When my kids go to visit my grandmother, they say they're going to Mama Dos' "apartment". To my children, needing an apartment has become synonymous with being forgetful. If I forget where I last put my keys or I call a child by the wrong name, someone will inevitably yell, "Mommy! You need an apartment!"
Thus the title of this entry. When I am old, and I have my own apartment, I know I will still remember every little thing about Saturday, November 3. It was that perfect.
Ever since she was small, my older daughter has known how to yell, "WAR EAGLE!" at the top of her lungs. Granted, when she was too young to say it properly, the phrase sounded more like "GO WIGGLES!" but we knew what she meant.
"War Eagle" is what fans of the Auburn University tigers yell in support of their team. My husband likened it to a secret password kind of thing. Eh. He doesn't get football, but he's kinda right about that. In the state of Alabama, you either yell "War Eagle!" or "Roll Tide". It's one of the things you learn from the time you're born. You're either a Tiger or a Tider.
My family is made up of Tigers. It's in our blood. We love us some Auburn football. We start 'em out young!
I haven't visited Auburn since I was in my 20s. When I found out that the homecoming game was November 3, though, I jumped on the chance to go. It was serendipity. We just happened to be planning on a trip to Birmingham that weekend. I couldn't NOT go.
Early Saturday morning my daughter, sister and I started our trek to the loveliest village on the Plains. My daughter was beside herself with excitement. She wasn't the only one; I couldn't wait to share this part of my life with her.
We arrived in Auburn around 11:30. Parked near Samford Hall, which isn't far from the stadium. Won't tell you what we paid for parking, but it was worth every penny to be so close to everything we wanted to do.
Here we are, fresh from the car and ready for adventure:
We walked down College Street and got our picture made in front of the Auburn University sign:
Then for the good stuff (lunch and shopping at the legendary Toomer's Drugstore. They're famous for their lemonade, which is DEE-LISH!)
We entered the stadium at gate 1 and walked up a short ramp. I could feel Camryn's excitement building. She was literally jumping up and down with glee. This was her first glimpse of my favorite college stadium in the universe:
The weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky. Gorgeous blue backdrop. Perfect seats. A gorgeous, sunny Alabama football Saturday. Heaven. Absolute heaven. But it gets better.
I heard "Ladies and gentlemen.... please direct your attention to..." and I turned to my left. I saw Auburn's mascot, War Eagle, getting ready to leave her cage to circle the field. I snapped the lens cover off of my camera and turned in on in time to get this shot. I thought I had missed, but when I got home and was looking through the photos, I was thrilled to see that I had captured her flight!
Here's my beauty, watching her first college football game unfold before her eyes:
Auburn played less than spectacularly, but they were ahead 21-3 at halftime. They went on to win 35-3, but I've seen better defense. Hmph.
Camryn started feeling sick right before the 2nd half was over, so we agreed to watch the band play and then leave. I just love marching bands.
Camryn wore herself out and fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Even though we had to leave early, the day was just awesome. I cannot remember when I've had as much fun as I did on Saturday. I can't wait until my boys are old enough to go.
War Eagle, y'all.
