Dream game

Other than wishing Maëva a happy birthday, the afternoon basketball game provided most of Sunday's excitement. Rachel wanted to try arriving earlier, so we caught the bus shortly after lunch and were in line at the arena a few minutes before two when the doors opened.

No sooner had we reached our seats than a representative of the team came to ask if some of the kids wanted to participate in a relay race after the end of the first quarter. Rachel and Lydia signed up. Max returned shortly after the game started to retrieve them.

Next, Rachel went down court side seeking autographs for her hat. The two she acquired back when we got the hat are both from players no longer with the team. Her patience was awarded by a visit from all-star Jewell Loyd after her long shooting practice.

Rachel saw Juneau neighbor and Storm GM Talisa Rhea come over, too, but she was on the phone so Rachel didn't try to talk to her.

The first quarter ended in a tie. The girls couldn't see very well from their spot in the waiting area. Lydia ran the first and Rachel the last leg of their relay. Lydia had instructions to go easy on her opponent, who was much smaller, but needn't have bothered, because by the time of the anchor leg, the other team was ahead significantly. Rachel made up some time, but they returned to their seats with a consolation prize of T-shirts.

Seattle took a lead into halftime after a big second quarter by Tina Charles, who became the fourth player over seven thousand career points after back to back three pointers. The Dream never led again, but they hung around until about two minutes remained, when a final Sue Bird assist put them out of reach. We ended up with a third T-shirt when I caught one thrown by Rachel's favorite player, Gabby Williams, after the game. Nicole alerted us that the telecast had shown footage of us waiting to walk to the stairs from our seats.

It was a fun experience all around, just what Max (the team representative) had told us they wanted for us. Rachel got a thumbs up from the Seattle Bird Watcher behind us who asked to see her poster. We learned that even the manhole covers outside the arena say "Storm" on them. We're hoping for playoff games so we can attend again this season, but if not, it was a great send-off. We celebrated by stopping for bubble tea just up the street and then running to catch the #2 bus which had passed us but was waiting at the stoplight.

Nicole went out to meet Karen after we arrived home and debriefed on the game, so I made dinner, ate with the kids, and read while awaiting her return. We had time for two episodes of our show before bed. Rachel has basketball camp tomorrow morning, so we didn't want to make it a late night.