Back to Deuce: Toddler-free tennis time at BNP Paribas

On Thursday, Kelvin and I headed to Indian Wells (about two hours east of Orange County) for two days of relaxing tennis-watching. It was so relaxing mainly because we were baby-free for about 50 hours! After an AirBnB rental house fell through and we had to scramble for cost-inflated lodging due to the BNP Paribas tournament, Kelvin's mom graciously agreed to watch Iver back home in OC so that we could just crash at a motel and enjoy toddler-free tennis. It was the first time (except for when I've been stuck at the birth center with laboring patients) that I've been away from Iver overnight and our first 24+ hour "week-end" as a couple since he was born, almost fifteen months ago.

I feel slightly guilty saying this (that I enjoyed my toddler-free time so immensely-- as it makes me feel that I selfishly don't love spending time with my son), but I am an honest person, so here it is.... IT. WAS. AWESOME.  There are very few (or possibly none) things that I enjoy more than watching tennis (live or TV) and reading books, and I was able to do almost exclusively both in this two-day-getaway, along with not having to deal with any food-, sleep-, or carseat-fighting fits. I powered through another Liane Moriarty novel, The Last Anniversary, and got partway through another book on Wendi's recommendation, Dear Mr. Knightley, on my Kindle when we had downtime waiting for matches to start. And I just relished in the warm, dry, weather watching some great tennis.  I did pump milk four times each day to keep up supply for my not-ready-to-wean toddler, which was pretty easy with the many outlets and extremely clean bathrooms available at this upscale tournament, but I got about 8 hours of sleep for two nights, and have returned refreshed and happy.   Enjoy the photos!

I am not sure why there was a bagpiper at the entrance, but here he was-- playing loudly (which is why I, familiar as an ex-Highlander, appear to be standing a bit farther away in this photo).

Here is me with two of my favorite players-- RF and the Djoker.  Really wanting to see Roger Federer before he retires, Kelvin and I were so disappointed and very surprised to hear he withdrew from this tournament with a knee injury, as he has stayed so very injury-free during his remarkable career.  We are hopeful that we can maybe see him next year! Roger has signed up to play in the Miami Open coming up, so I think he's knee is ok.

In the stands

We caught some glimpses of Tsonga goofing around on the soccer field...

 pump break overlooking the practice courts

The Goffin-Cilic quarterfinal was a good one, where little "David" defeated the big-serving Goliath.

We saw the Wimbledon Champion North American doubles team of Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil defeat the European duo Kohlschreiber/Thiem.

Rafa headed to the practice courts for a late afternoon session

Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka double-bageled her night session Czech opponent, Magdalena Rybarikova.

Raonic-Monfils was an entertaining matchup, but was not as competitive as we'd hoped (with big-serving Raonic out hitting the wily Frenchman).

Katherine and Eddie joined us for the second day of tennis, and they were also thrilled at seeing some great players and great matches!

The first match on Friday was Rafael Nadal vs. Kei Nishikori. Not being a Rafa fan in the least and tending to root for the underdog, I was in the minority in cheering for the Japanese, and found the (VAMOS!!!) cheers of the Rafa fans to be quite annoying. However, Nadal, the 14-time Grand Slam Champion, came away the victor.

Kelvin even caught his ritualistic, unhygienic wedgie-picking on camera.

That match was followed by Djokovic-Tsonga, which was really close at 7-6, 7-6 and with some unbelievable shots from both men, with the Serbian and World #1 the winner.

We enjoyed a nice afternoon break and some delicious double-scoop ice cream.

check out photobombing Kelvin with Eddie's massive tennis ball!

Our night concluded with watching the matchup between legendary world No. 1 Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. Serena recently returned to play Indian Wells after a long history of boycotting the tournament, claiming racist spectators. I am not a fan of either of these players (and not for reasons of race), but found the matchup really interesting, and it was actually an exciting match, with Radwanska's counterpunching keeping many otherwise unplayable balls from a big hitter in play.

Serena's serve was pretty darn spectacular. She hit one 122-mph service winner (Radwanska actually got her racket on it!)

 

Radwanska retrieved like her life depended on it, and did a great job, but it wasn't good enough for Serena's angry winners.  She lost the second set in a tiebreak and therefore the match.

We got periodic updates from Kelvin's mom while we were gone. Apparently, other than a few-hour period of time after a Facetime attempt with us (BAD. IDEA!) when he was inconsolable missing us, Iver did really well in our absence. He ate well, drank milk from a cup, played with Kingston, napped, and only woke up once per night (I'm so glad he didn't give my in-laws a hard time at night! Now if he can do the same now that we're back). He was happy (but didn't appear ecstatic) to see us back.  I think it's time to night wean! And I think that, for my (/our) sanity, Kelvin and I may try to get away some more, just the two of us, if even for a few hours.  The week's end was a success for all!