Hudson's First UGA Game!

Well, we finally got the little man to Mom's beloved UGA for a football game! It was Homecoming, November 3, and I wanted to go back so I could march in the Redcoat Alumni Band. It had been about 5 or 6 years since I last marched. Wow, what an exciting weekend it was.

We drove down to Athens on Friday night and checked into a hotel in Commerce. Then we had to wake up bright and early - err, I mean DARK and early - so I could be at the practice field by 6:30am. That meant waking up before 5am, which was before FOUR AM according to my Central Time Zone body! Poor Hudson was such a trooper. We hated having to wake him up; he cried pitifully as we quickly stripped off his pajamas and forced several layers of clothing on him. "Aunt Jennifer" was in the parking lot of our hotel before we knew it, and we were on our way to campus for a pre-dawn practice. They had a great Chick-Fil-A breakfast waiting for us at the practice field, and then we started warming up. Hudson sat bundled up on the sidelines in the dark with Daddy, watching Mommy do what she loves most. Rob said it was pretty awesome listening to the Alumni Band play "Battle Hymn of the Bulldog Nation" as the sun started to rise.

After the Alumni Band finished practicing, we all sat on the hill and watched the current Redcoat Band practice their show - a trio of classic Journey songs. They were amazing! Then we made our way down to the Tate Student Center for the alumni luncheon and the Dog Walk, the arrival of the team into the stadium. Hudson actually fell asleep during this part, poor guy. At this point, we had all been up for 8 hours! Before long, we went into the stadium and Hudson and Daddy went to find our seats (in the 600 level section! GASP!), while Aunt Jennifer and I went onto the hallowed field to get ready for the pre-game performance.

I got some GREAT pictures while on the sidelines. It was awesome to be so close to the team, and especially to watch Coach Richt personally pray over each and every player as they warmed up. I had a nice little conversation with a referee, and tried to sneak a peek at the "little black book" of a NY Jets scout. Muahahaha! I wonder who he was watching?! Anyway, and true to form, I spent a good bit of the time I was supposed to be performing on the field taking pictures! Haha.

After the alumni band performed, we all slowly made our way to our seats. Oh wow, it took FOREVER to get up there. By the time we got there and settled, I felt almost too tired to stay and watch the game! I was so proud of Hudson though; he actually watched the game and seemed particularly interested in the Redcoat Band as they performed at half-time. He also spent a good bit of time people-watching, as we had a couple of very interesting characters sitting next to us. They were most certainly inebriated, and they kept heckling the Troy State fans sitting a few rows behind us. Everyone around us commented on how good Hudson was, sitting there like a seasoned football fan, watching the game like everyone else. Oh yeah, and a photographer for GeorgiaDogs.com came and took Hudson's picture! Take a look at it here (and feel free to order one for yourself): Hudson UGA Game

On our way out of the game, Hudson managed to pick up some co-eds, little ladies' man that he is, haha. These girls are juniors at UGA, and were totally taken with our little flirt. You can't tell it in this picture, but he was enjoying their attention!

Saturday night, we drove to Uncle Britton and Aunt Kim's house, where Grammy and Pop-Pop were keeping cousin Quinn. Hudson got in some quality play time with Quinn, and then we all crashed for the night. What a wonderful weekend it was! I was so excited about taking my little man to his first UGA game, especially since after "mama," his first words were "Go Dawgs!" I just can't wait until the day he plays football for my beloved Dawgs! WOOT!