Divide and Conquer

Kids activities pulled us in separate directions this weekend...

Karri, Thomas and Victoria headed 3 hours south on I-5 to Portland, OR, where Thomas is playing in the Rose City Showcase - a basketball tournament sponsored by Nike. They left mid-day Friday, spent the night and had 2 games today - a win and a loss. They'll have 1 more game (possibly 2) tomorrow. Karri and Victoria need to head back early for Victoria's soccer game at 1pm Sunday. Thomas will catch a ride home with friends.

Matthew played in a lacrosse tournament today (Saturday) in Snohomish - about an hour north of Seattle on I-5 (near where the bridge collapsed a couple weeks ago). 4 games and 4 losses. A tough day for the kids. It seems we didn't have much business being in the tournament in the first place. Our team was a combination of kids from 2 squads who expressed interest in playing in tournaments after the season ended 2 weeks ago. We haven't practiced in those 2 weeks. We played in a 7th/8th grade bracket with mostly 7th graders against select teams that were much bigger and faster, and more skilled. But we still had fun...

A few of the parents organized a 'tailgate' for between games. Each family brought something to contribute - burgers, dogs, salad, fruit, chips, desserts, beverages, etc. It worked out great and made for a fun way to pass the time between games.

Big tournament with dozens of teams and lots of tailgating!

Team Wolfpack relaxing between games

The tournament took place in a large, open field next to a regional airport. They must have a skydiving school there, because skydivers were circling overhead all day and landing about 100 yards from the lacrosse fields. It felt like the pre-game festivities at the Rose Bowl! Made for good entertainment.

Plane taking off in the background

Matthew and I stopped on our way home at Kokoras Greek Grill, a great local spot here in West Seattle, and picked up a couple gyro platter dinners. We brought them home and enjoyed them on our patio.

Bachelor dinner on the patio (that's my Pacifico - not Mattew's)

After dinner, we watched a movie together. A great father-son bonding day - not something we get to do very often.

Sounds like Karri, Thomas and Victoria are having fun together too. After the games today, they met up with a college friend of Karri's who lives in Portland, whom she hadn't seen in over a decade. After a stop at the Nike outlet store and a team dinner, Thomas went to watch more tournament games with the team while Karri and Victoria had a girls night. Good stuff.