It's Football Time In Tennessee!!

Well it was an amazing experience to say the least!!! We've always loved going to UT games. I remember when we first moved to Knoxville and Don was a big Florida State fan - I told him it would only take one home game to convert him - and I was right!!! We've been to a few games separately since we adopted Katie but she had never been.



Well, it was definitely one of those experiences where we fell in love with it all again seeing it through her eyes! It was such a great day!! Katie's eyes were bright and she was taking it ALL IN!! All day long! Everything she could. She didn't even let the heat slow her down - we just kept her well hydrated!

Most of you know that Katie doesn't have a normal body temperature gauge so when it's really hot or really cold - we have to be pretty careful that she doesn't get overheated, etc. She doesn't sweat like a typical person - so she is prone to have a heat stroke much easier than most - but keeping her well hydrated is the key.



We parked at Fort Sanders School. The cost for parking there goes directly to benefit the school and you know we are all about that since Katie benefited so much from her three years there in pre-school.



We took the time to go up to the top level of the parking garage at Fort Sanders hospital so that Katie could see the view - nothing but an orange sea. She was READY!! Dad was enjoying every minute of this as well - for both himself and he was loving doing this wall ith Katie.

It was HOT though! We walked down to the strip and when Katie saw the UT Bookstore - she said "can we go shopping"? She's definitely a shopper! We enjoyed the brief reprieve from the heat - got her some weapons - I mean pom pom's and headed for the vol walk.

Oh, and with Katie being the animal magnet that she is - she got to get up close and personal with Smokey. She was concerned tfor his welfare though - that he was too hot in his UT garb... we assured her that they were keeping him hydrated...lol!

We got our spot for the vol walk and thank goodness for ice cold bottled water and a wonderful husband who is willing to make multiple water runs because it was so darn HOT!





I think wearing orange is a magnet for the sun...lol! I know Don had to be sweltering in his black UT golf shirt

We had about a 30 minute wait but it was worth it. Well, except when Coach Fulmer came walking down the sidewalk and Katie wacked him in the head accidentally with her pom pom... oops! She apologized but he just kept going. I'm sure he had much more important things on his mind.



Then of course we had to do the band parade. We got a great spot! In the shade!! Then life was much nicer for the 30 minute wait for the parade. Katie was having so much fun - we were talking with all kinds of people - it was the best afternoon! The atmosphere was great - everyone was happy and excited!!!



Katie found another little girl to chat with



while we were waiting for the parade. She started talking about what it would be like to go to UT one day with us. She decided that she wanted to be in the marching band even before she even saw the band. We knew she was in for a treat! You just can't help but fall in love with it all!





The minute she heard the band in the distance she was pumped. She was like the cutest lil vol fan ever!! I just can't say enough what it was like to experience this all through her eyes. She was telling me - I can feel the music right here - pounding her chest! She thought it was the neatest thing ever!



I don't know why - but she got all excited about the clarinet line. "That's what I want to play!! That's what I want to play!!" I'm still taking it all in while also thinking "Thank goodness it wasn't the drums that stood out to her!!!"






Katie and I immediately fell in line at the back of the parade and Dad and Don were right behind us. According to Don - we took off and left them. *sigh* But, I wanted to keep Katie as close to the band as I could because she was loving it! She was singing Rocky Top with all her might!! I knew she was going to love it but I didn't know how much!!



When we turned the corner to head to the stadium - I knew we had to get her on Don's shoulders. She had to see that sight! I wish I'd had a monopod so that I could have gotten my camera high enough in the air to capture the scene... I'd been there many times before but I swear it had never been quite like that. Hundreds of thousands of people in orange - it was literally a sea of orange.

Sometimes, you have to give up trying to capture it all in pictures and just enjoy the moment and even though I took over 300 pictures yesterday - I still stood back and just enjoyed watching Katie. The expression on her face when she first went up in the air onto Don's shoulders and saw the sight of all that orange - it was just priceless.

The expression on her face when she asked "where is the stadium?" and Don turned her toward it and said "there it is"!!! She was amazed at how big. The only sporting event she's been to were Smokies games this summer... in comparison - it was nothing... it was prep for this day!



The seats that Mary got for Katie and I were row two in section V, I think. We were right on the field. Which was fantastic for Katie. We had gotten her little binoculars which she immediately started using. Dad and Don were in section V - row 32. Which was good for them because they could see more of the game.



Katie was pretty excited that we were so close to the cheerleaders! She was really enjoying watching all the pre-game activity - the players warming up, the cheerleaders, even the photographers lugging around all their equipment.

Katie started asking me a TON of questions. She literally became a question machine... one after another. We were laughing and cutting up and having a lot of fun watching all the pre-game activity on the field and all of a sudden - she said "I wish Daddy was here - he's good at explaining sports stuff to me". *ouch*

So, I text msg'd Don and we swapped places. I had fun sitting with Dad and Don had so much fun sitting with Katie. She was the hit of the section according to Don. She was high fiving people and these two big burly muscle guys sat right in front of Katie and Don said that she turned them into putty! They had a lot of fun with Katie - getting the biggest kick out of her spirit and enthusiasm! Everyone was cracking up at all the questions she was bombarding Don with.



As painful as some of the moments were during the game itself - it couldn't have been a more awesome experience for us as a family yesterday. Well, I take it back - it would have been a tiny bit more awesome if the VOLS had played better. They are in for a tough season. I think they are going to struggle against Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina (who beat Georgia yesterday), Arkansas and Kentucky - and the obvious - Florida is laying in wait to eat us for lunch next Saturday.

Anyhow - the good news on that front - we can probably pick up three tickets for another home game later in the season to just to enjoy Katie enjoying it so much! :) What a strategy, huh?

We are going this afternoon to find exactly where my two classes are going to be starting this week. Isn't that terrible, I have to go ahead of time to map out where to go - I think that's a sign of the fact that I'm fixing to turn 40. *sigh* Anyhow, we are going to take Gran with us and then eat dinner at Calhoun's on the River as a family tonight!

That's of course after I spend the next 7 hours on TAXES!

Help me!
More later!
LA :)