We Are...Penn State!

We were fortunate enough to be able to attend the Penn State/Alabama game in State College a few weeks ago.  What a great way to end our crazy 9 day trip to Florida!  We flew into Philly and drove to Harrisburg where we met up with my parents.  Thankfully (for us) my dad upgraded his season tickets and ended up with awesome seats and 8 tickets together and 2 further away.  Since he had these new tickets, we decided back in April or May that this might be a great year to go to a game.  Little did we realize when we made these plans, that it would be on the tail end of our Florida trip!

My kids were so excited for their first trip inside Beaver Stadium for a REAL game.  Riley had been to two Blue/White games in the spring, and tailgating as an infant at homecoming, but never to an actual, official game.  Riley sported his jersey and Kendall got to wear her PSU cheerleader outfit my parents gave her for Christmas last year.

I packed Kendall's Penn State Barbie doll to help her get excited about the game.  After coming off of our Disney trip and meeting all of those characters, she asked if she was going to get to meet Barbie at the game.  My dad told her there would be 10 Barbies down on the field with pom poms!  But she was really hoping to meet the Nittany Lion!

We got to State College in great time considering all the flooding and road closings they had experienced in the S-Q Valley.  We strolled through town and did some shopping before heading up to the Lion Shrine.  We bumped into my cousin and his wife twice during our travels.  Jon and Laura had the other two tickets that were seated with us.  It was awesome to see them again so soon!

We headed up to the shrine only to find a line full of 'Bama fans!  We waited our turn, chatting it up with our opponents and telling them all the favorite spots to go on game day.

After our pictures, we drove by the Creamery.  The line was outrageously long, but we decided to take the kids and take our chances.  We waited for an HOUR to get the chance to choose our own yummy flavors.  Thankfully it was well worth the wait.  All of our choices were delicious!  The kids were sugared up and ready for our walk to the parking lot to meet up with my parents for tailgating.  My friend Jeff who I use to teach PE with was also at the game.  He came to visit us and it was awesome to catch up.  I saw Jeff during our visit to PA in June and we made plans to see each other at the game.

Too many options!

Kendall had to have "pink" ice cream

Riley chose cookies and cream

My dad took Kendall up to see the team get off the buses at the stadium (a family tradition).  When the busses start driving up the road, all the cars and RV's start honking their horns so you are sure not to miss them.

We were able to find JoePa, well, at least a cut out of him!

We also took the kids up to see the Blue Band enter the stadium.  The kids got to hear them play and watch the drummers marching.  Sometime between then and when the game started, Kendall took a short, but much needed nap.  They had 2 fighter jets fly overhead before the game which Riley loved seeing.

Tailgating with her Pappy

Watching the Blue Band

Getting ready to enter Beaver Stadium with 110,000 of our closest friends!

The kids enjoyed the game as best they could.  Riley isn't into football nearly as much as the rest of us, but he did well.  Kendall loved seeing the lion with her Pappy and watching the band and doing all the cheers.

Pre-game whiteout

Team huddle

Too much excitement!

Student section

Having fun with his family!

Trying to see the lion up close!

After the game, we headed back to our hotel in Harrisburg and got to hang out a little more before bed.  In the morning, my parents, the kids and I spent some more time together while Andy worked on more homework.  After our sad goodbyes, we made our way to Baltimore to catch a delayed flight to Salt Lake.  We arrived home after 1 am, EST!  I didn't want Riley to miss anymore school after the 4 days the week before, but I was willing to let him sleep in if necessary.  Thankfully he woke up in time to get to school before the second bell!  It took us most of the next week to get ourselves fully caught up on sleep!  I was so tired, but thankful for a chance to do so many great things in such a short period of time.