So much football, so much fun!

Our trip to Bjorn's football game on Friday was uneventful - no traffic jams, no rain, no snow (-:.  We arrived before the game started, just in time to see the seniors give their tribute and picture plaques to their parents.  Of course, Bjorn gave his to Fred and Deb, but Deb showed me later that his tribute was written to his parents completely in Swedish.  I'm disappointed I didn't think to take a picture of it.  I told Miki to have Bjorn send her a picture of it.

It brought back memories to me of the times we were out there in that parent line and our boys, Frank and Ray, gave their plaques to us (1997 and 2000).  I remember coming back to my seat and wishing I could be all alone to cry, because I was so moved by what they wrote.

Here's Bjorn in line, waiting for them to call his name.

Bjorn standing with Fred and Deb.

The game started off with some real competition.  It was scary to think that they could lose and thus set a very unhappy record - the team has never lost three consecutive games!!

By half time they were ahead.  The Solanco band performance was really good.  I have heard that Manheim Central's band performance is spectacular too, but we never got to see it.  Since we have only attended home games, their show was always pre-game, and we were never able to make it in time for that.

Our reserved seats were near to where the Manheim Central band sat, however, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching their very entertaining director.  Here's a little video of him that Dick took on Friday evening.

The game ended with a 34-3 victory.  Very, very happy players and fans!

It was especially sweet, because it was the last regular season game for this year and also the last regular season game for coach Mike Williams, who has coached football at Manheim Central for thirty-four years.  They held a tribute ceremony for him after the game, followed by a fireworks display.  He is the one in the red cap.  The winningest coach in the state of Pennsylvania!

Our great-niece Natalia, one of Bjorn's ardent fans, wanted her picture taken with Bjorn afterward!   He's holding a cut-out of Coach William's head!

Then we hit the road for home.  We were in touch with Jeremy and Mike throughout the evening as they travelled from DC to our house.  We all arrived within fifteen minutes of each other, sometime between 12 and 1:00 am.  Of course, Watson and Molly were along too.  They were GLAD to be out of the car and had to work off their pent-up energy.  Just like kids, they loved chasing each other around the circle of our rooms.  One time they ran right behind Dick's recliner, yanking the lamp cord out of the socket, and the lamp fell off the end table in the process.  But nothing broke!

The night was very short, since the guys were heading out early for a Penn State game.  I had put together a breakfast casserole on Friday and got up in time to put it in the oven Saturday morning.  Jeremy and Mike have a neighbor who grew up in State College.  His parents have an RV that they park at the Penn State games for tailgating.  So around 8 am our guys headed to their house to catch a ride to the game in the RV.  Jeremy's neighbor and his wife were also up from DC for the game.   As you can see, they were ready for cold and rain.  Yuck.  I was so glad to stay home!

During the game I kept track of things on TV while I prepared dinner.  It was a very tough, close game the entire three-and-one-half hours.  In the last two minutes I saw that the score was 17-19, Penn State ahead.  And just like that, Maryland got three points and won.  What a let-down for Penn State.

Here are a couple of picture Dick took at the game.  The classic 70's RV they rode to the game in!

He was so impressed with the Blue Band performance.  I would really love to see them sometime.

The guys had told me to pick them up at 5, which was about an hour-and-a-half after the game ended. Even then, getting there was CRAZY!!!  We live just five miles from Beaver Stadium, but there was so much one-way traffic and the resulting detours!  I was SO CLOSE, but had to go the other direction.  After I did pick them up, trying to get back home was just as bad.  

Anthony and Lori were already at our house by the time we arrived.  We had a great evening together.

No, Austin was not pouting.  He was keeping a constant vigil over the dogs in their cage right behind his chair.  How do you eat when there are dogs to play with????

Dick was so zonked after our short night and then being outside in the cold at the game all day, he went to our bedroom to take a short nap after dinner, but never heard his alarm.  You guessed it - he came out to the livingroom in a daze around 11:00 and decided to go right back to bed!  Jeremy and I stayed up talking till midnight, but it was nice to realize that with the time change, it really was only 11:00!

Dick and I went to our two church services this morning, then went out to eat with our kids.   We went to Happy Valley Brewing Company, a really great restaurant in a  refurbished barn.

We were a bit disappointed that they gave us a table in the lower level, which was darker with low ceilings. But we had so much fun and the food was excellent.  

Austin fell asleep before lunch and took a nap the whole time we were there!  Thankfully, it was padded bench seating and he could be completely comfortable. 

Anthony did not take a nap while we were there, except for my pictures.  (-:

We all came back to our house for a while after lunch.  Austin wanted more play time with the dogs.  I tried to get a picture of him with Molly and Watson.  We told Austin to sit down on the floor.  After he was sitting we said, "Now tell Molly and Watson to come over to you and sit!"  Just like that, Watson heard the word "sit" and that's just what he did right then and there!  So cute!

Trying to get both dogs to cooperate with picture taking was futile, however.  So we settled for this!

By 3:30 everyone had left and I got a nap.

And NOW!!!  Every minute counts as I accomplish all that has to be done between now and Thursday morning when we leave for our trip to Tampa.  CAN.  HARDLY. WAIT!!