DC Comes to AZ

The big news for us this weekend was the long awaited and l - o - n - g overdue visit from my younger brother Daniel.  He was in town promoting Tennis Warehouse at the National Club Tennis Championships in Surprise, Arizona.  So he made the hour drive from Surprise to Chandler on Friday night to finally see our house and then go to dinner.  Of course I had to take some pictures to commemorate the big event and here they are!

So I guess now that he's visited his big sister he can cross that off his things I must do someday if I ever get around to it list.  (Actually, he has visited me in Arizona before, but that was when I graduated from ASU back in 1997).  The next day I drove to the Surprise Tennis Complex to visit him doing his thing.  His 'hit it to win it' court was a popular place.  The players lined up and took two shots, hoping to hit tennis warehouse merchandise strewn about the court.  Luckily I got merchandise without having to 'hit it.'  I guess it  is all about who you know.  And these days I'm glad I know/love Danny Castro!  Thanks bro!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to our many followers (ha ha) and hope you're eating a great meal today. We started our Easter with Mass and will have turkey and ham and the fixings later for our Easter meal. As the pictures probably portray, Sienna and Spenser are older now, so there is no need for easter egg hunts, easter egg baskets, or a gluttony of candy.

Here we are at 11:00 Mass at St. Andrew's, held outside on the grass under a tent. Father Joe presided over Mass today, so it was a treat to see and hear him again. He is always entertaining.

And here is a picture of Rob with the kids,

 

HAPPY EASTER!

The BNP Paribas Open

As Sienna posted previously, the family took our annual trek to the California desert to attend the BNP Paribas Open, or to tennis aficionados, the '5th Grand Slam'.  My brother Danny works for Tennis Warehouse, a sponsor of the tournament, and hooked us up with awesome courtside seats.  Sienna was very interested in watching tennis as she loved our Tucson tennis extravaganza and now is an official tennis enthusiast.  Spenser?  Well he couldn't be bothered to watch tennis, even if the players are the best in the world.  So he stayed with Papa and Papa Rose and did what young boys like to do, play basketball, swim, and just be active.  Here is a recap of the highlights!

Here is Sienna at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden entrance.  We waited there for Uncle Danny to bring us our tickets and credentials.  Aren't we special?  The picture is not an illusion, she is that tall!

My brother Danny is the reason we like to visit this tournament every year.  Of course I've always loved the game of tennis but the appeal of free tickets to see the pros play is a deal that can't be passed up.  The tournament itself is amazing, and the venue beautiful, as some of the pictures portray.  And I being a sun worshiper, absolutely love the weather.  Tennis Warehouse does a fantastic job with not only retail, but also player signings, and product exhibitions.  So a huge shout-out to Tennis Warehouse.  If you or anyone else is in need of anything tennis, visit them at http://www.tenniswarehouse.com/.  You won't be disappointed!  You can also click on shoe reviews, or the video vault, and find many videos of my brother advertising and demoing products.  You can see him play too, and witness the talent in the bloodline.

 
Here we are in front of the Tennis Warehouse retail tent and the same place where the pros do their signings.

We watched several matches over the course of two days, and got to see the eventual champions in both mens and womens play.  Here is Jelena Jankovic, the women's champ, and Ivan Lubijic, the men's champion.

                                                                                                  

We were only able to get one signing this trip, but it was a biggie.  Andy Roddick, an American tennis player with the fastest serve recorded, was the autograph we scored.  We watched him play as well, and he even got to the final, but lost to Lubijic pictured above.  Here is Andy and Sienna with our autographed items.

Another tennis player of note we watched was Rafael Nadal, otherwise known as Rafa.  We saw him play singles, and to our surprise he was also playing doubles.  That is a rare treat.  Here we are at the doubles match.  By the way, they won this match, and eventually won the tournament.

I got pretty close to Rafa as he left the doubles match! Unfortunately, he wasn't signing anything of mine!

Here is a picture of Rob to prove he was there with us!  Thankfully he was happy to be there, partake in the sights and sounds, and be our photographer.  Here we are outside the stadium and on the peaceful grounds.

Another neat thing is while on the grounds, you never know who you'll run into.  Here I am with a famous former tennis player behind me.  She's the blonde.  Do you know who it is?

Well if you don't know, that's o.k.  It's Tracy Austin.  Here is Sienna getting in on the action as well.

We ended our two day session with a stop at the Tennis Warehouse tent to say goodbye to brother Dan.  While there Sienna enjoyed one of the cool props.  It was a fun trip for all and we hope to expand the family attendance next year to include Grandma Rose and Tots. 

California Fun

Hey everyone! Sienna here, coming to you from, oh ya, California! Spenser and I are staying at Papa's house. All of us met in Palm Springs and stayed at Thousand Trails trailer park, so we could go watch tennis. Big shout out to Uncle Dan. He got us great quart side tickets, to watch Nadal, Roddick, and other tennis stars! Spenser and I arrived in Arroyo Grande on Saturday, and went to Round Table Pizza for dinner that night. On Sunday, we got up and went to breakfast at Denny's. Then we rushed to the movie theater to go see Avatar. PapaRose had told me that we were going to the Fremont. We arrive and park at the Downtown Cinemas, and then I say,'Weren't we supposed to go to the Fremont?' so we go to the Fremont. The ticket booth guy said that Avatar, was not playing at that theater. So, we had to drive all the way back, and had to wait five minutes for someone to actually sell us the tickets. Overall, the movie was good. Sometimes confusing, but overall good. After the movie, we visted our lovely great Grandma Rose. We visited for an hour or two, and watched Roddick take on Ljubicic. I was sad because Roddick had lost to Ljubicic. Well, it happens, right? Last night, we watched New Moon, after we bought the movie. Go Team Edward!

Anyway, here are some pitures from the BNP Paribas!

Here is me at the BNP Paribas. We got our hat and tennis ball signed by, guess who? Andy Roddick! Oh ya! Stood in line for 45 minutes! It was all worth it! Go Roddick!

Here is Rafael Nadal signing autographs at the end of the night match!

Having a good time in Cali on spring break! Peace Out! :) :) :) :)

The Harlem Globetrotters

The Harlem Globetrotters were in town and since Spenser has taken an interest in basketball, Rob thought attending would be a fun, family experience. Everyone was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, my monthly migraine showed up on the day of the show, so there was some last minute phone-calling to get someone to go, instead of waste a $56 ticket. Thankfully, Miranda from across the street was available. Here they are having some fun!



And here they are inside the arena!



I saw the Globetrotters when I was a child, so it's cool that this tradition continues. Here is a video of what the 'trotters' do best:

Hoops for Haiti

Hoops for Haiti took place on Tuesday, February 23rd, and was a joint fundraising venture between my school, Greenfield Jr. High, and a competing school, Highland Jr. High. The Highland staff challenged the Greenfield staff in a game of basketball, with all proceeds going to UNICEF and the displaced and lost children of the Haiti earthquake. I, not being much of a basketball player, declined to play on the basketball team and instead volunteered to be on the 'cheer' squad. The cheer squad came up with the idea to borrow mascot costumes from the various schools in the district, and be a cheer squad of animal mascots, dancing to the catchy 'Madagascar' song, I Like to Move It. I was excited about this because I could dance around completely anonymously! Two costumes were borrowed, one owned, and I rented one from a costume shop. With only 30 minutes of practice the day before, we all showed up to the venue about 15 minutes early. When I arrived I found the team practicing in t-shirts and cheerleading skirts, and was told the 'animal' theme had gone to the wayside. Suffice it to say I was livid. There I stood with a $45 costume that I rented for nothing, and drove completely out of my way to pick up, and now I had to go completely back out of my way to return it, with no fundraiser performance to show for it. I could've/should've thrown a fit right then and there, and refused to take part, but I guess that's just not in my nature. So I sucked it up, and performed anyway, as myself instead of this awesome gecko,

Here is the performance that I begrudgingly gave,

When it was all said and done I was glad I participated. After all, it was for charity, and really - that was the point. So my bitterness must end there. But I will think twice before volunteering for another event which involves too many people. At the end of the night, this is how the gecko felt!

The Lightning Thief

Hey everyone! Sienna Samour here! If you saw the last post, we saw Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and my mom was talking about that and our love of reading. Spenser and I love to read, but it seems like my mom and I are usually always having a book in our hand, unlike Spenser... I will give you a brief summary about the Lightning Thief, the movie, so you know what it is about.

The Lightning Thief is about Percy Jackson on an amazing adventure to bring the lightning bolt to Lord Zeus before the summer solstice, or there would be a World War III. He goes to Yancy Academy, is deslexic, and has ADHD. He has a greek mythology teacher/ english teacher, Mr. Brunner. He took the students, Percy, and Percy's friend Grover, to a new museum about the Greek gods. Mrs. Dodds climbed aboard, as well. She pulled Percy away from the group and took him into an empty room. The next thing we know, she turns into a monster saying, "Where is it?!" and attacking Percy.  Mr. Brunner and Grover walked in and saw the monster, and they threatened it, and it went away. Mr. Brunner made Percy and Grover go immediately to Camp Half-Blood. They grabbed Percy's mother and drove right to the camp. They were stopped by a minataur and their car flippped over. They tried to get out of the car, and to help, goat legs kicked the front windshield so they could escape. The goat legs were Grover's legs! The three started running toward camp. When they got there, they got passed the gate, but Mrs. Jackson couldn't come in, because she wasn't a half-blood. The minataur came closer and took Mrs. Jackson and squeezed her to death. Percy then attacked for the life of his mother. The minataur charged and went head first into a tree, and was stuck by the horns. The next part can be scary for viewers, so I won't say anymore about that. Percy continued on with his life at Camp Half-Blood, with Grover and other campers. He met a girl named Annabeth, and learned all about the Greek gods and other ancient Greek stuff. Percy learned to fight, and played his first game of capture the flag. There are two teams, red and blue, and the first team to touch and capture the flag, wins. Percy and Luke worked together to get the flag. Percy went to wash his face during the game, where he found the flag, standing right across a little pond of water. He walked up to it, and then Annabeth came out. She then fought Percy, and he got hit pretty bad. He then heard a voice in his head saying, "Go to the water, it will make you stronger." Percy dragged over to the water, then water healed all the scratches on his body. He then fought Annabeth again, and won the battle. He captured the flag and won for his team. Mr. Brunner was actually a centaur, and gave Percy his quest to bring the bolt back to Zeus. Lord Zeus had blamed Poseidon's son for stealing his bolt, and that is why Percy had to be the one to bring it back. Percy left with Annabeth and Grover for the quest, before they left, theythought how to get into the Underworld, and then went to friend Luke for some help. Luke gave the gang a pair of flying sneakers, his favorite shield, and a map to where the three pearls are. The pearls would help get the three out of the Underworld. The first stop was Auntie Em's Garden Gnome Emporium. They took a bus there from camp. When they got there, there were so many statues everywhere. They split up to look for the pearl. Annabeth was then surprised by a woman running away trying to get out. Auntie Em then came out of nowhere. Auntie Em was actually Madusa! The gang ran out and found the pearl. They drove to the nearest motel. The news was saying that Percy and his mom were missing, and his stepdad, Gabe, was saying lies about him. They decided to drive to the next stop, The Parthenon in Tennessee. The pearl was sitting right on top of a statue of Athena. The three came back after closing and put on the flying shoes to get to the top. The next part again was kinda scary..... The next pearl was in Las Vegas at the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The hotel had these really nice cookie- type things, and that instantly turned the three happy and they stayed there for five days. The hotel was filled with arcade games, and a casino games. Percy heard that voice in his head, and realized that he had to leave and find the pearl. The pearl was at one of the games, and they grabbed it and left the hotel immediately. They had gotten all the pearls and looked on the map where to find the Underworld. The Underworld was in Hollywood, CA. When they got there at  the Hollywood sign, there was a hole that magically opened, and they walked in. They found a man in a white robe named Charon, and he took them into the Underworld. He took them to Hades's palace. His wife met them at the door and took him into a room with him in it. Hades asked for where the lgihtning bolt was. He made a trade with him, the lightning bolt for his mother. Percy's mom appeared and he dropped everything and ran over to him. Hades saw a bright light coming from the shield. There was the lightning bolt, in Luke's shield. Hades's wife took it and zapped him. She gave it back to Percy, and told them to go to Olympus. Percy took out the three pearls. There were four of them, and only three pearls. Grover then sacrificed himself for the three of them. They stomped on the pearls, and got to the Empire State Building. They walked over to go into Olympus, but someone stopped them. It was Luke, on another pair of flying shoes. He had admitted that he had stolen the lightning bolt, and Percy took his pen, and clicked it. They fought, and Luke had questioned if Percy was really the son of Poseidon. There were four water towers around them, and Percy used his powers to break all four, and send all the water flying toward Luke, defeating him. Percy flew back to the Empire State Building, and entered the elevator, leading to Olympus. Mrs. Jackson couldn't go on, because of not being a demigod or a god. Annabeth and Percy went into the room filled with gods, only a few seconds to midnight. He gave the bolt to Zeus, and explained that he was not the thief, Luke was.  Zeus let it slide and Poseidon talked to Percy. He said he was sorry for not being there for when he was a child, but he couldn't. It was forbidden for gods to have contact with their children, and had to be raised by their mortal parent. Percy left and returned back to Camp Half Blood, and decided to stay there year-long.

That was the end of the movie. I know the summary was long... Sorry! It was a long movie, though! Anyway, enjoy the book and/or movie! Peace out!  :)