"Today Was The Coolest Day!"

That is what Joel said to me when he asked why I hadn't posted about today yet. "Do you know how many people get to do what we did?" he asked, after I gave him some sort of non-committal answer to his first question.

Well. I suppose he's right. Today was pretty fun. We were supposed to go up and meet him at the press box in the stadium for lunch and to be addressed by Digger Phelps. Well. . .unbeknownst to me, the schedule was changed at the last minute and I didn't get to hear much of what he said. It did work out for the best, though, because this meant I was able to take the kids and go with Joel on the tour of the stadium. The only downside to the day was that there was only one other child there, the one-year-old son of some mormon friends of ours. It is a little awkward to be the only one toting two young, noisy kids in a group of 70 professionals dressed in business casual.

So, I know our blog has had a great shortage of pictures recently (eye roll), so here are a whole bunch more! Excited? Well, feel free to skip them if you want. There are a lot of them. But, if you want to see what the football players see, you'll have to bear through them all.

Yep. That's right--see the sign? "Athlete Entrance." Fortunately they let us in for the day.

Immediately after going through the gate, you see where the old building exterior still is. If you go through the arch on the right, you will enter the locker room.

I don't know why my camera was being funky in here. Forgive the spots. The plastic you see on the floor is to protect the carpet from the maintenance work being done. Apparently there has been some water damage.

It hasn't changed much since the movie Rudy. If you want a good look at it, watch that movie. I think it would have been funny if someone stood on a bucket and gave that coach's monologue that Rudy loved so much.

("whatever we say here, whatever we see here, STAYS HERE when we leave here")
Coach's mantra?

You said this would be fun, Mom. Why do I have to stand here and wait for so long while some guy tells us what is what?

Start 'em young, I always say. Start 'em young.

The sign that the players see on their way out.

Down the stairs to the tunnel, standing by the sign the players hit on their way out. Too bad it hasn't helped them win a championship lately.

Yep, this is the tunnel the players run out of. Pretty fun.

No one, not even the older MBA students could stand still on such an expansive field.

Pretty soon people were breaking out the footballs and taking test runs.

And, for such short grass, it was remarkably soft. I tell you what, those athletes are spoiled! (These days, I'm all about pointing out the things no one knows. You're welcome.)

We had to get a picture in front of the scoreboard. Yes, I have a weird expression on my face. Everyone else looks fine. It was a beautiful day!

Up there, on the right. . .that's where they had lunch and heard Digger Phelps. The view was pretty nice.

You see this as soon as you exit the stadium. People call it "Touchdown Jesus." I wonder how many prayers people have offered for the football team after seeing this mural.

Well, that's about it. And here you thought it was never going to end, didn't you? Stay tuned until next time. . .when I chronicle a diaper change.