Atlanta...7: it's finally game day

We almost forgot the whole reason we were in Atlanta in the first place: to see the Hoos play in the Chik-Fil-A Bowl!  We brought our gear and are all fired up.

The day started with a parade - right outside our hotel.  We got great front row (or is it curbside?) seats in the sun with lots of our friends to watch.  Drew loved his first parade - he never got scared even once!  Not when we got covered in confetti from VERY close range, not when the little cars were zooming around and honking, not when the dogs walked right up and sniffed him, not when the numerous marching bands went by beating on their drums and blowing their horns like crazy.  It was the perfect parade - not too long, not too short.  Well done, Atlanta!

The parade was kicked off by a couple hundred Harleys, followed by a dozen or so cows.  And cows on motorcycles.  Then more cows.  Remind me again who sponsored this bowl game and parade? 

We'll be finding confetti in places that shall not be named for months!  Too fun!

The biggest little red wagon we've ever seen!  It was bigger than our Explorer!

The scores of firetrucks were a big hit with the kids.

It's not a parade without a couple princesses.  Miss Atlanta, Miss Georgia, Miss Teen Atlanta... there were about 5 of them.  I don't know if you can tell from this photo, but Evan truly loved them all.  This one was special though: he got up the courage to yell, "I love you" at the car as she drove by.  Yep, Mr. Smooth.  

"Mommy, is that another princess coming?"
"Nope buddy, just another cow."

The best part of the late game was we could watch the parade, have lunch, have a HUGE nap, and be on perfect time for the game.  While Mike went to the stadium early to work, the boys and I hopped back on the team-guest buses and were driven right to the game in style.  After a tedious yet perfect and very impressive parking job by the bus driver, we headed to our seats.  It was kind of strange having Auburn in the same colors as Virginia - at first glance you didn't know which fans were "friendlies."  It was pretty neat being in a dome for a game though - the noise was excellent and the weather was perfect. 

The beginning of the game was great!  In case we hadn't gotten enough dose of cows, Chik-Fil-A dropped what must have been thousands of stuffed cows in parachutes from the ceiling as part of pre-game festivities.  It was a lot like their commercials where the cows parachute into the game and land on the hot dog vendor. It was actually quite a sight to see.  Then UVA got off to a great start to the game... to bad the end didn't stay that way. 

Evan made up for his disappointment with a blue snow cone.  Yum!  And Drew decided he'd had quite enough excitement (it was way past his bed time after all) and simply slept. 

 

Here are just a tiny sampling of the cows that came home with us - we got them in the hotel, at the bowl-sponsored meals, during the gameday parade, and at the game.  I think we left at the hotel nearly twice as many as are in the picture, in the hopes that hotel staff would have kids to enjoy them.  

Evan nearly made it to midnight (though not really on purpose), but fell asleep shortly before, and we didn't make it much longer.  We weren't near enough to the dropping of the giant peach at Underground Atlanta, but we heard plenty of fireworks and fun outside the windows.  Naughty By Nature (yep, that blast from the past!) was playing a New Year's Eve concert in the hotel's ballrooms, and we saw plenty of people around, but didn't actually hear the concert (bummer).

Then, all too soon, it was time to go home,  Our flight left bright and early the morning of the 1st. The boys were again fantastic on the flight, and the trip was uneventful.  Vacation was great, though coming home is definitely good too.  It was an excellent way to cap off 2011- here's to a great 2012!