I grew up going to LSU Football games. Ever since I can remember, our weekends were filled with traveling to Baton Rouge to cheer on the Tigers. As a student at LSU, I rarely missed a game, too. It's always been something my family did together-- tailgating, eating, throwing the football, etc. When Brooks came along he kinda wasn't given a choice... it was a requirement to like LSU football and cheer for the Tigers. He quickly adjusted to his new calling and has been a fan of LSU ever since.
So when the opportunity came to take Brooks Gavin to a game while we were in the states, we jumped on it. Brooks really wanted to go to a game since it's been nearly two years since we've been and we are always looking for new experiences to give Gavin so it just worked out perfectly.
Thanksgiving night we loaded the kids up in the car and headed to Baton Rouge. We spent the night so we wouldn't have to fight traffic the day after Thanksgiving trying to get into BR. Brooks and I decided it probably wouldn't be the best idea to bring Miles to a stadium filled with over 90,000 screaming fans and his only option would be to sit on our laps for nearly 4 hours. Instead, one of my sister in law's, sister, who lives in BR graciously offered to keep Miles for us while we were at the game.
Before we left our hotel Friday morning, we got some pictures of the boys in their tiger paw print shirts my sister in law made. I'm still waiting and hoping for a decent picture some day of all 4 of us. The game was early in the day, so my family decided not to tailgate, instead we went to a local restaurant to eat and hang out before the big game. My brother- Kyle, SIL- Liz, and my 4 year old niece, Neve met us Friday morning in BR and it was our first time to see them since we got into the USA. Gavin and Neve were pretty excited to see each other and loved having a friend to play with.
After eating lunch we headed to Tiger Stadium, where Brooks and Gavin worked on selling 1 of our tickets. They succeeded! Gavin got to play around the same oak tree my brothers and I use to play around and where our family has lots of memories at. Gavin took all the excitement in and was intrigued by everyone and everything. Last year, for Christmas, my parents gave him a few LSU children's books, which we've been reading the past few weeks to introduce him to Tiger Traditions, LSU icons, etc so he pretty much knew what was going on, looked for the band, wanted to see Mike the Tiger, and watch a football game. I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty exciting bringing my son into Tiger Stadium for the first time and watching his face as he took everything in.
The game was a blast. Our seats were a few rows up from my families seats, but that didn't stop Gavin from hanging with Captain and Kimmie (and Neve) during pregame. Gavin loved watching the football players run around the field and even cheered with us throughout the game. He learned a few chants on the way to the game that kept him entertained when everyone else started yelling them. We fed Gavin from the start of the game til it was over-- hey, whatever keeps a 3 year old happy in that environment. He got a hot dog, skittles, popcorn, sprite, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and maybe a few more snacks I had hidden in my purse!
When the game ended and we had beat Arkansas, we headed back to the car to attempt to beat traffic. On our way, we passed Mike the Tigers cage and there he was... right up against the fence. Gavin got to see the tiger and roar at him. He was so excited and talked about it for hours!! It was a perfect moment!!
We picked Miles up after the game and headed back to our hotel to get cleaned up before going to dinner with my family (forgot my camera). After a goods night rest, we had breakfast at a local coffee shop that sales DELICIOUS beignets. Brooklyn really needed some so we had to go. Plus, we wanted Gavin to taste a different type of "donut" as he called it. We left full and satisfied!!
We couldn't leave Baton Rouge without doing some Christmas shopping so I took advantage of being in one place and getting multiple things done-- including visiting with a longtime camp friend, Kaitlyn. We were counselors at Brookhill together, went to LSU together and took weight training with each other, and even lived next door to one another while we were living in BR. I miss seeing her so it was great catching up. Not to mention, we're both pregnant with girls, after each having 2 boys! Kaitlyn is going to welcome her sweet girl anytime in the next 3 weeks! Woo hoo!
We loved BR and going to an LSU game and can't wait for the Tigers to play in the Championship game! GEAUX TIGERS!!
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