June 2, 2008
Huge Results at Spenco Open in Austin
It was truly a treat to watch both Claire and Kate playing in the finals of the Spenco Open this past weekend in Austin.
Kate was playing her first tournament in over a month. After shaking off a rusty start and dropping her first match, she advanced in the consolation bracket to the finals. Although she did not prevail in the finals, these competitive matches definitely help get her back as she prepares for the big Summer Grand Slam (a.k.a. Sectionals) tournament next weekend in College Station.
Claire had perhaps her best tournament to date. She and her partner, Brooke, won the doubles title. In singles, Claire won each round convincingly and lost only six games in four matches. Here's a picture of Claire with more hardware for her collection:
Congratulations and good luck in your preparations for Sectionals!
Posted by Jim at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments ()
June 1, 2008
Lake House Fun Over Memorial Day Weekend
We had a great time over Memorial Day weekend at Tommy & Julie's Lake LBJ lake house. Unfortunately Kate was recuperating from having her wisdom teeth removed so you won't see her in any of these pictures.
Posted by Jim at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments ()
Tuscany or Texas?
The sunflowers have made their grand entrance to our front yard. It takes us back to the fields of sunflowers Deb and I saw when we were in Tuscany a few years ago. Perhaps it's time to get the Sangiovese grapes planted to get the Chianti wine production going...
Posted by Jim at 7:54 AM | Permalink | Comments ()
May 31, 2008
Opposite Ends of the Musical Spectrum
I thought I'd share two musical performances which could possibly be at the opposite ends of the musical spectrum.
The first is a performance by Meg and the Hudson Bend Middle School Symphonic band at their spring concert earlier this week.
Part 1:
Part 2:
The second is a performance by Meg and Scott playing the song Helicopter on Guitar Hero 3. But, they raised the degree of difficulty by performing it watching the TV upside down... such talent!
Posted by Jim at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments ()
May 18, 2008
Huge Win For Claire Over Texas Top 20
After the on and off rains of yesterday, we been treated to a beautiful, blue sky, breezy, not-too-hot day her in Midland.
Kate must have done a great job of warming Claire up, since she got off to a fast start in her match. She normally starts slowly and builds up speed as a match progresses.
She faced a girl who she's played several times all the way back to 10 years of age. This girl has become a top 20 player in the state.
After Claire jumped out 2-0, it became tied at 2-2, and then Claire jumped out 4-2. It continued to ebb and flow until Claire took the set 6-4.
In the second set, her opponent raised her game and prevailed 6-3.
In the final set, Claire again jumped out quickly and took an early 3-0 lead. The level of play rose as they battled to claim this decisive set. Claire put a punctuation on the fifth game by hitting a clean, cross-court, service-return winner to go up 4-1.
She ultimately prevailed either 6-2 or 6-3... I confess I was too excited and lost count.
She plays again in about 1/2 hour... Go Claire!
Posted by Jim at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments ()
