All 4 Alley-Oop!

 This was officially our 4th Alley Oop tournament and each time they get better and better. We feel right at home! It really is the greatest Canadian basketball tour and how lucky are we that we get to be right in the thick of it for an entire weekend! 

This year, I was more prepared than every before and spent the entire day before prepping bags of lunches and dinners for Friday and Saturday. Everyone had their own bagged meals and drinks and although it was an intense amount of work, it worked GREAT! 

Alley Oop has started a game of clipping.. Penny's team went crazy this time. Penny made so many clips for this tournament. Essentially you try to secretly clip your friends or even random strangers. The more clips you have, the worse it is so you need to keep clipping people to get rid of them but they're all so cute and fun and its all good spirits. This is just one of the super fun things that make alley oop speical! 

We calculated it and over the three days of this tournament, we spent 24 hours there. Not including driving or parking or anything else, just 24 hours in the olympic oval this weekend and wouldn't have had it any other way! We got to watch all our friends play, and had so many highlights of the weekend including all three of our kids earning playing of the game for one of their games this weekend! 

Lets start with Penny. This u13 team has been sooo good for our Penny girl. She's technically still u11 but playing with and against bigger girls has been so fun for her. Penny is all in with basketball. She lives and breaths it now. This team had a lot to do with it. She even got selected to do the half court shot at half time of one of her games to try to win $100. It looked GREAT but didn't quite make it to the hoop. They missed the championship bracket path by only 4 points this weekend and that left every girl a little brokenhearted but man we are so proud at how far they've come this season! We do not want to let this season go. She says it went way too fast and is feeling sad that its wrapping up.. me too girl, me too!

Bentley had a crazy weekend. They initially didn't make the championship bracket path but the last team they had played got challenged with an age-check by another team and turns out.. they cheated with having over aged players on their roster (sneaky sneaky) so we automatically took their playoff spot! Whatt!! Bentley told us that he prayed so much that they would get to play a championship game and when it wasn't going to happen he said "its ok, with God anything is possible" and then.. this happened lol Ok big guy.. we see you! 

It was a play and you stay, loose and you're out situation. They played their first game. They were down by 10 in the first 3 minutes of the game but them came back and were up by 20 at half. They were playing amazing and as a team. It was awesome. But then... curve ball.. the other team we were playing against got so frustrated that 3 minutes into the second half and 20 playing minutes still in the game, the parents rushed the court, told their kids to quit and eventually all left. I've never seen anything like it in my life! It was crazy and honestly felt unreal. So with 20 minutes left on the clock and the score being 51-28 in our favour, they called it and we won on their forfeit. Such a crazy ending and a good teachable moment. I felt sad for the kids on the other team, embarrassed for their parents being crazy dramatic at a u13 basketball game and reminded our kids that we don't quit and throw a fit when something gets hard or when something doesn't go our way. Im so glad Bentley's team was up by 23 when this happened because we really could count it as a win and walk away. 

Bentley's team lost their next game but that landed them in 3rd place with the bronze medal which was actually a ring. He wanted one so badly and so Im glad they were able to pull it out in the end! So so Soo proud of Bentley and his team!!

Carter had a GREAT weekend with the exception of one 24 minute half. It was 10pm at night, everyone was tired and we still had half a game to play. The calls from refs felt so against us but we also didn't play great. It was the toughest loss for our team. They played GREAT again on Saturday morning and won by 23 but unfortunately didn't make the championship bracket by 3 points. It was truly heartbreaking. Carter's team has been amazing this season. They instantly gelled together and became buddies. All the parents are friends and it feels like we've been playing together for years even though its only been 3 months. Carter has really turned a corner in his basketball skills. He is SOOOO much fun to watch! I LOVE when it works out and I get to sit on the sidelines of the court his playing on. His passion shines through his play and my "proud mom meter" is maxed out! 

We don't want it to end!!!

And in between all their multiple games, we found time to find friends, hang out, relax and watch more basketball. 

And so, with that, the 4th Alley-Oop tournament is done. We are tired but filled with gratitude and happiness at this beautiful and cherished phase of life. We are so proud of our teams and our 3 kids. There is nothing else I would rather do! 

And just when we finally got home at 3 entire days of basketball from sun-up to sun-down.. this was the first thing they did...

They make every part of my life so full. I love them so much! Way to go Carter, Bentley and Penny! You're my favourite players of all time!