Ok, I know I’m way behind on my picture posting. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to work on them this weekend either, so you’ll just have to keep waiting. So sorry.
But this weekend was fantastic. We headed down to my mom’s house Friday after work, because we were going to the Badgers vs. NIU game at Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday. So we caught a couple trains into the city Saturday morning, met up with all our friends at one of their friend’s condos, and trained it back downtown to get into the stadium shortly after kickoff. Our whole group sat together in a section full of NIU fans, but they were quickly silenced as the Badgers dominated, winning 49-7. Oh yeah, Bucky!! Plus the weather was absolutely perfect for a game day – right around 70 and sunny. So awesome.
Here’s a teaser pic from the game. Sorry for all the peeks. The full photographic run-downs will be coming soon. Promise.
First of all, who’s sufficiently stuck to their seats? It was 83 on the temperature gauge this morning on our way up to 92 today, with about 400% humidity, and my hair is ready to curl off my head. Blech. I was hoping we were past these days for the summer, but apparently I was mistaken. Fortunately it’s only supposed to last today, so that’s not too bad. Poor air conditioning did have to come back on, though.
But to my real point… It’s one of my favorite times of year again, people – college football season!! That and college basketball, specifically UW-Madison Badgers football and basketball, are simply wonderful. I enjoy them so much more than pro. NFL I like, but NBA? Are you kidding me? No thank you very much.
The Badgers played their season opener at home in Camp Randall last night against UNLV, and blasted ’em 51-17. Go Badgers!!
Here’s a stroll down memory lane from some of our past Badger football game appearances:
This usually happens before/after a Badger game - at the Great Dane, Oct. 16, 2010It was billed as the last "Glory Daze" for our friendsWe beat #1 OSU!! I would've LOVED to have been down on that fieldYep, we taught 'em how to Bucky. And you know this!Oct. 31, 2009 vs. PurduePurdue can kiss R's butt (we won )Our brick outside Camp RandallNov. 15, 2008 vs. Minnesota - I got to go out on the field with past letter winners. Very awesomeOct. 25, 2008 vs. Illinois - Badger Fun Day, view from a suite, amazingNov. 10, 2007 vs. MichiganOct. 28, 2006 vs. IllinoisOct. 22, 2005 vs. PurdueSept. 25, 2004 vs. Penn St.Oct. 18, 2003 vs. Purdue - look how young everyone looks!
Have a great long weekend – Happy Labor Day!
p.s. and again, run stats for the week: tuesday i ran 1.86 miles in 15:21 for an 8:15 pace, and last night i ran 2.11 miles in 17:46 for an 8:24 pace. short but sweet was the theme this week, so hopefully i can get a longer one in this weekend sometime.
Last night was D’s first Brewers game, and she had a ball! We seriously could not have ordered a more well-behaved baby for the evening. I picked her up early from daycare so I could get home, bathe her, and get a quick jog** in before we went, and thankfully she cooperated and napped for an hour right before we left. We got to the stadium at 5:30 and didn’t leave until just before 10:30, which is a good 2-3 hours past her bedtime, but she was awake and happy the entire time. I figured her 6 teeth weren’t quite sufficient to handle a brat, so I fed her some delicious jars of turkey and mixed veggie dinner and peas and rice (both organic, kudos to Roundy’s) while R fired up the grill. She was all done and ready to soak in all the tailgating action by the time the adult food was ready, so that worked out perfectly.
We had ridiculous seats – 4th row, directly behind the Brewers on-deck circle, which made for some great viewing pleasure. R snagged a Fielder-foul-tipped ball that was tossed into our section by one of the bat boys, so he graciously gave that to D as a souvenir of her first game. And then I prevented her from putting it immediately into her mouth to try and lick off all that good diamond dirt. Shockingly enough, I caught another one later in the game, which I gave to our friend S. No need to be greedy. It was cute, too – R took D over to the guest relations booth shortly after we got there, and they printed up a little “My First Brewers Game” certificate for her. It wasn’t anything fancy, we just fill in her name and date and stuff, but still a nice gesture for the littlest Brewers fans on their first appearances.
It was an awesome night all around. Good weather, the roof was open (which made for some chilly wind by the end of the night, but better than rain), great friends were able to join us, the Brewers won, and little D once more made us so proud with her smiley, happy, easy-going spirit. She had made friends with everyone in the seats around us by the time we left. R joked on the way home that maybe we should just stop at one – D is so good we have to have used up all our good fortune in this kid. Will all of the bad stuff we’ve so far avoided with her be channeled into the next one if we give her a sibling? Or is she just saving it all up for the teenage years? Oh please god, not option #2!
The only lowlight of the night came at the end of the game – we were hoping to get a picture of D with R’s cousin who plays for the Brewers on the field, but he didn’t come over our way after the team victory handshake. R was pretty bummed, because he thought his cuz for sure saw us a couple times during the game, so I felt bad for him – I knew how much he wanted that picture of little D on the field with a Brewer to cap off her first game. Hopefully sometime this season we’ll be able to get one to make up for it.
I had to snap a picture to document D’s first baseball game, but it was on my phone so it’s not the highest quality. R took many, many more on his good camera, so I’ll have to get some of those up here once they’re uploaded.
I love the Brewers!
Go Brew Crew!
**run stats – 1.44 miles, 11:23, 7:55 pace. holy smokin’ fast! i’m not going to count that as my normal pace because it’s a really short route and i was in a hurry last night, knowing we had to leave shortly after i got done. i am encouraged, though. i’m going to try a 5k route later this week, so i’m sure that will be more along the lines of my 9:00+ pace.
All right, Brewers. The season-opening series, well… sucked. Getting swept to begin the season with a 0-3 record isn’t the most wonderful thing, but we’ll give you another shot. Today is the HOME opener against the Atlanta Braves, so let’s do this!
Unfortunately the weather is crap today (wow, go figure) so the roof will be closed, but that won’t stop the Brewers faithful from getting out there in about 2 hours when the gates open and firing up the tailgating grills. R is going this afternoon, as are some of our friends, but I will be stuck at work again this year, unable to enjoy all the festivities. So to all of you at Miller Park today, raise a couple Shandys for me – I’ll be listening along on the radio.
And to you, Milwaukee Brewers, PLAY BALL!!
D is in the spirit again today with her new home opener outfit on.
Let's Go Brewers!
I snapped that one mid-“sentence”, hence the open mouth.
I’ve been waiting for the day I could finally post this entry, and that day has arrived…. The roof at Miller Park is open!!
I have kept an eye on it for a couple weeks now, as I can see the ballpark from one of the bridges I take to work each morning. I think because this winter has been so awful and I’m desperate for nicer weather to arrive, I’ve been awaiting that open roof as yet another sign that Spring is officially on the way. Each morning I’d glance over and see the snow-covered roof still firmly closed, but this morning the great park was wide open with the lights blazing inside. Hooray!!!
For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, Miller Park is where the Milwaukee Brewers play baseball, and the stadium is right in the city. We have spent countless spring and summer hours there, and a couple exciting fall ones too, rooting on the Brew Crew. It’s a great place to gather with friends, take your family, or just hang out on a warm Sunday afternoon when you have nothing better to do. Granted it’s not as great as it was a few years ago since they keep jacking up the parking fee and ticket price, but still.
Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it to opening day this year, so I’ll have to follow along with the play-by-play on the radio. But just hearing Ueck calling the game with the excitement of the crowd roaring in the background will make it seem like I’m there too. I can smell the brats grilling and feel the electricity of that first home game of the season now.
Play ball!
Ahh… doesn’t that picture just scream summer? I can’t wait!
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