ryder cup

a few weeks ago, chase and i experienced the ryder cup.  it was his second time, but it was my first.  he said things had definitely changed since he went 20 years ago!

we flew into minneapolis, and after a quick stop by the hotel to drop our stuff off we made our way to hazeltine for the opening ceremony.  there was no parking at hazeltine, so all 60,000 fans had to meet and ride buses to nearby chaska high school.  canterbury park (a super nice horse race track) was about a mile from our hotel, and that's where we met our bus....along with a million other people.  but since we got there right before the opening ceremony, we didn't get a grasp on the bus line until the next morning.

we walked around and figured out the layout of the course, found the international pavilion (the only bathrooms that i would use because well, just imagine the port-a-potties after 60,000 people had been using them during the practice rounds all week), perused the 50,000 square foot ryder cup shop for some gear for the little people, and watched the opening ceremony.

walking in...

the next morning, we were up at 5am and thinking that we were ahead of the game since the buses didn't start running until 6am.  hahahaha!!!  we got to the buses and then waited in line for an hour just to get on a bus.  it was crazy!  but the pga got it figured out after that first morning, and we never waited more than 10 minutes after that.  they were actually very efficient (and should have been considering that they had charter buses all the way from louisiana, school buses from every district around them, and what actually looked like a prison bus!  we still made it just in time for the first tee time of the day!

jordan speith in the first fairway...

we bought ryder cup radios, and that was the best money we spent all week.  it was little radio that hung around your neck, and there were 3 channels...nbc, the american broadcast and the BBC.  the european broadcast was by far the best.  they were hysterical, and their description of what was going was so much better than the american broadcasters.  i need a british guy to walk around and just describe what's going on my life!

anyway, this was my favorite spot on the course.  par 3 #8.  it was crazy crowded, but we happened to be there when rory made his 40 putt and patrick reed followed it with a birdie of his own, along with some finger wagging and smack talk!  so much fun!

middle of the fairway at #18...

we added on and got international pavilion access.  it was nice to have a place to sit and eat some food, and it would have been great if we had needed it for rain and cold weather.  but we lucked out and it was 70 degrees everyday.

all smiles after finishing in the lead after day 1 (barely)...

#4...

jordan speith lining up his putt on #6.  (i wasn't stalking just him with my camera, but they had "mobile device enforcement" people that would yell at you if you got out your phone.  so, it just happened to be him every time that i had a chance to take a picture!)

mr. ryder cup himself!  what an amazing week this guy had...

the empty #1 grandstand at the end of the day...

and the full and rowdy #1 grandstand in the morning...

signing arnold palmer's memory board....

these are two of the "guardians of the cup."  they travel to every ryder cup wherever it is and cheer (and sing...loudly) for europe.  and yes, it was about 8am.  and yes, they have multiple beers in their hands and pockets.  and the pga can't figure out how or why fans are crazy and loud during the rounds....hmmmmm???

jordan and rory having a chat on the putting green before the final day got started.

jordan again...

dustin johnson finishing up on #16.  this was my second favorite place on the course.  it was on a hill, and it could get to 30 people deep watching on this hole.  there was also a video board behind the hill, so we could watch what going on elsewhere on the course.

zach johnson after clinching his match...

celebrating the win!!

ricky fowler and jimmy walker...

patrick reed...

phil and jordan...

winners!!

the closing ceremony...

saying goodbye to hazeltine....

this is only about half of the sea of humanity making their way to the buses to leave.  half of the people didn't stay for the closing ceremony!!

if you are a golf fan (and even if you're not), you should definitely put the ryder cup on your bucket list just to experience a sporting event unlike any other anywhere at least once!  but i'm going to warn you, i think golf fans are the tallest people on the earth.  i promise you that every guy there was 6'5".  so if you go, make sure you have a 6'7" husband upon whose back you can jump when it gets to the point that you need to see something important unfold!!  i might have missed a few exciting putts if not for chase!!

we are so glad that the cup is back where it belongs, and i'm already looking forward to two years from now and cheering us on in paris at le golf national.  now i've gotta get chase to get in touch with some of his french tennis teammates from college and round us up a place to stay!!!  :)

my last trip to the pumpkin patch

this week was historical.  i think we should all take a moment and honor what took place.  maybe we should make it some sort of holiday.  because y'all....i did it.  i made my last trip to the pumpkin patch!  i am somewhat of a pumpkin patch expert.  i've been to every single one within a 100 mile radius ( fyi...holley farms is the best, but it may have closed), and reed's class made the trip to my least favorite patch.  but i persevered, and it actually turned out to be great.  for the first time ever, we went early in october.  therefore, we were the ONLY school there.  this is huge!!  AND, it wasn't cold.  can i get an amen?!?  there have been times when i've been walking through a muddy field with little people who have snot frozen to their faces all the while i couldn't feel my toes.  those were fun times, but i was thankful for the sunny and hot weather this go around!!

this place cracks me up.  they have this bench and sign set up for pictures right when you arrive.  but we always arrive in the morning, and this set up looks directly into the sun.  it just doesn't work.  but we tried...

we played with the chickens and goats, we bounced in the bouncy houses, we played putt-putt, we played on the playground, but we did not ride on the train.  they got rid of the barrel train.  it's tough times we are living in when there's no more barrel train at circle Y.  however, we forged ahead. 

we fed the fish, and we passed by the tractor trailer full of store bought pumpkins on our way to the field where they tossed out a few of those pumpkins for us.  the kids were none the wiser, but hey...i could feel my toes, so i was willing to overlook it!!  :) 

on the wagon with weston...

got the perfect pumpkin...

so see?  it wasn't my favorite place, but we had a great day!  and, we got plenty of smiles from the little people.  however, mine was probably the biggest!!  :) 

a little tennis...

we have switched into soccer gear over here, but we had a fun summer playing a little bit of tennis.

william played at southerns in tuscaloosa and actually won a match or two.  when i was a kid, walking away from southerns with a win or two was huge! walking away with food poisoning after driving to macon, georgia, was not so huge...but that's another story for another day!!!

rain delay in tuscaloosa...

 he played doubles with his buddy from the delta, holden, and they won two matches.  (i think....this was a daddy and william road trip, so i'm trying to remember what i was told!)  :)  william and holden's grandfathers played tennis together back in the day, so it's pretty cool to see them play together now!

 

 

wes made some big strides this summer as well.  he won his first tournament, had a couple of runner up finishes, and just really improved overall.  he has some mental work to do (don't we all?), but it's been fun to see him get better.  i already know that i will definitely be keeping it away from his forehand when i'm hitting with him at age 16!!

 

william and wes teamed up to take a doubles title in jackson one weekend.

on the court...

he also played JTT this summer.  they had a pretty good team, but they couldn't quite pull it out in the end and finished 2nd in their division!

sam and wes...

our tupelo team...

at some point this summer, there was a tournament in new albany.  (you like how good my memory is, don't you?)  wes made it to the finals but lost to his buddy/doubles partner, andrew.  these two are fun, and they have no problem cracking a joke and making each other laugh during the point!

reed has improved a lot as well.  he's not quite ready to be turned loose onto the tennis circuit, but he can rally!  and his serve is getting there!  however, he mostly hangs out at tournaments and tells me that he's ready to leave.  watching tennis isn't near as much fun as playing tennis!

whew!  now let me go make sure those soccer uniforms are ready for tonight!