JO's 2026

Day 1: Got up early for game 1. Greg livestreamed all the games, so family and friends could watch from afar. We heard over and over how much the team's family members appreciated getting to watch. The boys started off with a win 8-5! The second game of the day was a win, as well, 9-2, and since we didn't have to play a third game that day, we headed to Laguna and went to One Thousand Steps beach. The kids played in the huge waves for hours. The lifeguards earned their money that afternoon. The 20 foot swells scared me, but the boys had a blast, and the lifeguards were watchful and made sure to keep them out of rip currents and away from rocks, if they drifted too far. The hike back up those steps was a rough one! We met the Petersen's for dinner at Wahoo's Fish Taco, a local restaurant in the Irvine Spectrum Center, a fancy outdoor mall, before heading back to our hotel. We got room with a view of Disney's fireworks, so I watched the fireworks show from our room all four nights. 

Day 2: The day started out a little rough with another early morning game, and an issue with our rental car. The key fob battery died on the way to the game, and so if we turned off the car, we'd be stranded. We dropped Grant off, and Greg kept the car running for me to switch to the drivers seat, and he stayed since he was livestreaming. I drove the car to Enterprise, where the car rental place we called (Alamo) told us we could get our situation resolved, but they didn't open until 8am. I started walking back to the pool (a 25 minute walk) and decided that was a silly plan. I called Greg and asked him to send someone to pick me up. One of the boys' dads came and rescued me and brought me back to the pool--only missed the first couple minutes of the game. They ended up winning that first game; however, Grant only played the first quarter. Turns out the coach didn't realized he forgot to put him back in, so while Grant was a bit upset and confused for a while, he later learned that it was just an oversight and felt better.

A few minutes into game 2 of that day, Grant took a head to the nose and sat our with a bloody nose for the majority of the game. The boys battled, but the other team was tough, and we lost 5-13. Lunch and a milkshake improved morale. We had a few hours to relax before team dinner that night. We walked to a restaurant and were able to all sit together out on the patio. After dinner, we walked to Joe's Italian Ice, which was just a block away from our hotel. It was delicious! The boys enjoyed some swimming back at the hotel pool that night. Can't get enough of the water, I guess!

Day 3: Lost the first game of the day 8-12. It was a close one for most of the game, but they just couldn't pull off the win. We went back to the hotel for the afternoon, and I got some reading in by the pool. The second game of the day was a win that felt like a loss 9-8, just because the boys didn't play as well as they could have. Emotions ran high after each of those games. Sports can be rough sometimes. Food always helps. We ate dinner at Bruxie, where I had the best waffle I've eaten in my life. The restaurant was right next to Chapman University, so we walked the campus and explored a bit. 

Day 4/Last Day: We didn't get the win 8-9, but it was a great game. The boys played hard and ended up 10th out of 48 teams in their division. We were proud of Grant and thankful we got to watch him play his favorite sport at this level. (I was also thankful when we got be free of tose orange vinyl tournament bracelets we had to wear for 4 days!) Our flight left that evening at 6:30pm. I couldn't believe it when I looked over and saw Grant asleep in the seat next to me. He never naps unless he's sick, and I've never seen him sleep on a plane. But he did have a cold to start the week (came back from Mexico sick) and had just played multiple water polo games for four days in a row. He was exhausted and needed the rest! JOs experience number two is in the books, and it was another great time!