The Jackson Five: A Weekend with the Gators!!

Bo and I spent the weekend in Gainesville with his parents cheering on the Gators. It's the first game I've been to a game since finding out I was pregnant with Kelsey...5 years ago. We had done a few things to help Bo's parents get settled in here in Georgia and they wanted to thank us by taking us to a Gator Game. It was such a great weekend and it was so nice to get away...with no responsibilities. Jackie and Stefan kept the kids for us while we were away. We got to Gainesville around 4:30 on Friday. And before I go any farther, let me just say how AWESOME it was to be in a town where orange and blue is the norm. There was Gator stuff everywhere you looked and it felt so nice to be "home". After we got checked in to the hotel, we found our way back to campus for some shopping in the bookstore...which is now located in the Reitz Union and not at the Hub. After dropping a small fortune for gifts and Gator necessities, we drove around campus and checked out all the new additions. It was fun to travel around our old stomping grounds. We even got to see our first apartment at Spanish Trace...so weird to think we once lived at 3500 Windmeadows Blvd. Anyhow...we ended up at Ballyhoos, a new restaurant that has a very casual, beachy feel to it and actually enjoyed the wait for our table. That's easy to do without having kids tugging on your leg asking when it will be time to eat. We enjoyed a great meal and then headed back to the hotel around 11. The game was at 12:00 the next day and we had no desire to stay up late and feel horrible the next morning. 8:00 AM rolled around quickly and we were all getting very excited to get to the stadium for the Gator Walk...a new tradition that's been started since we've left Gainesville. The buses rolled up with all the football players around 10:30. The police stopped traffic on University Avenue and let all the fans in to the middle of the street. One by one, all the Gator greats stepped off the bus...the Pouncey Twins, Demps, Rainey, Moody, Coach Meyer, and finally Superman himself...Tim Tebow. The crowd ERUPTED as he walked past his adoring fans and at that moment it was so great to be a Florida Gator fan. I had goosebumps!!! We were so glad we made it there to see that. And we couldn't have stumbled in to a better spot...up on a wall above the crowd so we could take great pictures!! Once the players were inside, we walked around the stadium amidst all the orange and blue. We found our way to Gate 1 and headed in to our seats. We were there as the players were coming on to the field. And the nice part about being so early is that you can go down to the front row and take pictures of everyone warming up. Mr. Tebow himself was 20 feet from me as he came out to personally encourage every one of his teammates before he started his own warm-up drills. There's just something about a man in UnderArmour...Bo should invest!!! The game was incredible...after a slow start. It didn't seem to get rolling until the sky unleashed and the rains poured on us. For a 12:30 kick-off, we couldn't have been happier...tons of clouds and cool rain for an afternoon at the SWAMP!!! When the game was over, all the players headed to the corner of the end zone with the band while they played the Alma Mater..."where palm and pine are blowing". And then the players sang "On Florida" for the band...very cool. Tebow ran around the stadium and gave high fives to all the fans waiting around the circle and then headed in to the locker room...such a good guy. After the game, it didn't seem like there was much tailgating going on...which surprised me. Bo thought it was because of the rain. So, like everyone else, we headed back to the hotel to shower and dry off. After some Gumby's pepperoni rolls and some pizza, we relaxed, watched a little football and then headed to the Ale House for the Georgia game and the OSU game. We had some munchies while we watched the games and then we headed back to the hotel for some sleep. We headed out Sunday morning and got home just in time to have dinner with the kids. All in all it was a great weekend!!! And, we can hardly wait to get back to Gainesville...hopefully it won't be another 5 years!!

I can't post all of the pics I took here on the blog...there's just too many. So, visit the shutterfly site to see them all. Especially if you need a Tebow fill!!
http://therealjacksonfive.shuttefly.com/

Dinner at Ballyhoo's