Finally made it to the NBA

Ask Layton or Will what they want to be when they grow up and the answer is always the same...an NBA player. Well, as skilled as they are, this might be as close to that dream that they come! They may not have had an official jersey, their name on the jumbo-tron or a contract for millions, but they did play on an official NBA court, get their pictures on the jumbo-tron and high-five real NBA players!

As expected, the boys combined birthday party was the party to end all parties! Not only was it long, but it was fab-u-lous! The day began at 1:00 p.m. when the boy's guests all met at our house. Then they were off to the Rose Garden for a two-hour basketball clinic on the Blazers court! The boys rotated through different stations and drills while dreaming that one day they would be there for real. They both thought it was pretty cool that they each made several free-throws on the Blazers court.

After the clinic, we took all 8 boys on the MAX train to the Lloyd Center where we had pizza for dinner. We got several stares and comments on the MAX. I guess people are not used to seeing people totting around 8 little kids on the public transportation system. For the younger boys, the pizza and train ride where their favorite part of the party. After pizza we had to race back to the Rose Garden for early entrance to watch the pre-game warm-ups.


We were permitted back into the Rose Garden before any other crowds and got to sit right behind the Blazers practice hoop. It was hard to get many good pictures of the team with officials, Blazer dancers and cheerleaders all on the floor but we did get one of our new favorite player, Matthews (thanks Jazz!)

But the highlight of the night was making a tunnel for the Blazers to run through on their way to the court. The cameraman had them on the jumbo-tron and they rehearsed over and over how to high-five the players as they ran on (the key being keep your hand up HIGH!)


One of the best moments of my life was watching the boys faces change from the'practice high-five' to the 'real moment high-five' when the players began running on the court. The boys were on a high for days, promising never to wash their hands again!

Afterwards, they let the boys sit on the Blazers bench to watch the final warm-up.

Once warm-ups were over, we were brought back to reality as we made our way up to the nose-bleed section to watch the Blazers beat the Toronto Raptors. We got the boys all back home around 11:30 p.m. that night, but I think it took my boys about 4 more hours to calm down enough to sleep. So all in all, the party was a huge success. The only thing I am not happy with is...How am I supposed to top that next year?

Happy 7th and 10th birthday Will and Layton!