this match is Bob.  Todd calls him Dr. Bob because he is a master of the sport.  Bob can get to any ball and places it back exactly where he wants it to land.  Not bad for a sixty year old.  He impresses everyone with his skills.

A nasty storm blew through, but dropped very little rain.  Just dark skies and 40+ mph winds.

Before we left, we were rewarded with this rainbow.  It was gorgeous!

Merry Go Round Fun

Todd had a tennis match this morning in another neighborhood.  The courts were surrounded by tall trees a good fifty years old and there was a wonderful playground right in the middle.  One of the few that still has a real merry-go-round that hasn't been removed in fear of liability law suits.  The kids have no memory of ever seeing a merry-go-round before.  But I remember one at Blanchette Park in St. Charles that I absolutely loved when I was a kid.  It was the source of much fun, running and laughter.  

They had so much fun running around the merry-go-round!

Hopping on and off as they pushed it as fast as they could go.

They took turns pushing each other.

And worked together running to make it go even faster.

There wasn't any arguing.  Any.  None.  Nada.

There were a couple of falls and then they were dragged a few feet as they hung on.  But surprisingly, no tears.  Just muddy knees.

I love it when they have so much fun together and just play.

When they are effortlessly the best of friends.

Owen and Todd played a little volleyball together with the green bouncy ball.

And Chloe made a new friend.  Do you remember when it was so easy to make a new friend?  To walk up and just begin playing with a complete stranger?  I wish it were so easy to do as an adult!  Chloe played with this little girl for several hours and never learned her name.

The kids also rested and watched Daddy play tennis.  They cheered him on and encouraged him with every shot he hit.

This was a fun morning out.  The kids played hard.  They watched their Daddy play tennis.  They laughed.  And there was no complaining, whining or arguing.  It was heaven. :)