We left my Mom's house around 8:00A and arrived at Amway Arena around 10:45A. The rest of the team was already in the parking lot. We waited around for a bit...the arena was locked. Finally a guy from the Magic met us in the parking lot. He let us know that it might be another 30 minutes or so before we could get into the stadium. I was hungry, my mom had to use the restroom; so we left in search of food. I searched "fast food" in the Garmin and found a Chick-fil-A not too far from the stadium. We followed the Garmin into a neighborhood...there was no Chick-fil-A...so we searched again and finally found Chick-fil-A. We got some food and made a pit stop when we saw Santa on our way back. This was the craziest Santa's I've ever met! He was so talkative. We snapped a few pics with him and his sleigh. He asked if I was Tess and Jenny's mom...I didn't think I looked that old!
After the photos with Santa we headed back to the stadium just in time to take a group photo of the Nease Varsity Basketball team in front of the arena before we all headed inside. I was glad we got some food because nothing was open in the arena and we were there until about 2P.
Before the game we walked around the court and the team came out to practice a bit. It was cool to see them all playing on an NBA court. My dad and Nick even took some shots. Nease ended up crushing West Nassau. It was a great game!
Me and Tess on the court.
Me and Zack on the left, me and Tess on the right.
Zack ballin' and hanging out with Mike Cotton.
Mom laughing at something on the left; our happy parents on the right.
Zack and some of his friends.
Zack guarding Dad...pretty hilarious!
Nick getting in on the action.
Zack calling the plays during the game.
Zack shooting a free throw.
Final team shot and score - 69 - 36.
Clay and Zack hanging out after the game.
After the game my Mom, Dad, Nick and Mike headed back home while me, Zack, Tess and her friend Jenny hit the Mall at Millenia. It was crowded, but we had a great time shopping together and having dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. I really enjoyed spending time with Tess and Zack outside of my Mom's house or at family functions. They have both grown into really great young adults. It is crazy to think that I am 12 years older than Tess and 10 years older than Zack. After our outing I decided that I really should spend more time with them while they're still at home. In the Fall Zack's heading to UCF for college in Orlando and in two years Tess will be going away to school...hopefully in Gainesville - following in my footsteps!
Just a few days after our trip to Orlando Zack's team was playing Sandalwood in a holiday tournament at Terry Parker High School in Jacksonville. We didn't go to the game as it was during the day while I was working. My mom called me that afternoon and shared with me that one of the boys on Sandalwood's team died at halftime from a heart attack. To make it even more devastating, it was the boy's 18th birthday. I immediately thought that any of the boys playing that day, including my brother, could have been the one that died. Life is so precious. I called Zack to check on him and I am sure he was pretty shocked/stunned/etc. and he was all of those things. I told him that I loved him and really enjoyed the time we spent together in Orlando and that we should spend more time together. I told him that he was a very cool brother. He told me he loved me too and that I was a pretty cool older sister (or fossil as he says since I am so old!). Here is a link to the news story about Phil Jackson.
So neat that you got to watch him play on an NBA court. The story of the Sandalwood boy is so sad.
ReplyDelete