It has been so fun watching Josh this year in tennis!  He (and Halle and Blake) took tennis lessons over the winter at the Ranch in Broomfield.  They all improved so much!  Josh especially caught the bug and wanted to play in a league this summer.  So, we signed him up for CARA in Erie.  They practiced twice a week and then had matches on Fridays.  There were only 2 other kids his age at practice, so they really got some great attention from their coach, Chris.  He dominated his season, only losing 2 matches (one doubles, one singles).

One of my favorite matches was in Loveland because I had a sweet aerial view from the hood of my car.

Since Rusty is working from home, he got to come to lots of matches and both Josh and Rusty LOVED that.  Josh made it past the first two rounds of state tournament play and then a few days later was the finals.  I have never been so nervous in my life! My heart was pounding and my stomach was in knots the entire time.  Josh had a tough opponent his first match and it was neck and neck.  He pulled it out 9-7.  We went to Panera to get him a smoothie and cool off in the Air Conditioning before the finals, which were about 1.5 hours later.  He was pretty hot and tired and we didn’t know if he was going to recover for his  finals match.  But, he showed so much grit and determination and as soon as he got out onto the court he gave his all.  He won 9-2.  Tennis is hard for competitive parents because it’s such a polite sport.  I was screaming and cheering on the inside and quietly clapping on the outside.  Josh was pretty proud of himself as well.  He couldn’t stop smiling.  And his poor little legs were pretty sore the next day 🙂  Josh, we are so proud of all the hard work you put in.  Be so proud! You are a 10U CARA tennis STATE CHAMP!