I've been to dozens of football games at Kyle Field but the one on September 12, 2015, will always be special. Not because the game was competitive; it was out of reach by the end of the first quarter. Not just because it was the first game in the new and improved Kyle Field, $485 million later. Since before Daniel was born I've looked forward to taking him to a game there and that day, I did.
I hadn't planned on taking him this year. I had been thinking maybe next year. But when we went to College Station last month he seemed so excited about exploring campus and seeing a game that I decided to look into tickets for this year. I knew the early non-conference games wouldn't be competitive and tickets and hotel rooms would be easier to come by and sure enough, I was able to land both.
Better yet, one of my best friends from college, Crystal, and her 8 year old son Zephyr, decided to join us. Football, friends, mom-son bonding time, what's not to love?
We arrived in Aggieland mid-afternoon on game day and walked from our hotel to campus in time to catch the Corps of Cadets march-in. Daniel enjoyed seeing the Corps outfits all march in and hearing the band. Afterward we met up with Crystal and Zephyr to explore the MSC and eat dinner. Then, it was time to take our seats in the newly opened South End Zone.
By the end of the first quarter I think the score was already 27-3 or something so the only question was when the backups would come in. The boys were excited to see all those touchdowns though and to hear the Parsons Mounted Cavalry cannon boom after each one. They also loved to watch the Aggie Band perform.
Not only did they make it through the full game, but they wanted to see the Yell Leaders get dunked in the Fish Pond afterward so we walked over to Sbisa to see that. Afterward they had so much energy they ran sprints back to Crystal's car (a pretty long walk), stopping at every driveway or stop sign till we caught up. Oh, and catching crickets. Zeph showed Daniel how to do that so he was pretty excited about that.
We learned that another college friend, Amar, was also in town that weekend too and since we, with kids, couldn't go out to Northgate afterward to party we invited him to come to our hotel to hang out there. The plan was that we'd put the boys to bed then visit out on the balcony but the boys were still full of energy, and we had gotten them some ice cream, so it was after 1 before we all finally called it a night.
The next morning, unsurprisingly, we all slept in then went for breakfast at Taco Cabana where as a nice surprise I ran into my cousin's husband, Michael. After breakfast and coffee we went to the Bonfire Memorial. Daniel was affected seeing it last month and was this time as well.
After that we visited the Former Student Center with its giant replica of an Aggie Ring, walked around Northgate, toured all our old apartments, then had lunch before beginning our respective journeys home.
Our first trip to an Aggie football game was one of the most fun weekends we've had in awhile. It was nice to get so much one-on-one time with Daniel and show him around a place that means so much to me. It'll be fun to take solo trips with Rebecca when she gets older too. Daniel also loved spending time with such a fun big kid and keeps talking about Zephyr and wanting to see him again. We're talking about making it an annual tradition and I'm already looking forward to next year!
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