BYU game

Last weekend we headed down to Tallahasse to cheer on the Cougars. It was my first BYU game (live, in person) in two seasons, so I was pretty excited. It was Jaxon's first football game ever.

We made the trip down with my parents on Friday. On Saturday we took it easy, and although our hotel had a "breakfast" we opted for Krispie Kreme doughnuts instead :-).

At noon we went to the BYU tailgate party at the Civic Center. There were quite a few people there, so it was nice to see other BYU loyal in Tallahassee. We ate lunch at the "party," and gathered a few items to chher on the cougars with. Cosmo and the BYU cheerleaders came and lead everyone in a few cheers too.

Sydney liked watching the cheerleaders, but Jaxon was deathly afraid of Cosmo - to the point that his little body was shaking.

Some friends of ours came down to the game too (we had seats together), and so we met up with them at the tailgate party and took the shuttle to the stadium together too.

The game did not turn out as I would have liked it to (READ: BYU lost), but it was still fun, and I am glad we went. At halftime, the cougars looked like they were finally getting a handle on things, and we were back in the game 13-10, but we never scored again after that.

In the stadium we were prpetty much surrounded by a sea of red, but luckily, there were 10 of us, and two more sets of Cougar fans on the row in front of us, so we felt pretty comfortable - well, except for the weird guy who kept rubbing my back as he said, "I hate to be ugly, but you know you came an awfully long way to get beat up real bad, right?"

I tried not to go back for any drinks after that...

We spent the night again Saturday, and went to church in Tallahassee on Sunday. There were at least 5 other cars of people there who were in town for the BYU game too. That didn't seem to stop the two adult speakers in Sacrament meeting from making cracks about BYU though. Really?


Here are a few pics from gameday:

First Day of School

Today was Sydney's first day of school! We went last week for open house and met her teachers, and walked around the school. She was very excited!


This morning she woke up at 7:15, and Donnie pointed out that this was her first time up before 9 in three years. It was a little early for her :-)


When I picked her up (after 6 1/2 hours), she was excited to go home. She said school is "awesome," and she made two new friends - "one boy and one girl, but I don't know their names. The little girl had on a pink shirt and a pink and silver skirt with five silver buttons. The little boy had on a green shirt and boy shorts." I guess fashion is more important than names...)


She was very excited about lunch - "a chicken sandwhich, an orange, and a milk in a box," but not so much breakfast - "Umm, I think I ate a pizza."



This morning when I dropped her off, I walked with her into the library (Pre-K through 1st grade meets there before school officially starts). Other parents were in there waiting around, so I grabbed a chair and sat with her. When her teacher came in and called for her class to line up, I followed the other parents.


Sydney and I walked hand-in-hand to her classroom, but when we arrived there, she gave my hand a little squeeze and said, "Okay Mom, I'll see you this afternoon." She hung her bookbag in her cubby (she chose it at open house), and ran to the carpet to sit down. She never looked back.


I made it all the way back to the car without crying, but then I couldn't help it. The crying episode was short lived, however, because Donnie was waiting in the car with Jaxy, and he started laughing at me. then I was too mad to cry.


She loves to learn, and she loves to be around other kids, so we know she'll have a great year!

Jaxy wants in on the action too. We had to buy a bookbag for him, and he wore it all day long - he even napped with it. He was very excited to go to Sydney's school to pick her up this afternoon too.

What we've been up to

We have had a really busy summer! Here are a few snapshots of what we've been doing:

hanging out at Stone Mountain, playing in the sprinklers, visiting the aquarium, and playing in the backyard.

Braves' Game

The BYU Alumni Association hosted a "Mormon Night at the Braves" last night, so we took the whole family to Turner Field to cheer on the home team. Dale Murphy was a special guest last night. He played for the Braves from 1976 until 1990, and quit impressively so. He was a great player and a great guy. His jersey, No. 3, was retired after he retired from baseball in 1994.


We had perfect seats - not necessarily the best seats, but for our family, they were perfect. We sat right beside the Mets bullpen, down the third base line. We were only three rows back, but we were on the inside isle (right against the bullpen), so the kids had a big "play area." They could move around without bothering anyone, and they watched the Mets' relief pitchers alot when the action on field was stalling.

We also had a steady supply of cotton candy, Reese's pieces, and blue slushies going :-) We missed the meet and greet with Dale Murphy, but we made it in time to see him throw the opening pitch. The weather was great (a little overcast so the temperature was not in the 90s like it has been for the past month), the kids were happy, and the Braves won (4 to 1), so it was a great night :-). Even the one thing that started out as a hassle ended up being great...

Sydney needed to go to the bathroom 4 times during the 3 1/2 hour game. The last time I was a little annoyed because it was the 8th inning, and since the Braves were ahead, the game would be over soon. I asked Sydney to try to wait, but she was adamant. Reluctantly, I took her to the bathroom. As we were coming back to our seats, we were walking right by the bullpen wall, and I heard someone whistling. At first I didn't pay it any attention, but after the second whistle, and a "Hey!" I turned to look.

Raul Valdes, one of the relief pitchers, was trying to get our attention so he could give Sydney a baseball from the bullpen. Sydney was so excited! She proceeded to tell us for the next hour (the rest of the game, the walk to the car, and the entire drive home) what a great time she had at the game, and how happy she was to have a real Braves baseball.
Jaxy had fun doing the Tomahawk Chop (especially when the Chick-fil-A cow would do it too), and watching the "fireworks" (for every strike out the Braves pitch, the Atlanta Gas light display shoots a burst of fire into the air). When Chipper Jones hit a home run, they actually shot off real fireworks, so Jaxy liked that too.




The view of home plate from our seats

Left field

Watching the action

Jaxy checking out the Mets' bullpen

Sydney stood at the bullpen wall and watched for a long time.

Sometimes she saw this:

Sometimes she saw this:

Our battery went dead before we could get anymore shots of Sydney with her ball (Valdes is No. 22, or the bald guy in the bullpen picture)

Jaxy pointing out the "fireworks" after a strikeout.

No one wanted to cooperate for a picture; they just wanted the cotton candy guy to hurry it up.

It was so much fun. This was our fourthj game this season, and we are already making plans to go back for a fifth!

Fourth of July

We spent the weekend in the north Georgia mountains with my family again this year. We went up Thursday and stayed until Monday, so it was a nice long break from real life.

On Saturday, the guys went fishing (Donnie and Ben went golfing after that, but my Dad went to the hospital to have a fishing hook removed from his middle finger :-)) The girls spent that time at the new and improved Babyland General. Sydney found a new Cabbage Patch doll and a bag of doll accessories.

Jaxy was kind of out of his element. In fact, the only thing he wanted was a car from one of the displays. They have a limited edition Nascar doll (seriously?) and at the top of the display area is a big car with a doll all dressed up like a racecar driver. Jaxon yelled, "Car Mommy! Car!" like a million times

It was nice to spend time with so many members of our family (this was the first time we were able to hang out with Moe and Kat since they moved out of state in January), but we missed those who weren't there (Angela came up for one afternoon, but Jason and his family were unable to come).

Barbershop

So, Allison and fam came up yesterday to visit, and while here, Donnie gave Quin a haircut. It was Quin's first haircut, so it was a hard time for all.

Allison was sad to see all of his beautiful hair chopped, and Donnie was afraid to mess up Quin's hair. He kept saying to me, "I don't want to be the guy who ruined Quin's hair. what if Allison doesn't like it when I'm done?"

Well, the upside of it all is that 1. Hair grows back quickly, and 2. Allison asked him to do it (granted after weeks of pressuring from ALL of my family), so she could only be mad at herself.

Another high point, we gave Quin a lollipop and sat him in Allison's lap, and he was the best kid ever! He sat completely still while Donnie buzzed about his head with clippers. I wish my kids were so cooperative during haircuts :-)

So, here are a few pics - I ran out of room on my camera, so sorry Mom that I do not have more!