That Time we got Kicked Out of the Capitol

... and went to a Longhorn game! We came across a couple of free tickets for the last Longhorn football home game of the season, so we secured a couple more tickets in the same section and made it a stop on our way home after Thanksgiving. We got a hotel room between campus and downtown, so we stretched our legs after our car drive with a walk to the state capitol. It was eerily deserted, but we strolled from the north side to the south side. Then a patrol car rolled up and the officer asked us to leave. Apparently, the grounds are supposed to be closed after dark, since Covid reduced access. Anyway, no big deal, but disappointing that our walk was cut short. We'll have to go back when it's open for a proper tour, like we did for Wisconsin.

 

The game kickoff was at 11am, and we wanted to be near the stadium by 8am to see Bevo, the parade, and the players arrive, so we had an early morning. But we were ready!

A short walk later, and voila! Perfect timing to see Bevo exit his trailer and enter the stadium. Hadley was over the moon! Her one goal of the day was already accomplished! Isn't he cute?

The University has really stepped up their pre-game in the last few years by closing off streets surrounding the stadium and bringing in a carnival-like atmosphere. Welcome to Bevo Blvd and the Bevo parade!

After the parade, we walked up the street filled with vendors, artists, and photo ops to the north end of the stadium where the team was supposed to arrive. We must have walked quickly, because we had some time to waste.

But sure enough, a couple of buses pulled up and soon the players were parading down the street to the stadium, led by Coach Sark. We saw some familiar faces (or hair - notably Whittington, Ewers and Sideshow Bert Auburn), but it really would have helped to have their numbers somewhere! And then they were gone.

Now it was only 8:30, and we still had a couple of hours until game time. They had all sorts of activities, food, and distractions along Bevo Boulevard and Smokey's Midway. Our adventurous Hadley was interested in the zipline, and we were there before the line was too long, so she got to zip!

We still had some time to kill, so we spent it at the Alumni Center where we found some familiar names (3 generations!) on the patio tiles.

I think we managed to enter the Texas Tailgate at the right time, as we came across the cheerleaders marching in and performing a few cheers for the crowd. We probably could have had our fill of food and drink, too.

The back of the alumni center has some of my favorite scenery on campus. You can almost forget you are in a densely populated urban area with the wrap-around balcony and creek with lots of trees.

We eventually did make it to our seats. The ticket pairs were in the same section but about 30 rows apart. The seats weren't too bad! Although it was kind of empty for a while, by the middle of the first quarter it was packed! We couldn't all squeeze around one pair of tickets, so we split up and decided to switch at the half.

Owen and I took the higher seats for the first half. It was Senior Day, so we saw all of the pageantry around that, including the football players and their families. They also announced Seniors in Cheer and Band. It was fun to share the sights and sounds of a real college football game after watching so many on TV. It's definitely a different experience! Not to mention showing the kids that they're not the only Longhorn fans in the world - their schools can sometimes feel that way.

The first half was disappointing, but things picked up in the second half when Owen and I were closer to the action! We saw Bijan Robinson (#5) score a touchdown right in front of us! The crowd was chanting his name, and he got a little emotional. It was sweet. I'm sure we'll hear his name on Sundays.

Thankfully, the 'horns pulled out a victory for our visit. It got a bit chillier, but the rain held off long enough for us to give a brief campus tour. When it started to drizzle, we got out our ponchos and headed back to the car to head home. Hook 'em!

Thanksgiving in Weatherford

The start of the Advent season had us volunteering to help decorate the church for Christmas. Somehow our family got stuck with dressing up the largest tree, but we managed to do a pretty good job, I think. It was a nice way to get in the holiday spirit. 

For Thanksgiving, we headed to Weatherford for an extended family holiday. We drove up on Tuesday afternoon and went to visit Granna and Grandad on Wednesday, where we completed a puzzle with Grandad.

The kids enjoyed playing and cuddling with the dog-in-law, Krypto. I think he enjoyed them too. The resident dog, Cooper, wasn't sure what to think of all of the additional bodies in his sleep spots.

We played a family game of Tripoley. Owen won!

And what's Thanksgiving without a little football? Even though it was constantly drizzling, they found a little window of time to get in a few tosses of the pigskin.

But Thanksgiving's main focus is around food. Katie and the kids made our traditional chocolate-dipped pretzels. Yum!

And Hadley was a great help in the kitchen for the main event.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We have much to be thankful for.