The kids did pretty good on the looong flight out. We left at 8:15 pm and I mistakenly believed that Avery would be the first to fall. She was not. She was the 4th in our family to sleep at 10:45. I'll let you figure out who were the first three.
But we made it, and that proved to be only half the battle. The first night Avery woke up about every hour and secured her spot in our bed for the rest of the trip. That night was the roughest, but none of them were great. We had some early mornings, one particularly frustrating morning Avery was up for good at 4:30. At 7am when I was driving to leave the hotel, she was passed out before we were out of the parking garage.
The saving grace of the trip was that my parents bought a condo last year in Phoenix. We borrowed a car and each morning I'd load up the kids and we'd go to their place for breakfast. Then we'd go to the pool or a park and do lots of stuff that saved my sanity of being by myself in hotel with my children all day!
Both my brothers got to come out for the first game, so it was cool to hang out with them for a few days.
It was sort of a sleep-when-you-can trip, which my kids are good at.
Avery fell asleep at tip off during the championship game, which was lovely because I could actually watch the game. Jackson took over for her and passed out the second half. We laid him on two chairs and at one point he fell off and my dad retrieved him. He resumed sleeping immediately (might not have even woke up).
Jacksons biggest concern going into this game (and basically every game) is the fireworks. While every other Tar Heel in America is scarred from the game-winning shot by Villanova last year in the championship, Jackson is scarred by the celebration that followed. It was a bit of a juggling act this year, because Jackson woke with a minute to go in that game, but was disoriented and I knew the confetti that rained might upset him. So I am trying to prepare him, while at the same time managing the disbelief that we were actually going to win, and dealing with Avery, who is generally a full time job herself. The horn buzzed and......no confetti! So much prep for nothing! The "fireworks" came a few minutes later and no tears were shed. I'm so glad my kids got to be there for the game, though certainly Brady is the only one who has a shot at remembering anything. Though knowing him, he will only remember the awesomeness of playing an electronic game on the ride over to the game with his friends, or something important like that.
But really, that is what it's about. The games were a huge part of the trip, but experiencing such an event with friends, family, and friends who are like family is one thing I will always remember about Phoenix 2017.
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