Swimming, canoeing, fishing, pontooning, volleyball, pickleball, horseback riding, go-carts, ice cream at Madden's, cousins/aunts/uncles hoops, Zorbaz, some kind of gym class olympics, and catching up with nearly 100 relatives ... all in about 100 hours.
Same recipe every year... and always a ton of fun.
This year's unique highlight though was sharing the resort with the girls' idol, Hopkins'/UConn's Paige Bueckers, who happened to be vacationing with family at the same time!
The crew fell several games short, but fought in several incredibly impressive games that at times looked worthy of TV. And, ended the season with a 1st place finish in a bonus "Wood Bat Tournament" fundraiser for Baseball in Benin.
E & S teaming up with school and AAU hoops friends for 3on3 at gyms across the west metro.
We also got a day-pass to the Yacht Club, a childhood staple for Joe, La and I... a place a block from Nana's that I hadn't been in 20+ years.
Frustrated with the circus of traditional AAU, a few like-minded dads made a pitch to buck the system to some of the metro's upper tier (to-be) 5th grade talent to which we were connected through a "degree or two of Kevin Bacon". And, after a test run at an off-season tourney in Des Moines, decked out in hastily-printed uniforms, sealed the deal with a 2022 AAU season roster that will be a ton of fun to coach and families with common basketball values that will be just as fun mingle with off the court throughout the season.
Cannot wait!
