Wes at Big Man's B-Ball Game!

It has been far too long since I have been able to watch Big Man play basketball. For many years, I sat in the bleachers watching him grow from a boy into a young man on that court. It is such an honor to watch someone excel at something they love. This year, he is playing for Indian River State College. I have been following his journey online and we have been looking forward to this weekend for a while. He was playing in Gainesville which is only two hours from Tallahassee. That was close enough so I was going!

I knew that I was going to take one of the boys with me and share this experience. I could not decide who would be the first to go so I told Daddy to get one of the boys dressed while I was getting ready. I walked out of the room to see that Wesley was the chosen one.

We hopped in the truck and headed off to Gainesville to watch the great Calvin "Big Man" Liptrot play some b-ball! We had a nice drive and arrived early enough to have lunch at Wendy's before the game. It's amazing how simple things are when you only have one child with you. I was even able to go to the bathroom and change his diaper without choreographing the entire event and child exchange in my mind.

We arrived at Santa Fe College and Big Man raced out to great us at the door. In addition to watching him play ball, it was very nice to see him. We wished him luck and sent him back inside to finish warm up. We sat in the bleachers and Wes was very interested in the music, the noise and all the people running around.

When the game started, it kept his interest for almost the entire first half. He would clap when the crowd would clap. Since we were the visiting team, there were very few fans there for Big Mans team. As such, when Wes would clap, he would clap with the crowd.... for the other team. His heart was in the right place!!

Big Man looked good and strong. While I have seen him play better, it was nice to see him back out on the court running the offense...

Wes was interested in the game for the majority of the first half. The second half of the game was a different story. He was more interested in meeting new friends and taking their stuff. He made fast friends with Melvin who was sitting near us. Melvin was kind enough to let Wes look through his coloring book and even passed over the crayons for Wes to color. Near the end of the game, Melvin even offered to give Wes his book. We declined the offer as bringing this one book home to the crew may incite a riot. Wes is such a social butterfly...

After the game, we were able to spend a couple minutes with Big Man before heading home. Don't forget Big, you promised to teach the boys to play basketball. It will not be long before they are ready to hit the court...

Indian River beat Santa Fe College on this day! I wish they played more games near us but I am happy to have been able to catch a game. There is another game in Gainesville in a month and I will definitely be there to cheer on the team and share this experience with another one of the boys.

Take care,