Today we went to Lehigh for a basketball game. Lehigh was playing Princeton, and ended up winning by a landslide. I have a couple of students who are basketball players, but one in particular — #10 — is a student I’m pretty close to, have had for several courses, and also just happens to be a Basketball Star. K & O had met him before, and really liked him, so they were especially excited to see him as “a player on the team.” Lehigh Athletics is really great for family-friendly sports events. They had set up a huge moonbounce right near the court, and this was of course a highlight of the day for K & O. They spent a lot of time jumping in it. Braydon whispered to me at one point, “It would be worth coming just for this!” He’s right– K & O can burn off quite a bit of energy in a moonbounce. Since it is Winter Break at Lehigh very few students are on campus so the arena was not as crazy as usual (no wild drunken fanatic fans, no shirtless fraternity brothers with their chests painted with “Princeton Sucks,” and… very nice for me… not one student approached us the entire game). The boys ate popsicles and ate popcorn and watched the game while actually sitting in their seats for a long stretch of time (a first!!!). Owen was super cute yelling at the top of his lungs “GO NUMBER TEN!!” and “SHOOT THE BALL!!!!” My student, #10, even looked over a few times– much to Owen’s delight. After the game #10 was signing autographs and Owen climbed the court rail to try to be as “high up” (i.e., tall) as his hero. After the game the boys ran around the court with a whole slew of other little kids. Kyle got to shoot a few baskets and came very close to making one– which very much impressed some of the older kids. Once again I’m reminded of what great family perks come with my job. The boys are already getting exposure to so many things… and they feel right at home on a college campus (an elite college campus at that). It makes me wonder about if/where they’ll go to college someday and how things will all play out for them over the next twenty years.
