Going Orange

The girls know the word "college". And they know that Syracuse is the team that Andy watches on TV. But until last weekend, they didn't quite understand that they were the same thing -- and that Syracuse is where Mom and Dad met, and eventually got married. So we were happy to finally take the girls to Syracuse -- not just for a football game, but also to show them a University that will always be special to us.  

We loaded up the car and hit the road for our 5-hour drive. But, as always seems to be the case, our trip didn't didn't go quite as smoothly as planned. Two hours into the drive, Gwen started complaining about a rash she developed earlier in the week. 3 hours into the drive, we realized Gwen had taken her monkey and elephant out of the packed bags and left them at home (more on this later). And then, 4 hours into our trip, the car broke down and we spent 2 hours at the Honda dealership getting it fixed (luckily, it was minor and covered under the warranty). 

So our 5-hour trip ended up taking 8+ hours. Needless to say, after being trapped in the car all day, the girls wouldn't settle down once we got to the hotel. When it was finally time for bed, Gwen wouldn't sleep without her elephant and monkey, so Andy ventured out in the rain to try to find a replacement. Unfortunately, Gwen only wanted the "real" ones. To make a long story short, Friday was a bust. But the weekend got much better on Saturday.

  

On Saturday morning, the girls were back on their game. We ate breakfast at the hotel, swam in the pool, and visited with Ariella's friend Amy and her little boy, AC. Then we headed off to campus for pre-game festivities.

We showed the girls Hendricks Chapel (above), where we got married and introduced them to the statue of Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis (below).

Pre-game festivities on the Quad have changed a lot since Andy and Ariella were in college. The girls enjoyed some of the "new" events -- they danced to the DJ's music and slid down a giant slide. But they really loved the "classics" -- once the SU marching started playing, the girls were hooked by the music.

Gwen really enjoyed the drum line's performance. After each cadence, she screamed, "Again!" and asked "My turn now?" Meanwhile, Morgan loved watching the color guard twirl their flags. (Basically, don't be surprised if we have a couple future band members in our  midst. The apples didn't fall far from the tree.)

Finally, we were off to the Carrier Dome for the football game. The girls saw Otto the Orange and ate their first Dome Dogs and Dome pretzels (while Mom and Dad enjoyed a Dome Beer). Unfortunately, our long day on Friday finally caught up with Morgan. By halftime, she was practically falling asleep  (okay, it didn't help that the game wasn't very exciting either).

  

We left the game early and waited for Morgan to get her second wind. By the time we had crossed the Quad, she was feeling herself again. The girls stopped to look at the Sacco and Vanzetti mosaic. "Why is everyone so sad?" Morgan asked.

After a pitstop at the Schine Student Center, we caught the end of the game at the Varsity. Syracuse won 28-17 for the Orange's first win of the season! It was a busy couple of days, but in the end it was totally worth it to finally share our college experience with our little Orange fans.

Weekend epilogue: Luckily, Gwen fell asleep in the car Saturday night on the way back to the hotel after the game. So we avoided another night of screaming because she didn't have her monkey or elephant. But when we got home, she sprinted into the house and grabbed her monkey and elephant. She had hidden them in the living room, but remembered exactly where she had put them. (Little stinker.)