Saturday, August 28, 2010

arthur ashe kids' day

we had such an awesome day today!  i am an avid tennis fan and the u.s. open begins on monday.  it is played in flushing meadows in queens (about a 30 min drive) and while it doesn't look like i will be able to attend this year (because of pesky things like kids)...i am planning on going for sure in the future because it would pretty much be my every dream come true.

but today was the annual arthur ashe kids' day at the tennis center and all morning, from 9:30-1pm, there were tons of FREE activities for kids including tennis clinics and training sessions, jugglers, balloon animals, face painting and really random things like people in dora the explorer, boots and diego costumes just walking around for photo ops.  and we could sit and watch the pros' practice sessions.  the boys had a great time playing a bit of tennis and craig was able to spend the morning with us before heading into the city to prepare for his HUGE test tomorrow morning (and by huge i mean "if he doesn't pass this test he loses his job offer and we are sent packing back to who knows where so he can work at mcdonalds or maybe the corner bagel shop".  that kind of huge.  he gets 3 tries to pass it...but still).  more on that later.

the second half of the day i needed to buy tickets for and i figured i was there so we might as well hang around.  plus it was my only chance to actually see the pros that i love to watch.  the only glitch was that in order to see them i had to sit through a kids' concert that included the jonas brothers, demi lovato, david archuleta, allstar weekend and a couple others i hadn't heard of.  now, this is probably every teenage girl's dream but it was a bit painful for me (and the boys which is why i let them play their ds's during the entire thing).  the payoff came when i was able to finally see the pros in action.  here is a VERY long slide show of the day (turn up your volume if you want to jam)...


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4 comments:

Measi said...

Anne - for a tennis-related road trip sometime, head up my way to Newport, RI. The International Tennis Hall of Fame is there - it's a gorgeous place. Great museum plus lovely courts and grounds. They host a tennis competition there every year.

Plus Newport itself is just fantastic. Gorgeous old mansions to tour, some lovely beaches nearby.

Best time in my opinion is in spring or autumn - avoid the summer tourist crowds. :) There's really nothing that's closed off-season that's really that vital to see.

susan said...

What a total dream day...and definitely worth a wake up call:)! Such awesome pictures of everything. loved the shots of the boys.. those headbands are so dang cute. can't believe everyone you saw- most exciting for me was roddick and archuleta!! what a cool atmosphere- attending the us open was always a dream for me too!

susan said...

also... thinking of Craig today- hope his test goes great!!!!!!!!!

Kristi said...

Annie....what an amazing event to be part of. The first picture of you and the boys is amazing...I hope you have that one framed....you look so cute! I need to look through all the pics again and show them to Wayne. j You have a good camera...what kind is it?