The Real Deal

Turning 5, Take 2! This celebration is the real deal on Baylor's actual birthday. Double the celebration. Double the treats. Double the presents. Yep, five is a good year! We love you so much, buddy!

Concours d'Elegance

Living in a house full of boys, there are certain events that pop up on the calendar that I just know will be a HUGE hit. The Concours d'Elegance on Amelia Island is one of those events. With over 250 classic and exotic cars displayed on the Ritz Carlton golf course, I knew we were in for an eventful day. The boys were in HEAVEN, and I'll admit, I also had a fabulous time.

Daydreaming is easy! Returning to reality is NOT!

Shoot & Score

Jaxon & Baylor are participating in a few camps this Summer. First up is basketball camp. Boy oh boy did we start off with a bang! The week was a raging success! The camp is a well organized machine with great coaches, and the kids in Jaxon's & Baylor's age group were instant friends.

I knew both boys would have a good time because they really like basketball, but I wasn't certain whether the sport would hold Baylor's attention 3 hours a day for 5 straight days. It did! Despite giving it his all, Baylor never managed to score a basket. Even with the rim lowered, the basket was just too high for 4-year old Baylor. That disadvantage never swayed his interest though. If anything, it made Baylor try even harder. Look how low he would crouch to try to gain every bit of momentum possible when shooting. Poor kid!

Jaxon, our sports nut, was in heaven. He really has a competitive spirit and looked forward to the daily free throw contests. The camp was broken down into 4 age groups. The winner from each group would then compete against the other age groups for a daily winner. Jaxon won his age group 2 out of the 5 days, but none of boys were able to take down the older competitors. Oh well. There's always next year!

Grant & I didn't stay for the entire camp, but we would stay for the first 30 minutes, and then arrive early for pickup to watch the free throw contest. This is Grant's facial expression during our time in the gym. Imagine 75+ kids all bouncing basketballs...Yeah, maybe that was my facial expression too.

The coaches went over the rules of the game and put the kids through some drills to improve their ball handling skills, and the group was split into teams of 3 for daily tournaments. Never once did anyone seem bored. In fact, at the end of the week, Jaxon and Baylor both asked me if they could come back the following week for another round of basketball camp. I would have gladly agreed, but Lego Camp was already on the calendar and paid for. Thankfully, that turned out to be a hit as well.

Jaxon and Baylor made new friends and mastered new skills. What more can you ask for? Summer 2012 is off to a great start. Let the fun times continue!!!

Put the Pedal to the Metal

The day has finally arrived! Baylor now meets the height requirement to drive his own go-kart at the local amusement park! We made sure to point out that eating his fruits and vegetables and drinking milk had a lot to do with it. Watch out, World! I said he meets the height requirement. I didn't comment on his driving skills...Okay, I'm kidding. He's actually not too bad behind the wheel. Must be all that practice with the golf carts?

Mother Knows Best

Yes, Mother does indeed know best. I know what my 4 boys like and what they don't. I appreciated all the effort they went through last year to spoil me on Mother's Day, but I accepted and even embraced my fate this year. We spent the day together enjoying The Players Championship at Sawgrass. When the testosterone outnumbers you 4:1, you really shouldn't fight it. A golf tournament is way more our speed than a tea party.

Of course, it's hard to believe that this little fella' was BREAKING NEWS and one heck of present for me last year. How many women actually find out they're expecting on Mother's Day?

Oh my, and to say that Grant was a hit at TPC would be an understatement. Actually, I felt sort of like a walking spectacle. People weren't subtle about pointing our family out and making comments. Either they thought my boys were cute or we were mistaken all day for some celebrity golfer's family?

The comments and attention peaked when Jaxon and Baylor took their turns at the various hands-on exhibits. Take for example this virtual golf competition. The boys lined up for their turn with all of the other much older men. One group of guys let them skip in line because they didn't want to miss seeing the boys show off their skills. With all that attention, I was a bit nervous that the boys might feel pressured or shy...WRONG! They both stepped right up and drove the golf ball down that virtual hole with expertise! The crowd went wild! I confessed that they both take weekly lessons and the crowd seemed very impressed. Fingers crossed that some golf scholarships are in their future!

Little Grant was happy to play the role of sidekick this year, but something tells me that he'll expect to take a turn driving the ball next year. Grant is already on a mission to prove that he can do anything his big brothers can. He studies their every move on and off the course.

I just hope that Jaxon and Baylor don't follow in their "idol's" footsteps...Tiger Woods...at least, not his off-course extramarital footsteps. Thankfully, Anh is doing his best to introduce Jaxon and Baylor to some of the new, younger stars on the course. Fingers crossed that someone steals their admiration!

I have no doubt that a lot of women would be annoyed to spend Mother's Day on the golf course especially if they don't golf. In the end, "my day" was ultimately all about Jaxon, Baylor, and Grant. Of course, isn't that part of being a mother? So, my day was truly perfect.