Wake Forest Weekend

September 4-7, 2008---ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!! The Crawfords, Brady, and Andrea loaded up the family truckster around 9 pm on Thursday night and were "On Our Way to See the Rebels Play!" We drove the 750 mile (approx. 12 hour) trip to Greensboro (via I-40) straight through the night with stops for restroom, fuel, and breakfast at an IHOP in Asheville. We arrived around lunch on Friday, unloaded the van, showered, and were ready to enjoy our weekend. Papa Gator and Lady Sara graciously offered their home for us ans our friends for the weekend. Luckily, they were able to get out of Tacoma for that weekend as well so it was a much needed family affair. Katy and Whitaker flew into Greensboro and arrived just after lunch. There were some nice perks to having an away game near Greensboro---not only did we have a wonderful house to stay in and delicious meals provided by Papa Gator and Lady but one of our good friends from college, DeAnna, and her family live there too. It was nice to visit with them since we only get to see them once in a blue moon. Nick and Meredith were slated to take part too put the National Republican Convention and Hurricane Gustav prevented them from coming.










Speaking of Hurricane Gustav, we were totally prepared. All of the girls had water boots and we bought every red and blue poncho Target had in stock. We were ready for cooler temperatures and torrential downpours but barely got more than a sprinkle. I'm not complaining. It could have been a lot worse. It was actually hot and everyone (especially me) got sunburned. We were invited to tailgate with the Triad Rebels, the Ole Miss alumni group for the area which DeAnna is a member of. They were set up directly across the street from the stadium. We watched as the team arrived, band marched across the street, and the cheerleaders performed. We were honored to have the cheerleaders eat lunch at our tent. The alumni group provided a fabulous pulled BBQ dinner with all the fixings. Everything was wonderful!!!












Saturday was Brady's birthday. We sang "Happy Birthday" that morning while he blew out the candle in his brownie. Then Brady had his picture taken with the cheerleaders at the tailgate. The best gift the Rebs could have given him was a win over the Demon Deacons but our guys just couldn't hold out and we lost in the final two minutes of the game. Wake Forest is a good team this year and we played an okay game.

While everyone else went to the game, Lady Sara and Jackson went to the Greensboro Children's Museum for the afternoon. Jackson loves the Thomas the Train exhibit they have there. He also loves spending time with Lady and she with him, so they had an amazing day together.

Initial post-game plans were to go to downtown Greensboro after the game but everyone was exhausted so it was decided that we would do the same thing we had done Friday night---hang out on the back porch at the house, eating, drinking, and just enjoying getting to see people we don't get to see very often. We thank Lady Sara and Papa Gator for being so hospitable. We all had a wonderful time!

The ride home was a little shorter because we opted to go through Atlanta, taking about 100 miles off our route. We were all so tired and ready to get home. Thanks to Andrea and Brady for being patient with us and the kids for such a long trip. We really enjoyed getting to hang out with everyone. Just remember..."We may not win every game but we've never lost a party!!!"