Amazing
Some things, to some people, are just not that big of a deal. Depending on your life experiences, you may be awed by some things yet view others as just another routine part of the day. Since I'd never attended a football game of a higher calibre than Division 3 football, my wonderful day today was simply amazing to me. I had the opportunity to attend a Division 1 football game today. I also got to tailgate both before and after the game (another thing I've never had the opportunity to take part in before). Stu and I and several of our friends started out the day at about 9:00 this morning, just outside the U of M aquatic center, sharing breakfast, conversation and, of course, some beer :) Then, we moseyed on over to the new, outdoor Gopher stadium to watch an exciting game between the Minnesota Gophers and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. It was actually moving to me, to see so many people come together, united by the same interest - college football. There were people of all ages, dressed in maroon and gold, surging together in a wave towards the entrance to the beautiful new stadium. Fireworks were lit off when the team entered the stadium. A loud cannon was shot off each time they scored. The scoreboard was the largest television screen I've seen in my life. The score was close - the Gophers won 16-13 and that was a good thing. I was torn between cheering for the home team and cheering for the opposing team since #39 on the Jackrabbits defense is a former player of Stu's. His name is Derek Domino and he made some amazing defensive plays. So we got the best of both worlds - we got to cheer Derek on in his success and we were proud that, in the end, our team won. We then sidled back over to our parking lot outside the Aquatic Center and engaged in more face stuffing (no beer for me this time since we had a babysitter at home I'd need to drive home soon).
Our daycare provider's niece, Victoria, babysat for us today and we arrived home to a great report that the kids had behaved very nicely. End result = a day of perfection.
Some cute kid information:
Adam - when told it was time for him to go upstairs to take a bath while he was seated on the floor of the basement, carefully stacking, nesting and banging the play food and dishes from the play kitchen; he proceeded to painstakingly pick each toy up (only the kitchen stuff though!) and place it into the small plastic bin where we contain it. Then he heaved himself up to toddle over and get the top to the bin and Stu helped him snap it on. Finally, he lugged the bin the 15 feet across the floor over the play kitchen where it belongs. Hallelujah! We have a child in the house who already understands the concept of cleaning up after himself, at the age of 18 months!!
Max - continues to astound me with mind-boggling feats. Tonight, we opened a new bar of soap for him to use to clean his body. It happened to be Dial soap, which we've never before used in our house. However, Dial is the brand that my dad has used for as far back as I can remember. When my dad showers, up at the cabin, it leaves the distinct scent of Dial soap wafting down the hallway from the bathroom. We've never discussed this out loud among our family. I find it a comforting scent - it will always remind me of my dad. But I've never shared that with anyone before. So there's no way that Max could have said what he did because of any external influence. When I opened that bar of Dial soap and handed it to him, he held it to his noise, inhaled and said, "Hey! This is like Grandpa's soap!" I gasped and asked, "Why do you say that?" and he said, "Because this smells just like his soap". It's amazing the things that children notice and remember!
Ryann - left the dinner table this evening after excusing herself to go use the bathroom. When she finally returned (after fooling around with the sink faucet for some time), she was hiding a doll behind her back. Stu told her, "Please put down the doll. We don't have toys at the table while we're eating". Ryann exclaimed, "How could you see?!" and Stu retorted, "I'm a Dad; I see everything". Ryann said, "Oh! You have good eyesight, like me".
Here are some photos from the Gopher extravaganza today:
Beth and Will
The marching band in formation spelling "Gophers 09"
Me and Stu (courtesy of the nice woman seated behind us)
The gargantuan scoreboard
Derek with a "pick-six"
Derek tackling
Lindsay and Jason
Scott and Deb
Our daycare provider's niece, Victoria, babysat for us today and we arrived home to a great report that the kids had behaved very nicely. End result = a day of perfection.
Some cute kid information:
Adam - when told it was time for him to go upstairs to take a bath while he was seated on the floor of the basement, carefully stacking, nesting and banging the play food and dishes from the play kitchen; he proceeded to painstakingly pick each toy up (only the kitchen stuff though!) and place it into the small plastic bin where we contain it. Then he heaved himself up to toddle over and get the top to the bin and Stu helped him snap it on. Finally, he lugged the bin the 15 feet across the floor over the play kitchen where it belongs. Hallelujah! We have a child in the house who already understands the concept of cleaning up after himself, at the age of 18 months!!
Max - continues to astound me with mind-boggling feats. Tonight, we opened a new bar of soap for him to use to clean his body. It happened to be Dial soap, which we've never before used in our house. However, Dial is the brand that my dad has used for as far back as I can remember. When my dad showers, up at the cabin, it leaves the distinct scent of Dial soap wafting down the hallway from the bathroom. We've never discussed this out loud among our family. I find it a comforting scent - it will always remind me of my dad. But I've never shared that with anyone before. So there's no way that Max could have said what he did because of any external influence. When I opened that bar of Dial soap and handed it to him, he held it to his noise, inhaled and said, "Hey! This is like Grandpa's soap!" I gasped and asked, "Why do you say that?" and he said, "Because this smells just like his soap". It's amazing the things that children notice and remember!
Ryann - left the dinner table this evening after excusing herself to go use the bathroom. When she finally returned (after fooling around with the sink faucet for some time), she was hiding a doll behind her back. Stu told her, "Please put down the doll. We don't have toys at the table while we're eating". Ryann exclaimed, "How could you see?!" and Stu retorted, "I'm a Dad; I see everything". Ryann said, "Oh! You have good eyesight, like me".
Here are some photos from the Gopher extravaganza today:
Beth and Will 
The marching band in formation spelling "Gophers 09" 
Me and Stu (courtesy of the nice woman seated behind us) 
The gargantuan scoreboard
Derek with a "pick-six"
Derek tackling
Lindsay and Jason
Scott and Deb
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