Daring to Live A Passion-Filled Life Everyday

aau nationals | virginia | day one

Our trip to Virginia started out really really early on Wednesday morning the 22nd of July. Jim McDowell, bless his heart, came over around 5:45 am to pick us up and take us to the airport. Our flight left at 7:05 am. It was a rough flight for me as a GIANT man sat in the aisle seat next to Keaton and I. I tried to have him switch with Cory, but he said the overhead seat Cory had was too small for him. Oy Veh!! Four hours of sitting in my seat with my arms folded around me just to be able to be in my own space was hard. But, we finally made it to the Atlanta airport.

It was a beautiful day in Hotlanta when we arrived. We had some time to spare, so we found a restaurant and had a bite to eat. Luckily, Keaton ate a big burger and Cory and I spilt a chicken quesadilla. We didn't have to time to eat anything else for a while, so I'm glad Keaton ate a good meal.

The next flight to Richmond was SO much better. A tiny man sat in the aisle seat next to Keaton and I. I will never take for granted a normal sized person sitting next to me in an airplane again.

Cory knows the Richmond airport very well. It was pretty slick to get off the plane, grab our suitcases and then find the Avis car rental place. They had a Ford Taurus waiting for us and then we were off on I-64 southbound to Williamsburg. The drive was beautiful and gorgeous with all the huge green trees and vegetation. We checked into our hotel, The Residence Inn and settled in long enough to unpack and have Keaton get dressed in his uniform. We are staying about 30 minutes from the venue, so we had a little bit of a drive still ahead of us.

It was fun to watch the teams circle the track in an Olympic style opening ceremony. Landon and his family surprised the team and came to support his Utah Elite Family. It was touching and special that his family came all the way to Virginia to fulfill his dream. They all pretty much rocked and I enjoyed talking with Landon's mom, Annette, several times over the next couple of days they were there.

The team from left to right on the back row: Daniel, Landon, Jaxon, Issac, Keaton. Front row left to right: Hela, Sam, Jordan T. and Jordan R.

The sun was just setting over the Sportsplex when we were walking out to our car to drive back to Williamsburg. It was glorious!! We ate dinner at Olive Garden and the waitress was so cute and kind. She gave us a whole to-go box full of the yummy dinner mints they give out with the check. We had a hard time adjusting to the time change and we all stayed up until midnight watching TV. Our favorite shows were Shark Tank and Friends. Luckily, we didn't have an early game on Thursday morning. 

 

aau nationals | virginia | day two

We thought we had plenty of time this morning to have a leisurely breakfast and then leave for the game at noon. Not to be! Coach Ronnie called a last minute practice at a church near the facility. I ran down and got Keaton some breakfast from the continental selections. I then tried to make a Starbucks run for Cory and I, but fell short as I couldn't find one in time. I did go across the street and bought a raspberry bear claw pastry which made me happy.

Cory had a business call to listen to this morning so I took my iced vanilla latte and went into the church and watched and talked to Landon's family for a bit. I also took photos of the beautiful trees in the parking lot. 

Then we all caravanned over to a nearby Subway for a quick light lunch before heading to the game at the Boo Sportplex. We got a little lost trying to follow Apple Maps and we kept passing it from behind and couldn't see the sign. After lunch, we drove to the facility to get our game faces on!!! We were put into Pool I and our first game started at 2:00 p.m. against CBC 2021. 

I loved that we matched the gym.

I think we had the first game jitters and was not very confident going into the game.

It was pretty exciting though to realize that these are the BEST of the BEST around the country. Win or lose, we were very fortunate to be there and to play against this caliber of talent.  

To qualify for this tournament, you had to place first or second in your state AAU tournament. It's a big deal. We lost 49-66 and the other team was really good. Keaton made an awesome hook shot which was pretty cool. We kept pace with them throughout the whole game, but they really pulled away in the the last five minutes of the game. It was a lot closer the entire game then what the final score reflects. Now we have the rest of the day to ourselves. We travel back to Williamsburg.

Keaton isn't really hungry for a while after the game. We go back to the hotel and he showers and gets dressed. Around 5:00 p.m., he gets hungry so we go to a little burger/bbq place down the street for dinner. It was really good and I decided to go all out Southern style with bbq, slaw and hush puppies. It was yummy.

We go back to the hotel to relax for a while. Daniel's dad invites the boys to go to the movie with them. I've already seen it, so I decide to stay at the hotel. I went and worked out in the hotel gym for an hour.

Luckily, I was the only one in there the entire time. It was a really nice hotel gym.

The boys came back and we stay up way too late again watching TV and snuggling in our comfy beds. The boys were a little hungry after the movie, so for a late night snack they ate the Olive Garden leftovers from dinner the previous night.