Friday Night Football

One of the things I have really wanted to add to a fall bucket list is taking the kids to a local high school football game.  However, I've never attempted it because Ken is so rarely available on Friday evenings and I don't really want to try it by myself. Enter my friend Stacey, who works at a local high school. Stacey emailed me last Friday to invite us to a game.  It was the homecoming game and she thought her girls and mine might enjoy the dressed up kids and the boys might like the game.  Plus, we would get to catch up with each other. Sounds like an awesome plan, right!?!

Well, it didn't turn out exactly that way, but I think 3/4 of us still had a good time.

What happened is that I got off from work and went to pick up the kids. I told Benjamin that we were going to a football game. (His reply? "Goody! I love baseball!!")  Then I found Henry and told him we were going to a football game.  (His first reply? "Will there be Giants there?" His second reply? "Can I tell Sissy!")

As we went to get Frances, both boys ran up to her. Henry was trying to get her attention and Benjamin blurted out, "We're going to a baseball game!!!"  Of course, besides being wrong, it was rude and it made Henry incredibly mad.  Henry stormed around making a complete spectacle of himself and being ugly to Benjamin.  In the time it took me to walk around the van after buckling Ben into his car seat, Henry stuck his tongue out at Benjamin and made him cry.  I warned Henry that if he didn't get himself under control that he would not be going to the game.

I went home to grab some pants for the boys and dinner for everyone.  While I was inside, Henry did something (thinking he could get away with it) that caused Benjamin to start screaming bloody murder.  So of course I ran back out to the van to discover what was going on.  With the testimony of both Frances and Benjamin against Henry's very suspicious defense, I had no choice but to convict him and follow through with my earlier remarks.

I took Henry down to Ken (who was overjoyed to see me...) and took Frances and Benjamin out to the game.  The older kids ran off to play together and Stacey and I sat and chatted.  Benjamin mostly stuck around with me.  Close to half time Stacey and I decided to relocate closer to the fifty yard line so we could see the coronation.  Stacey was excited to see which kids would be elected Homecoming King and Queen because a good number of them are kids she works with.  After the results, the kids started getting squirelly, so we decided to leave.  The game was a blowout anyway (not that we really watched much of it.)

Frances actually did watch a good portion of the game.

Ken had left work by then, so we all headed home and I got the kids to bed for the evening.  I think our first high school football game was a success.  Unless you count the personal foul on Henry's part.

Give the boy a sucker and his mommy and he's good to go!

He loves playing with Ryan!