Game Day Tradition!

 

This Saturday marked the Annual Eddins family tailgate!  Lila loves the Hawkeyes and was so excited that she got to go along to the game with Mom and Dad (not to mention Grandpa, Laura, her cousins and all the rest of the family)!

 

Black & Gold Attire...check!

We got to Iowa City around 10:30 and got settled in to our parking spot.  Lila hung out in the back of the truck while we got unloaded.  It was a lot warmer than we were expecting, so the back end of my car got a lot of use allowing a place for shade!

 

 

We had lots of family in attendance for this game as a lot of my family on my Dad's side actually went to UNI to school.  It seemed to be a Black & Gold & Purple tailgate!  

 

 

Eddins Family @ Kinnick!

 

Enjoying a Black & Gold cupcake!

A highlight of the tailgating was meeting the Hawkeye cheerleaders!  Lila held one of the girls poms and seemed to be a little in awe of these pretty girls in all their Hawkeye gear! 

Future cheerleaders!

Enjoying the afternoon together!

 

Game time was 2:30, so we eventually made our way into the stadium to see the Hawks take the field!  Lila loved listening to the band and dancing and cheering along with the fight song!  The game got underway and UNI scored on the first possession.  Uh-oh!  Were we in trouble?! 







All set to cheer! 

The Hawkeyes soon repsonded with a score of their own and the game was on it's way!  In true tradition, Lila was asleep before halftime!  I am continuously impressed that she can sleep through that many fans screaming, the band playing and the small space, but she does!  This year it was a bit more of a struggle to get her to close her eyes as she didn't want to miss out on all the fun, but ultimately she gave in!  She woke up sometime during the 3rd quarter to the Hawks leading the game!



 

Tired out from all the fun!

The Hawks had a victory winning 27-16!  We love this tradition and look forward to many more games together as a family!  It is amazing to think how this collage has changed over the years!  Her first game at 5 months old seems like it was just yesterday!  This little girl has been a Hawkeye fan from the start!



Our little Hawkeye is growing up!



Special Guy, Special Day

This weekend was all about that most important guy in our life...Daddy/Mike!  I decide to take a couple of days off work to make this a nice, long weekend and spend a little extra time with the family!  We had a big weekend planned!
Friday started with Mike and Lila meeting Brandon and Henley at the splash pad in Center Point.  This was Lila's first time at the splash pad and she had a great time, any time spent with Henley is a fun time!

Friday evening found the Holub's and the Hahn's at our house for a get together.  The guys just thought it was the gang getting together like any other time, they had no idea that there was  surprise in store!  The ladies had been planning their Father's Day surprise since around Christmas time!  A lot of thought went into this gathering, we sent lots of emails back and forth, got together for lunch, spent time searching for ideas on the internet, all for these wonderful men who are the best Dad's to our little ones.

After our wonderful dinner of homemade pizza, salad and fruit, it was time for the big reveal!  We took the kids down to one of our basement bedrooms where we had been hiding all the loot and got them changed into their outfits, grabbed the very special dessert and their handmade invitations and off we went to surprise the Dad's!

The Dad's were all enjoying themselves on the deck as the group of kids walked out and said "let's go racing!"  They took their invites over to their Dad and the boys, a bit confused, anxiously read what they were in for!  On October 6th they will be participating in the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience at the Newton Speedway.  Mike will get behind the wheel of a real life race car and he gets to share the experience with two of his closest friends!  The guys were shocked and very excited -- mission accomplished!

Surprise!!!

The drivers & their pit crew!

Happy (early) Father's Day!

Saturday night found us heading to Vinton to watch the highly anticipated alumni football game between Center Point - Urbana and Vinton-Shellsburg.  Mike couldn't have been more excited to play in the alumni football game this year with one of his good friends, Josh.  They started practicing 10 weeks ago and each time Mike woudl come home with less anxiety about what he was getting himself into at the age of 35 and more excitement about being able to play for his high school team again, under the lights!  We were a bit nervous that the rain would keep them from playing, but shortly after 7:00 they kicked off!

I would argue that Mike had the largest cheering section!  We had a lot of family and friends there to cheer him on!  If you know Mike at all, you know that sports are part of his soul and to be on the field again, not only playing football, but for his high school team, that was a big deal!  Not knowing Mike in high school, it was a lot of fun to watch him and Lila couldn't have been more proud of her Dad! 

 

I must be honest.  Lila was SO excited to go watch Daddy play football, but she was completely frustrated with me when we got there only to find out that Daddy was in full football gear with a big helmet on and when I would say to her, "there is Daddy, he is number 29," she would look at me like what the heck are you saying, I don't see my Dad out there. 

Enjoying a little in-game entertainment!

Lila & Henley, no their outfits were not planned!

Ruby enjoying the concessions!

Mike's littlest fan, Sloan!  Looking so cute in her black & gold!

The Pointers won the game 9-0!  We were so excited for Mike to come running across the field with a W!!!  Winning definitely makes the whole experience that much better and the bumps and bruises he was sporting the next day a little less painful!

Good game!

Way to go Daddy!!!

When Mike came over to his cheering section he looked so happy and Lila darn near jumped in his arms!  Everyone was so eager to hear whether or not this was a good idea after all or if he got out there and he decided that this was actually a bad idea?!  While he said he was definitely not as limber as he was when he was 18, he loved every minute of being back on the field and is already making plans to do it again next year!

Daddy's biggest cheerleader!

Dylan checking out Mike's helmet

Ruby's next!

Last but not least...Celia!

Our Father's Day was spent relaxing around the house.  We intended on going to Jason and Jen's to celebrate, but we have a little one who is under the weather, so it was best to keep her home.  So, the three of us made the best of our day, enjoying each other!  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband, but even more than that a wonderful partner.  Lila truly couldn't have a better Daddy.  From the moment we found out that we were having a baby Mike has been 100% devoted to his little girl.  Just when I thought I loved him as much as I could, he became a Daddy and I loved him more than I ever knew I could and as I watch their relationship grow stronger every day, I love him even more.

As I sit here and write, my Dad is half way around the world on a Baltic cruise.  So, it is important to me to be sure to send a special Happy Father's Day to him on this very special day, the day that is set aside for those most important men in our lives. 

Happy Father's Day to Mike, to my father, to our grandfathers and all of the other important men that have blessed us by being in our lives.  We love you!

Houseguests

This weekend we had the Clark Family at our house for the weekend! They are dearly family friends that try to come and visit each year during Hawkeye football season to let the kids get together and enjoy some football and fun.

The adults enjoyed a grown-up day at the football game.  Watching the Hawks pull of a victory against Indiana and enjoying the beautiful fall weather!  The kiddos stayed back at our house and did a good job of wearing out our babysitters! 

Saturday night we took even more advantage of the weather and had a grill out and allowed the kids more time to play outside.  My Dad came over to join us for dinner and helped the kids decorate the driveway with sidewalk chalk, he is always up for whatever it is the kids want to do, it is probably why Lila has such affection for him!

Sunday we got around in the morning and gathered some breakfast fixins' and headed towards Jason and Jen's house.  Our friends, Jason and Jena had yet to see their new house so they were anxiously awaiting a tour and we wanted to make sure to include Celia and Ruby in on all the fun the kids were having.

After a yummy breakfast it was outside for more fun...



All aboard!



Scarlett & Jena



We had a great time this weekend with family and friends, thanks Clark family for the memories!!!  We are already looking forward to next year.

We've got spirit...and other things!

This weekend found Mike and I at the Iowa vs. Northwestern game!  The night games are always a favorite of mine, there is nothing like football under the stadium lights!  And I love that they have started the spirit tradition in which each section is broken up into black and gold attire, such a cool sight!  But to make things even more exciting this year they decided to do two card stunts -- one during the National Anthem and then another immediately following to showcase the America Needs Farmers program that Coach Hayden Fry endorsed so many years ago.  Take a look...amazing!

In other news...most of you know that we have been building a new building at TrueNorth for the past year.  This has been a very time consuming project and the time has now come for us to order boxes, contact the movers, make some last minute decisions and prepare to move into our new building.  The big move will happen November 18th!  It is a bit overwhelmng as we are all trying to manage our primary jobs while balancing everything that a move entails.  However, those of us on the design team couldn't be more proud of the progress and what we are anticipating as an amazing new location as the outcome of all the extra, hard work.  For a sneak peek of the progress so far visit watchtheprogress.com. 

H is for...Holy Cow!

Saturday found us in Iowa City once again, to help cheer on the Hawks!  After our loss to the Cyclones we were all hoping for a W to get our beloved Hawkeyes back on track! 

We loaded up the family cruiser and met up with Jason, Jen and the girls for some tailgating pre-game!  We weren't planning on taking Lila again, but when Jason and Jen said they were taking the girls we thought, "what the heck!"

Watching a few pre-game shows on the iPod!

As most of you know, the first three quarters of the game were BRUTAL.  HORRIBLE.  Even Lila was embarrassed for the team...

During the fourth quarter we were all hoping for a miracle, a huge miracle considering the Pittsburgh Panthers were up 27-10.  Lila was so exhausted by what seemed to be defeat that she fell asleep right as things were starting to turn around.

The Hawks came out of nowhere with an amazing rally!  It was unbelievable and the crowd went CRAZY!  I was holding Lila the whole time she was sleeping as I was jumping up and down screaming along with the 70,000 other fans and it didn't phase her.  She didn't even flinch when the Hawks took their final knee beating the Panthers 31-27 in the end!  What a surprise!

Sound asleep post-game

After the amazing finish we headed back out to the car to snack and discuss what it was that we just witnessed!  None of us could really believe it, but we all agreed we would sleep a little better tonight knowing the Hawks pulled it off!

Happy Hawk Fans!



Black and Gold Tradition

Despite the weather prediction for today, we loaded up the car and headed to Kinnick for the first Hawkeye game of the season!  Ever since Lila has been born she has attended the first game of the year, so we didn't want to break what is becoming a very fun tradition just because of a little rain!

We got to Iowa City and the sky was a bit overcast, but so far no rain.  It seemed that the crowd was a bit thinner than normal, but that didn't stop us from having fun tailgating!



Cookies for breakfast!



Just as we were thinking about heading in for the pre-game festivities, the sky opened up and the rain fell...and it fell...and fell!

We waited patiently waiting for the rain to let up as we had heard over and over that it was supposed to stay north of us and that if we did get any rain it would be in short bursts.  Well, as we all know weathermen have a 50/50 track record.


Can we go in yet?!

 There was a break in the rain and we were finally ready to go in just before half time!  It was great to see that the stands were still packed despite the unfavorable weather, but we were optimistic that the rain was no longer an issue.



Go Hawks!



Mike and Lila had an opportunity to go down and sit in the first row!  Lila talks about Herkey all the time, so it was particularly exciting when Herkey came right over to her and gave her a big ol' high five!

Mike & Lila in the front row (Mike has the tigerhawk on his back)

Tim Dwight was honored during halftime, up close and personal!

Do you remember how I said we were optimistic that the rain was done?!  WE WERE WRONG!!!  Sometime during the third quarter it was like the sky opened up and buckets of water were pouring down!  There was nothing we could do but laugh!  The water was literally gushing down the steps of Kinnick and even though we all had ponchos on there wasn't a dry spot on any of us.

Grandpa & Lila (that is Lila under the baseball hat)



Borrowing someone's umbrella

After asking Lila several times if she was ready to go, with her replying, "No!" we were actually forced to leave due to lightening strikes.  The game was delayed and everyone needed to leave the stadium.  A lot of people stuck around to see if the rain would let up, but we figured this was a good time to pack up the car and head home. 

The Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Tennessee Tech game was definitely one for the memory books!  The game ended up continuing about an hour later and the Hawkeyes pulled out a victory 34-7!  We look forward to continuing this little family tradition for many years to come!



Our little Hawkeye!  Three Years in a Row!