In Houston with Hakeem...

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Near the tail end of April I received a phone call from Make-a-Wish letting me know Hakeem Olajuwon, NBA and Houston Rockets basketball legend, has agreed to meet with Kate. We had EIGHT days to prepare for departure for Houston. What a tight turnaround, but 100 percent worth it. These photos speak for themselves...

On our first night in Houston, Kate and I visited James Harden's restaurant named 13 after his jersey number when he played for the Rockets. The vibe was incredibly cool and the food was deeeeelicious. 




Unfortunately there were no James Harden sightings but that was also to be expected since his current team, the Philadelphia Sixers, are in the NBA play-offs. 

Here's a quick snap of the girls at breakfast the next morning. It was a combination of... phew, we are tried from early morning travel yesterday mixed with the excitement of getting the vacay started!


As soon as the sun was up these girls, especially Natalie, were ready to take a dip in the outdoor hotel pool. When the temps are cool back home, you have to take advantage of your new, warm surroundings. Now, I say that but I didn't actually hop in because the water was frigid!






These ladies swam almost every free chance they had. 

In the evening of day 2 we went to Top Golf. Make-a-Wish made reservations for us and we were treated like royalty! We love Top Golf and this night was no exception.







And then...on day 3...the moment Kate had been waiting for...meeting her basketball idol, Hakeem Olajuwon. Now, when you go through these photos you're going to wonder why there are more Top Golf pics than Hakeem photos. That is because the Rockets had a videographer present and are currently putting together an entire video of Kate's experience. The video should appear on all of the various social media outlets and we cannot wait. But for now, please enjoy a sneak peek of what Kate was able to experience...

First off, we were picked up by a limo and driven to the Toyota Center!


The girls were vibing in the limo. I think we need to replace the minivan with this cool ride.


Hakeem wasted no time. He didn't wait for an introduction or anything. He strolled onto the court and greeted Kate. He talked to her about her basketball career and then coached her on some post moves. Kate has had a lot of great coaches over the years but Hakeem takes the cake!! He even taught her his signature move, The Dream Shake, and afterwards Kate demonstrated and drained the shot. That's our girl.


Kate had prepared so many questions for Hakeem about his career, his favorite and least favorite guys to play with, what it was like to win a championship, etc... Hakeem was amazingly generous and kind. What a super guy!


Hakeem also autographed two jerseys, two hats, a basketball and a basketball card for Kate. The Rockets gave away a crazy amount of swag not just to Kate but to Claudia, Natalie and Maddie too. 





The family with living legend, Hakeem Olajuwon. Crazy!


We had planned to visit the Rockets store afterwards but it was closed on Thursdays so the staff opened it for us! And after shopping around we took our swag to the checkout and they said it was on them! And then staff told Kate to go pick out a couple more jerseys. Absolute heaven. Kate was so happy.

Here's Claudia on the limo ride back in her baller chain. She wore this around the airport on the way home too and got so many second looks. It was fun!


Our family had an amazing trip to Houston. A huge shout-out to Make-a-Wish for making this dream come true for Kate. I have found her looking through photos and beaming several times over the past few days. And to wrap up this little blog post on our trip to Houston, please enjoy this very pretty photo of Maddie with a flower. :)













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