KIND OF A BIG WEEK

New Additions
So yeah, it's been kind of a big week.  We are proud to announce the newest additions to the Crowder family - Roger and Ninja Crowder!

Needless to say, Cam is a fan!  He even named both of them (I know, shocking that I didn't come up with Ninja).  It was pretty funny because we have no idea how Cam came up with these names, or if that was even what he was saying, but we think they are fitting nonetheless!  Here is a little more of the back story of how we came to bring these new guys into our family (from an email from Julie to my parents):

Have a funny Cameron story from last night. He wants a fish and we’ve been using it as a bargaining tool to get him to wash his face and brush his teeth before bed. Well tonight is the night we are going to the pet store. We’ve decided on a Betta fish because low maintenance, pretty and long life span. Last night we asked Cameron, “what are you going to name your fish?” He very assertively and Cameron-like stated, “Roger!”

We have no idea where he came up with Roger. Maybe a book at day care or something but it was so very sweet. So tonight we have a new member of the family Roger Crowder - we’ll send a pic when he picks his fish.

So - welcome Roger and Ninja!


San Francisco
We just got back from San Francisco a  few days ago, and it was a great time!  That is one heck of a city - although I will tell you one thing - if you do go you better be prepared to spend a lot of money!  Nothing comes cheap there!  It was great though - between the restaurants, a tour of Napa, and just checking out some of the sites/landmarks in the city, we definitely were kept busy and had a ton of fun!

Some of our favorites from the trip: 
- Breakfast at Mama's Place - one of the best breakfasts either of us has ever had. 
- Wine Tour to Napa Valley - it was pretty cool checking out some of the wineries, and actually was good just driving out there and back, going over the Golden Gate bridge, etc.
- Dinner at Tomasso's - we went here our first night we got in based on a recommendation from our hotel's Concierge, and it was ridiculously good!  So good we decided we needed to go back a couple days later!
- Comedy Club - we randomly found a comedy club through the hotel's concierge (who obviously were very helpful!), and the headliner that night was Kevin Nealon, who was on Saturday Night Live a while back.  It was very funny and a great time!
- Dinner at 5A5 Steak Lounge - I got the Waygu steak, which is a special type of steak (like Kobe steak).  It basically melted in your mouth; ridiculously good.  You definitely paid for it, but it was well worth it at least for one time!  Probably would be too expensive to get with any sort of regularity, but maybe one day!
- Michigan Basketball @ The Blarney Stone - what would a trip to SF be without me doing research to find a Michigan Bar to watch the UM vs. Iowa basketball game?  Great place, they even had a UM flag on the wall and a UM football helmet over the bar!  AND - UM was able to pull out a great win at Iowa!  A great day all around!

Which leads us to....

Michigan Basketball
What a win yesterday at Minnesota!  Especially after losing in such fashion to Wisconsin early in the week; one heck of a job by Beilein rallying the troops for a huge win!  Regardless of what happens the rest of the year, this team should be lauded for what it has been able to accomplish this year.  Going into the season, pretty much everyone (including myself) had very low expectations for this squad, and picked them at the bottom of the Big 10.  The fact that they are knocking on the NCAA Tournament door is nothing short of miraculous; in my opinion if we get to the tourney John Beilein should win Big Ten Coach of the Year HANDS DOWN.  He has taken this young team with very little experience (youngest team in the B10 and practically the entire nation) and molded them into a winning squad. 

I think we are 1 year away from being REALLY good - with the continued development of Darius Morris (please develop a jumper and improve the left hand) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (great, great player), this team has a real chance to develop into a Big Ten Championship contender next year.  But - they still have a chance to do some really special things this year!

In my opinion, if they beat MSU next Saturday and win their first round game in the Big Ten Tournament, they will be in the NCAA tournament.  It is still a tough road to get there, and certainly will be real tough to beat MSU twice in the same year, but just that there is a CHANCE is amazing.  I said before that this was a fun team to watch and would be a great team to follow throughout the year, and I think that has certainly proven true.  Now win (at least) 2 more boys!