Jack Likes To Party Rock

Auburn vs. Florida Atlantic University

We had another fun-filled weekend this past weekend in Auburn! Auburn played Florida Atlantic University (FAU) at home on Saturday, so we headed down Friday afternoon to get ready for it!

When we got down there Friday, we had dinner with Granna, Poppy, and Aunt Chrissie at Cheeburger Cheeburger in downtown Auburn. I don't think I've been there since I was in college, so it was fun to go back and reminisce, plus eat some awesome food! It was so good!

Saturday morning we got up early, even though it was a 6:00 pm game, but there isn't any sleeping in when tailgating is involved! The normal crew didn't tailgate this week, so Kurt and I had to get it all set up ourselves since we still like to tailgate no matter how big or small the opposing team is! We only used about 1/2 the normal stuff, so it wasn't too bad setting it up by ourselves. We also had help from a few friends, so that was nice.

We got out there around 9:30 that morning, and tailgated straight until 5:30 when we left for the stadium! Jack had so much fun playing out there as he normally does, and all of our friends (plus new friends we met) loved his "tricks" and how much he loves and knows about Auburn! He would tell them all about the eagle ("The eagle fly around in Auburn!"), and the band ("The marching band, 2, 3, 4.."), and Coach Chizik, etc..., plus he would of course play "Set.. go!" repeatedly until he needed a break for some water or a CapriSun! :-)

Leading up to the game itself was a little sad, since Jack wasn't going to this one, but we tried to distract him enough so he wouldn't realize it, but he eventually did when Granna, Poppy, and Chrissie took him away to go back to their house. He really needed to nap, plus no one would be available to get him early from the game when he wanted to leave, so we just figured it would be better for him to watch it at Granna and Poppy's house.

Kurt and I had a pretty good time at the game, it just wasn't the most exciting game we've ever been to, but at least Auburn came out with another win (30-14), making them 3-1 for the first 4 games. The only loss was to Clemson from the week before, but their team looked awesome and even beat a very good Florida State team this past weekend, so that makes us Auburn fans feel a little better about the loss!

Sunday we were able to go see Pops, Granny, and Grandaddy before heading home. They are always so glad to see us and love seeing how much Jack loves to play and how he's growing so much! We even got a cute video of him there saying, "Cool dude!" after his Pops taught him to say that while wearing his sunglasses, but too bad we don't have it anymore because Jack accidentally deleted it from my phone! :-( Hopefully we can get him saying it again soon!

Here are the pictures from the weekend!

On our way down, Jack was still sleepy after his nap and loved on Froggy and Winnie. He kept saying, "Awww..."!

After dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger, we needed to go by the grocery store for tailgating food, and look who we saw there... Daddy Mer!

Jack loved playing in front of the fan at the tailgate, especially since it was so hot!

Our friends Brooks and Lauren were able to come help us with the tailgate (we really appreciate that so much), and Jack loves them and loves to sit with his "Uncle Brooks" and watch football.

Cool dude!

Our friends Keith and Lindsey and their little boy Sawyer were tailgating nearby, so we got a chance to go see them for a few minutes. It was Sawyer's naptime so he's snuggling with his daddy.

When he had enough snuggling, he got back to his "monkey boy" ways and started climbing chairs!

War Eagle!

Jack loves to play with the trucks at Granny and Granddaddy's house

Watching football before heading home!

Thanks so much to Mama Becky and Daddy Mer for our football tickets, and thanks to Granna and Poppy for helping keep Jack Saturday for us so we could enjoy the game! :-)

Auburn vs. Mississippi State

Auburn had another early 11:00 am game this past weekend, so we weren't thrilled about that, but it ended up being a fun day and another win for Auburn!

We started the day off at the tailgate around 8:30, let Jack play a while, ate some breakfast, then headed towards the stadium around 10. Jack had been saying, "Auburn! Auburn!" again and we knew he was ready to go to the game, so we went a little earlier than normal, even in the heat, but that's what parents do, right? :-)

We saw the players warm up, the eagle fly (even into the suite windows!), and the band play, and Jack loved everything so much! Jack didn't understand to be quiet during the playing of "Taps", or during the moment of silence for the victims of September 11, 2001, but I'm sure everyone around us understood since no one gave us dirty looks. We didn't know "Taps" would be played, but good thing we all had sunglasses on because I don't think there could have been a dry eye in the stadium! It was so moving and just what we all needed to remember what happened 10 years ago and pray for all those involved.

Last week, just as the 1st quarter ended, Jack asked to go "Bye Bye." This week, he asked to go "Bye Bye" just as the game started with the opening kickoff! We didn't want him to leave just yet, so we tried to get him excited about the players and the game, plus look for Aubie, but he was ready to go. Once we got down to the concourse, though, he kept getting upset saying, "Auburn football! Auburn football!", so we tried to take him back in, but that's not what he wanted. He screamed his head off when I handed him to Poppy and Granna at the gate (not because of them of course, just that he didn't want to leave), so that broke my heart, but they said he was fine within seconds.

The game was full of excitement, intensity, and heat! The sun was beating down so hard I felt like I was cooking! I'm glad I had sunscreen on, but I still felt miserable and drained by the time the clock hit 0:00. The ending was amazing, though, and of course we were thrilled, but I was just ready for it to be over with so I could go underneath and get out of the sun! Our Auburn boys played their hearts out and we are very proud of their win and proud of how they came together to pull out a victory over a good Mississippi State team!

After we got back to the tailgate and refreshed ourselves with several bottles of water, we got Jack and strolled him up to Toomer's to celebrate the win! He was little more tired this time, so he didn't get out, but we just looked around and watched other people roll it! He eventually fell asleep after walking around to see Pops then back to the tailgate. He was a tired tiger!

Thanks again to Granna and Poppy for watching Jack during the game! He loves playing at the tailgate so much!

Here are some cute pictures and video of Jack from the day. I might add he is the cutest Auburn fan ever! :-)

Sound asleep early Saturday morning, and taking up the whole crib! Big boy!

Playing at the tailgate.

Heading to the stadium with Daddy.

Toomer's! We won!

Sleepy boy!

Resting with Daddy after a long day!

Auburn vs. Utah State

This past weekend we headed down to Auburn for the first game of the 2011 season against Utah State. We all thought this game would be a good "practice" game for our team to get acquainted and get used to playing a real game, but nope, it was a very real game, and one in which we almost lost!! It was hot and nerve-wracking, but in the end, Auburn pulled out another win to make 16 consecutive wins! What a way to stay the "heart attack team", Auburn! Whew!

Well, even with the way the game played out, we still had a good time tailgating and going to the game. Since it was an 11:00 am game, we got to the tailgate between 8:30-9:00, and Jack had a good time playing football, tailgate golf, plus playing with his golf clubs there. Around 10:15, we decided to head towards the stadium, and since Daddy Mer had an extra ticket, we got to take Jack, too! He had been saying, "Auburn! Auburn!" ever since we got into town two days before, so we knew he had to get into the stadium and see the eagle, the band, Aubie, and the team.

He rode on Daddy's shoulders until we got to the ticket entrance, and it was the cutest thing just to see them excited together and bonding over something they both love! :-) Jack's love doesn't run as deep as Daddy's just yet, but you still know he loves his team!

Once we got inside, we only had a couple of minutes to spare before the eagle flew, so we were glad Jack didn't miss that. He's seen so many pictures of the eagle, plus countless videos, so it was exciting for him to see it live again (since the last time was a year ago and of course he doesn't remember that!) After that, he got to see the band, then Aubie, then of course the team! He saw them on the jumbotron and kept saying, "Coach Chizik! Coach Chizik!" :-)

Once the game started, he didn't know much about what was going on, especially when he yelled, "Go, Cam, Go!"(he is 2), but he always knew where Aubie was! At the end of the 1st quarter he looked up at me and said, "Bye Bye, Mommy. Bye Bye, Mommy", so we took him to the gate to meet up with Granna and Poppy who were ready to take him back to the tailgate to play for the rest of the game. We really appreciate them offering to watch him so Kurt and I could stay and watch the remainder of the game.

Auburn surely gave us a scare this past week, but they are a brand new team, and very young, and just have some kinks to work out. We can only hope they get it together soon!

Here are some pictures and video from the day:

Jack still sleeping the morning of the game. We had to wake the poor boy up!

Playing football and saying, "Set.. Go!"

Playing tailgate golf with Daddy!

Daddy won! :-(

Headed to the stadium!

Sitting in our seats watching the pre-game!

Toomer's after the game! War Eagle!

Exhausted after a long, but very fun Auburn day! :-)

Thanks Daddy Mer and Mama Becky for the tickets to the game, and thanks again to Granna and Poppy for watching him during the game! :-)

5th Anniversary Cruise!

Kurt and I celebrated our 5th anniversary together a couple of weeks ago. It's hard to believe we've been married for 5 years already, but they've been the best years of my life! We decided a few months ago we wanted to celebrate in a really big way, so we booked a 5 night cruise to Mexico out of Mobile. We left on Saturday, August 27th and came back Thursday, September 1st.

Needless to say, we had a GREAT time! Yes, we really missed Jack, but he had a blast with his grandparents while we were gone. We did get a couple of chances to Skype with him, so that was nice.

We had so many options of things to do on the cruise, but our main focus was just to relax and enjoy time together since we hadn't had the chance to since Jack was born. We laid out by the pool, played putt-putt, played ping pong, saw shows and comedians, played in the casino, and of course ate! Food was everywhere and it was so good, so even if we weren't hungry, we'd still eat! :-)

We stopped at 2 ports, Progresso and Cozumel. We just shopped at the port at Progresso, but we took an excursion in Cozumel on a catamaran to Passion Island. It's the beach where the Corona commercials are filmed, and it was just as beautiful as shown on tv! We were there for 3 hours and had unlimited food, plus they had fun ocean floats and toys, so we had a blast!

We really did have a great time and realized how lucky we are to have each other, plus to have Jack in our lives now! We were so glad to get back to him Thursday afternoon, and he didn't seem too mad at us for leaving him for so long! :-)

Thanks so much to Granna, Poppy, Mama Becky, and Daddy Mer for keeping him while we were gone! We appreciate y'all letting us get away together just the two of us!

Here are pictures and video from our trip! :-)