Carmel Indiana.... Here We Come!

So this is a blog entry dedicated solely to Nick and me and our tennis trip to Carmel, Indiana.  It seems like we are always traveling and driving to tennis and this past weekend was no exception.  Lucky for us, matches began after 12 on Saturday so Nick didn't need to be taken out of school.  We left right after school on Friday afternoon, before the darkness set and the rain began.  Our first blurry selfie...

 This is right when we got to our hotel...I was shocked I made it with no extra gray hair after the long 4 1/2 hour drive in the rain.  I was worried the roads would ice up because the temperature kept dropping.

 Then Nick and I before going to get some dinner at 9 in the evening.

 I have to say.... there was a lot of tennis and a lot of eating this trip.  Down in the hotel restaurant Nick had salad because it was so late.  We must have been discussing something pretty funny... check out that face.

 The next morning Nicholas insisted on joining me in the gym so he could warm-up.  I ran on the treadmill beside him and he walked and stretched.  No one was in the little gym so we blasted our music and started our day the right way... getting our endorphins flowing!

 I just completed my 4 miles.  Then it was off to breakfast, shower, and time to play matches.

 I couldn't get any photos of Nick actually playing tennis.  The viewing was not great and when I sat on the bleachers you weren't allowed to use cell phones.  Nick had a really good tournament but he considers anything but winning not so good.  He ended up losing his final match in the back draw in a crazy 3rd set tie breaker after having a match point.   In total he had to play 6 matches.

 More eating...Subway this time.. He's a growing healthy boy!

 And after this match... he wanted hot chocolate and I wanted coffee so it was off to Starbucks

 Here he is... back at the hotel... lounging around before we went to dinner... You guessed it, the food theme continues!  He spent a lot of time playing this NBA basketball game on his phone.  I was in the other bed doing the same exact thing... lounging and face timing the family.

 Here he is earlier in the day... warming up before his match... trying to get his feet going.

 And after this match... we went to lunch... this time we grabbed Nick's good friend Alex to come along to Max & Ermas.  These 2 boys are very funny!

We finally made it to Olive Garden our last night.  Nick said its one of his favorite places to go when he has a tournament.  A perfect place to do some carb loading for the morning.

Sunday and Monday Nick's matches were early and warm up was even earlier.  We needed to get dressed, have breakfast, and drive to the site to get our court at 7.  This was the temperature in my car at 6:30 am  -1.  It was freezing and we had to scrape ice off of the windows.  I'm so thankful I normally have a garage and my car is not parked outside like at the hotel.  It took forever to warm up this morning.

Here's Nick trying to warm up inside the tennis facility.  He's still wearing a hat and his North face jacket.

This is the closest I have to any tennis photos... here he is waiting for his match to get called

Now he's moving out to the court...

He won that last match... after losing the first set, he came back from a 2-5 deficit to win that set and then the 3rd set tie breaker.  He always makes things challenging until the end! Then we had an hour before his final match of the day.  Good thing Panera was close by.... more food... another breakfast for Nick and I.

I couldn't even watch his last match because it was impossible to see.  He was on the last court... I couldn't read the score cards and I had to wait to hear about all the drama at the end. It was such a close match... it was probably better I stepped out and didn't make myself anxious watching.

Unfortunately, the car ride home wasn't so great.  Nicholas was very upset and it was hard to console an emotional, hyperventilating 11 year old.  He settled down before going to bed, but it took a long time before he could talk about it.  Anyway... I really enjoy the one on one time with Nick during the tournaments.  Yes its exhausting and stressful and I miss the rest of the family, but it's a special time when I just get to focus on Nick.  It's great, he's funny, and sweet, and brutally honest at times... and I'm so proud of him.  Until later...