I love going back to read my 2009 post about going to football games. There are a few things that are the same but I wanted to write an update.
These days I wake the kids up by blaring the Michigan Marching Band “Fire Up It’s Saturday” album. They do a little moaning and groaning but the lure of tailgate donuts is too much to keep them in bed for long.
Carson has been going in early with Rick lately which usually results in some fun pictures from Rick:
Mallory used to help me make the jello shots for the tailgates but when she started sniffing the tray as I put it in the fridge, saying “THEY SMELL SOOOO GOOD!” I had to fire her, and promote her brother.
The kids are usually on their own for getting dressed. Since Mallory got her ears pierced she makes sure she is wearing the right earrings. I try not to fight with them about what they wear with the exception of making them wear a long sleeve shirt or turtleneck if the weather calls for it. I do bring the stuff they *should* wear so we can layer up before we head into the stadium.
We leave our house for the game about 4-ish hours before kickoff (weather and kickoff-time and opponent dependent). I make sure that Carson has a football and that I have the football tickets and parking pass. We stop and pick up my mom & dad and their everything-but-the-kitchen-sink gear. Then we start heading to Kroger but about halfway there, my dad has his almost weekly freakout about whether he has his binoculars and the right glasses. Or the time my mom wanted me to turn around because she forgot deodorant but since I am my mother’s daughter (and I too forget deodorant sometimes and am prepared for it), I pulled some out of the pocket of my door for her. It usually happens about once a season that my dad actually forgets his glasses so then we have to turn around. Which then starts the discussion of “what if we have to do this every week??”.
Anyway, back to Kroger. My dad & I both go in – he has to get chicken, and I have to get whatever I signed up to bring to the tailgate. I’ll fess up that one game this year I was asked to bring a large bag of ice so I paid for it and got almost to the tailgate and realized I’d never gotten it out of the freezer at the store. Oops.
Then we go to the game, making sure to annoy Gigi by taking West Davis (instead of Pauline). We pull into the Blue Lot and unload our stuff and then my dad & I go park my car in my numbered spot. By the time we walk the 30 yards back to the tailgate, Mallory & Carson have already eaten a donut and a cupcake. Mallory tries to make up for it by having a piece of chicken and Carson tries to make up for it by having a carrot, and then they both ask if they can have more junk. Rick used to stop by the tailgate before the games to have a piece of chicken or whatever and he used to always tell me I shouldn’t let the kids eat all the junk. But it’s six (or seven or eight) days a year and it buys me a few hours of peace. Plus they run around so much that they burn off whatever they eat!
We still head into the game an hour before kick-off and we’ve been getting field passes this year, so my dad, the kids & I go down the tunnel before the games. We sometimes have to wait for a team or two to run down the tunnel but when it’s finally our turn, it’s so much fun.
There is lots of stopping to say hi to this person and that person and my dad gets annoyed and just walks ahead of us to go to our seats. We try to find Rick and the kids get big hugs.
We try to say hi to the few players we know but it isn’t like last year where Carson could yell at Raymon and Jake and get high fives. This year it’s just Blake.
Carson & our Australian punter, Blake O’Neill
OMG IT’S THE CHAIN GANG!!!
But that’s not to say we don’t see Raymon after the games sometimes.
Once we are done with our on-field tour, we head to the seats. The kids are still crazy good during the games and I love that Mallory is now old enough to go by herself to get water or to go to the bathroom. All of our neighbors in our section are still the same as they have been for years and it’s fun to see them gush over how big the kids are getting, and get high fives from the cutest blonde boy in the stadium. No kids have fallen asleep this year which makes both me and my back happy. And probably my mom too.
After the game we’ve been heading down on the field and then Carson ends up in the locker room helping Rick. Luckily Mallory understands why she can’t go in the locker room after the games.
Then it’s back to the tailgate for another beer (for mom) and cookies (for the kids) to waste time while the traffic clears slightly.
The kids & I road-tripped to Minnesota this year for our game there on Halloween; my dad & Lauren went also. I wasn’t sad to not have to deal with costumes, etc and the kids were too excited about planes and trains and Mall of America to care about missing out on trick-or-treating. The game was SCARY but we won so it was a fun trip :-) Lauren REALLY got into the game and said she had the funnest time ever.
Carson, Mallory & Lauren with Jabrill Peppers
It’s hard to believe we are 11 games into this season with just the big game tomorrow. If we win and if Penn State beats MSU, we will be in the Big 10 Championship game next weekend! Either way, it’s been an incredible year with our new coach { better than most people predicted } and it’s been very fun.
Well, it’s time to make the jell-o shots for tomorrow’s tailgate so here I go.
GO BLUE!!!!!!!!!