Summer 2018: Day 56; Vacation Day 6

We originally thought Michael would have basketball games Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but to our surprise, no games were scheduled for Friday. Instead of being disappointed, we viewed this as an opportunity to enjoy another full vacation day near the ocean. After a sleepy morning, we began pondering what to do with our unexpected free day.

About two minutes into our discussion on what to do, we received a text asking if Michael could play three games up with the U15s. Our free day disappeared, replaced with some incredible basketball experience for Michael. This tournament features a crazy amount of good teams, and the competition is top-notch high school players -- who he'll be facing for the next four years.

He held his own, though he was tired in a ridiculously hot gym complex. In three games (alas, all losses), he averaged about 8 points and held his own against older, sometimes bigger, sometimes stronger competition. He definitely proved he could play at this level, and though this wasn't the first time he had played up, today he didn't look scared.

In between the second and third game, we found a Costco to put gas in the car and ate dinner at a pizza place in a nearby shopping center. Basketball was one of the things that brought us to California, and we managed more memories along the way.

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