In April, before the Nakoma all-sports sign-up, we (Kristin) allowed Braden to quit the swim team. It was not something he enjoyed, but Kristin really wanted him to stay on.

Kristin didn’t let Carson quit, so he’s still on the Orangeheads team. However, all swim meets and the All-City meet were canceled, so he just goes to practice every day, with the occasional intrasquad meet.

Meanwhile, both kids signed up for Little League. After buying all new equipment (bat, helmet, shoes, glove and cup) for Carson and some new gear for Braden, the league announced in mid-June that it, too, would forgo games and have practices only. Carson quit, but Braden stayed on because he wanted to get better. (Unfortunately, Braden regretted that decision, because his teammates were much better, he told us.)

As an aside, in the spring, Brian spent quite a bit of time practicing baseball with the boys, primarily serving as their catcher while they took turns pitching. After a couple of months, Braden said he no longer wanted to pitch, even though he was pretty good (likely a confidence issue).

Regarding tennis, Fitchburg canceled all rec sports, so we had to send Braden to Verona for tennis lessons. For basketball, Brian signed the kids up for Pau Gasol’s virtual basketball academy, though they only participated in a few of the drills.

Camp Invention, which Braden attended a couple of years ago at Edgewood College, went virtual this year. It sent Carson a box with all the planned activities. On the other hand, Braden’s football and basketball camps were both canceled.

The one bright side to all of the cancellations is that our typically jam-packed weekends in the summer are now spent at our cabin.

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