Bumpa the Builder...

For the past (almost) 6 years, we've had a hole in our wall. No, we didn't bust our wall out or anything like that. Most newer homes have these niches in the wall in the family room area where the t.v.s would go. A lot of people hire someone to custom build a entertainment center for that niche. Well, we finally have a beautiful custom, hand made entertainment center. It's a solid piece of furniture with cabinets and pull out drawers for me to keep everything nice, neat, and organized!

This great handcrafted piece of artwork was built from scratch by Lance's Dad, aka Bumpa! Yes, Bumpa is definitely creative and crafty with his precision and fancy tools. If you have forgotten, he also built Joshie a great train table when he was one (now passed on to cousin, Marley in L.A.). Bumpa also built Joshie and Jayden's famous 2 story castle/loft complete with a full sized slide which is in the playroom. And, he also built a smaller entertainment center for Joshie and Jayden's entertainment area upstairs.

We're so lucky that Bumpa built us all of these wonderful things that are original, of high quality, and custom made with "TLC"! He can build pretty much anything...I bet he can even build a house! I don't think there are any limits to what he can build.

Thank you Bumpa for your latest creation. We love it! Everyone who comes over and sees the entertainment center are amazed at the overall craftmenship and quality. They all assume that we paid thousands for it...it definitely looks like it!

Now, all we need is to go out and buy a new BIG t.v.!

No More Floaties!

Right before Jayden's 6th birthday, he was using floaties to help him swim. At that point, he refused to put his face in the water.

Then, the day before he turned 6, for some reason, he started to hold his breath and stuck his head under water. He did that several times until he was able to hold it longer and eventually swam with his head under water! The funny thing was the fact that he did this while his floaties were still on. He worked so hard by forcefully pushing his head under while his floaties were trying to keep the rest of him afloat. It was very entertaining to watch.

I believe it was the following weekend, when he decided to try it without his floaties. To all of our amazement, he did it! He was actually swimming on his own, under water, with no floaties! Jayden literally taught himself how to swim. Pretty amazing.

No more floaties for Jayden! Great job to our little self-taught swimmer!

Where Did The Summer Go?

Summer came and went and today was the first day of school! Joshua and Jayden both got the teachers that they wanted.

Jayden is now in 1st grade which meant that he was in school for a full day. No more half days for him. It's a big transition going from the kindergarten zone to the campus shared with the 1st through 5th graders. He got to play on the "big kids" playground, eat lunch in the cafeteria, and stay in school as long as his big brother.

Both boys had a great first day of school and we're all looking forward to another successful and fulfilling academic school year!

What Dreams May Come...

Couldn't resist blogging this...This is what a child looks like when one of their dreams is to play in the NBA, and they have the opportunity to be (all alone) on an NBA court. Just imagine what's going through his head...

Don't ever tell them they can't do it, because they just might believe you.

Happy Birthday To You!!!

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful husband and father in the world! We love you Daddy!

Joshua Ballin' at Arco Arena

Joshua was personally invited to participate in the the first ever Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Discover Card Homecourt Skills Challenge at ARCO Arena. The Hotshots organization teamed up with Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA. There were over 100 kids participating from the ages of 7-14. It was a free event for all particiapants.

Rebekkah Brunson and Laura Harper from the Sacramento Monarchs were there running a small clinic and helping out with the challenge.

The participants were required to complete a series of challenges in the fastest time. They were given 3 chances to make the free throw shot. They were given penalties (2 seconds added onto their time) for each mistake made, i.e. traveling, double dribbling, not going around the cones correctly, etc.

At the end, the judges tallied up the points/times and announced the winners in each division. Guess who received the fastest time in the boys 7-11 division? JOSHUA did!!! Woohoo!!(there were 3 winners in each category). Joshua won a brand new basketball and also came home with a ton of gifts including a jersey, t-shirts, snacks, a water bottle, a certificate, a mini basketball, and a Monarchs bag.

It was so exciting! Joshua's goal was to win it, and he did! He kept his cool and stayed focused. It was pure enjoyment for the kids and parents as well. This was an experience that we'll never forget. We're so very proud of Joshua!!

Please view Joshua's video below...we've also added it to our "video bar" directly on the blog, and the actual link to the youtube video is:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shSJ2OYC7kg

Overnight Camping Trip

On August 3rd, we went on our first family camping trip. At the time of planning, the fires and smoke were overtaking the central valley, so I booked a campsite at Gerstle Cove, located in Salt Point State Park along the Sonoma Coast. For those of you unfamiliar with it (as I was), it is about 30 minutes North on Highway 1 from Bodega Bay.

Although it was "just an overnight trip", there seems to be so much to tell.

First question...how big of a car does it take to go on an overnight camping trip with a family of four? Hmmm...

We left our hometown at 10:00am (right on schedule). We stopped at Shell Beach along the coast (around 12:30 or so), just past Bodega Bay to have lunch.

The air was crisp, temperature - around 60 degrees. About a half hour more up the coast, and we arrived at Gerstle Cove - our destination (around 2:00pm). The campground was clean, and small (30 sites) - we chose site #9, close to the (flush) restrooms, on the ocean side (no view - but could hear the waves), the tent area was guarded by trees (good -since we were on the coast and it was a little windy - 15 mph).

Upon arrival, Jayden and Joshua were amped up! Both running around the site, getting dirty, exploring things...all while dad got the tent set up and mom carefully watching the boys (being a mom) saying "Don't touch that","Be careful", "you're gonna get all dirty"...Once Jayden's white sweatshirt was dirty, and fingernails full of dirt - I think it hit Cyn - that it was crazy to think they'd stay clean.

We took a short walk (less than .5 mi) to Gerstle Cove - known for tide pooling and snorkeling - and the boys had a blast exploring the small pools, marveling at the anemones, the small crabs and starfish and the huge pieces of nori - err - seaweed.

The good thing, it was out of the wind - so the temperature was pleasant. After a couple of hours there, we went back to the site and started the fire (it started to cool down, and the wind picked up a little), The boys roasted roasted hot dogs and apple sausages over the fire, then of course...smores.

Night came, and we retreated into the tent - where we stayed up for a bit then, it was lights out. Cyn and the boys claimed they were cold, but dad was hot. The family attributed my warmth to my natural "coat of fur" as they call it (I personally, don't get the joke).

We woke up to a marine layer of fog, but not too cold, started another fire with the LOG we had left and proceeded to clean up and get ready to travel home. On the way home we stopped at Portuguese Beach - had lunch, flew a kite and spent a short time on the beach. We were home by 4:00pm Monday afternoon.

My final thoughts:
-Great family fun. Because of no TV's or other "distractions", the focus is on the family.
-Kids loved it. They got to get dirty, be outdoors, not take a bath (they did brush their teeth) and basically just be kids and not have to worry about breaking anything.

-You only need to bring five large marshmallows, as the kids will roast and eat two(each), then only want the chocolate bar. Oh, and forget the graham crackers.
-It was great to see their fascination with the small tide pools and creatures near the ocean. The wonder and smile on their faces were priceless.
-I'd do it again. It was definitely work for one night, but for what it meant to the kids - I'd do it all over again.
-Because it was the coast, there were no flying bugs (good for Cyn's sake) - I think I saw 1 fly.
-Cheetos get stale quickly because of the humidity - so, it's better to seal them up REAL good.
-I think Bear Gryllis of Man vs. Wild should carry those "quick lite" log thingys, they work great, are small, cost less than a dollar, and just a small piece can start a fire.
-It is something the kids will look back on and remember. We're here to create memories for them...remember.

A new look!

We've changed the look of our blog...hope you like it!! Make sure you click on the maroon colored text - they're web links, and also click where it says "COMMENTS" to leave us a comment...ENJOY!

Kristi, Scott, & Zoie's Visit...

Last weekend, Kristi, Scott, and Zoie came down from Reno for a visit! It's been a long time since our last get together, so of course as always, it was great spending time with them.

We met at John's Incredible Pizza for lunch and some game time fun. Then they came over to hang out for a bit.

I can't believe Zoie is almost 4! She's such a cutie!

Thanks for coming into town to visit us...hopefully, we'll see you guys again SOON!

Lance's Summer Skillz Camp

Lance put on his second "Skillz Basketball Camp". Again, it was a private camp consisting mostly of his current players, their older brothers and one of Joshua's good friends from school. Like his first camp, it was a complete SUCCESS! It was a 4 day camp from 9-noon. It was very well organized from start to finish. He had daily drills, skills, fundamentals, contests, and so on. On the first day, he handed each camper a 4 page homework assignment. All pertaining to basketball of course. The kids had fun learning new things and finding out the answers to the trivia questions. Lance also had very cool tshirts made, passed out prizes, certificates, did a lot of personal and team recognition and at the end of the camp did a 2 page personalized evaluation for each camper.

The kids raved about Lance's camp and fully enjoyed each and every day of it even though they were sweating, sore, and tired. Bryson even said that he wished Lance's camp was longer, from 9-5! The parents also were very pleased with the camp and were impressed with all of the things Lance did for their kids.

A funny thing was that there was a very big youth camp going on during the same week on the other courts. I noticed that a lot of the kids and their parents were watching Lance and his small group of 12 kids. They were paying more attention to Lance's camp than their own! Some of the parents showed a lot of interest in Lance's camp and inquired about him. They wanted to know who he was and if he had flyers for more camps. One Dad from the other camp said that he was watching Lance for 2 days and said he was GREAT and said he learned some things from Lance by just observing! What can I say other than Lance is the best youth basketball coach around!

Lance receives more positive feedback from parents, players, and onlookers for his coaching style, knowledge, and ability. His passion for basketball is felt by all those around him. In addition to his passion and knowledge of basketball, Lance is very patient, positive, enthusiastic, encouraging, organized, thorough, and respectful. In return, his players respect him and take him seriously and most importantly, they learn a great deal from him. He has only good intentions for the kids he coaches. He wants to teach them and help them get to the next level. He wants them to be focused, disciplined, and always be a student.

Joshua said that of all the camps he's attended in the past, that his Dad's is by far the BEST camp! I asked some of the other campers and they too said that Lance's was the most fun and challenging.

Hmmm....this may be the start of something new for Lance (and us). Lance just may have to create and run a successful youth basketball training academy/camp! I know a ton of parents who are already ready to sign up! If any one person can do this...Lance is definitely that ONE!!

The "Big Three"....3 on 3 tournament champions...Jackson, Joshua, and Bryson