I'm Happy for Him to Experience It
Way back before I had kids, someone once said, "Sometimes I get more out of seeing my kid experience something, than if I were to do it." Well, as a young, childless person I didn't understand that, but now I totally get that.
In case you didn't know, this family is a fan of N.C. State. I am by default. Andrew and Alexa were born into it, and Doug is an actual alumni. I have 3 kinds of t-shirts in my drawers: NC State, the school where I teach, and baseball teams. When we're getting dressed in the mornings Doug and I make sure the other one knows which NC State shirt we're wearing, so that we don't match. That happens- a lot more than you would think. Andrew's kindergarten teacher asked me half way through the year, if he had any other shirts than NC State ones. Recently I had picked up one of Andrew's friends and they were coming to our house for the first time, and before we turned in the driveway he said, "That's your house. I know because of the NC State flag."
The last few years, we have had to broaden our fan base, to take in teams, which alumnus of NCSU are now playing. Surprisingly, there are a lot. Some of the favorites of Doug and Andrew to follow are: Carlos Rodon, pitcher for the Chicago White Sox. Phillip Rivers, QB for the San Diego Chargers and of course, Russell Wilson, QB for Seattle Seahawks. There are others through the years like Terry Holt and Jericho Cotchery, but those 3 are the current favs.
In fact, Russell Wilson is such a favorite, that when an advertisement for his passing camp came across my Facebook Newsfeed, and I suggested it to Andrew, in place of a birthday party . . . he agreed! What a win for both of us!!!! I didn't have to plan a party, and Andrew got to go see Russell Wilson!
I, frankly, don't know which boy was more excited about going to Russell Wilson's Passing Academy. They were both super jazzed. Doug said Andrew was up and ready to go at 6;30am. I wish I could tell you all of the super awesome stories from the day, but I didn't go, and had to rely on stories about the day from boys. I was rather disappointed in the details included in the texts I received from Doug. "They just finished warmups and 3 kids got sick." "Learning offensive line movements." "I talked to Russell." "Yes." Those are the texts I got. Oh, you didn't learn anything about the day from those?! Yeah! Me either!!!!!!!!!!!! When they got home, I learned that Doug actually talked to Russell (who we're totally now on a first name basis with) about how the facilities have changed since he left. There were around 400 kids at the camp. Russell lead the warm ups. Later when I talked to Andrew, he told me a bit about the Q & A session and how Marshawn Lynch really does eat Skittles before and during the game, how much Russell works out and trains, and about his Dad.
This camp was a perfect example of how I was so excited for Andrew to experience this, and had no real need to experience it myself (I mean- it was in Raleigh where the heat index was over 100). I mean how cool- to stand next to a crazy, popular, sports figure, who up to this point, is a good example of beating the odds (he's not all that big to be in the NFL), working hard, and having good values. Not only that, but there were several NCSU current players helping run the camp, so now we have more players to add to our list of who to watch.
All in all this whole experience was a total win for the Latta family, Andrew and Doug got to meet some players and Russell Wilson. We got several new shirts. I didn't have to plan a birthday party (or go sweat my brains out), Doug got to see the new practice facilities (that is what I got a picture of. I didn't get ONE picture of Russell- I got a picture of the new indoor practice facility. Woo-hoo.) And best of all, Andrew has NO desire to play football! (let's be honest, that's the real win.) So yeah for fun ways to bring in the double digits for Andrew, and fun experiences to last a long time!
In case you didn't know, this family is a fan of N.C. State. I am by default. Andrew and Alexa were born into it, and Doug is an actual alumni. I have 3 kinds of t-shirts in my drawers: NC State, the school where I teach, and baseball teams. When we're getting dressed in the mornings Doug and I make sure the other one knows which NC State shirt we're wearing, so that we don't match. That happens- a lot more than you would think. Andrew's kindergarten teacher asked me half way through the year, if he had any other shirts than NC State ones. Recently I had picked up one of Andrew's friends and they were coming to our house for the first time, and before we turned in the driveway he said, "That's your house. I know because of the NC State flag."
The last few years, we have had to broaden our fan base, to take in teams, which alumnus of NCSU are now playing. Surprisingly, there are a lot. Some of the favorites of Doug and Andrew to follow are: Carlos Rodon, pitcher for the Chicago White Sox. Phillip Rivers, QB for the San Diego Chargers and of course, Russell Wilson, QB for Seattle Seahawks. There are others through the years like Terry Holt and Jericho Cotchery, but those 3 are the current favs.
In fact, Russell Wilson is such a favorite, that when an advertisement for his passing camp came across my Facebook Newsfeed, and I suggested it to Andrew, in place of a birthday party . . . he agreed! What a win for both of us!!!! I didn't have to plan a party, and Andrew got to go see Russell Wilson!
I, frankly, don't know which boy was more excited about going to Russell Wilson's Passing Academy. They were both super jazzed. Doug said Andrew was up and ready to go at 6;30am. I wish I could tell you all of the super awesome stories from the day, but I didn't go, and had to rely on stories about the day from boys. I was rather disappointed in the details included in the texts I received from Doug. "They just finished warmups and 3 kids got sick." "Learning offensive line movements." "I talked to Russell." "Yes." Those are the texts I got. Oh, you didn't learn anything about the day from those?! Yeah! Me either!!!!!!!!!!!! When they got home, I learned that Doug actually talked to Russell (who we're totally now on a first name basis with) about how the facilities have changed since he left. There were around 400 kids at the camp. Russell lead the warm ups. Later when I talked to Andrew, he told me a bit about the Q & A session and how Marshawn Lynch really does eat Skittles before and during the game, how much Russell works out and trains, and about his Dad.
This camp was a perfect example of how I was so excited for Andrew to experience this, and had no real need to experience it myself (I mean- it was in Raleigh where the heat index was over 100). I mean how cool- to stand next to a crazy, popular, sports figure, who up to this point, is a good example of beating the odds (he's not all that big to be in the NFL), working hard, and having good values. Not only that, but there were several NCSU current players helping run the camp, so now we have more players to add to our list of who to watch.
All in all this whole experience was a total win for the Latta family, Andrew and Doug got to meet some players and Russell Wilson. We got several new shirts. I didn't have to plan a birthday party (or go sweat my brains out), Doug got to see the new practice facilities (that is what I got a picture of. I didn't get ONE picture of Russell- I got a picture of the new indoor practice facility. Woo-hoo.) And best of all, Andrew has NO desire to play football! (let's be honest, that's the real win.) So yeah for fun ways to bring in the double digits for Andrew, and fun experiences to last a long time!
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