In major withdrawals...

...of the Classic City. Of seeing everyone decked in red and black. Of being between the hedges. Of listening to the Redcoat Marching Band. Of yelling, "Go Dawgs!" and "Hunker Down one more time!" Of having a reason to dress up on a frequent basis. (Let's face it as a mom of small kids making sure I look put together is not always a daily priority...some days I am doing good to shower and have dinner on the table.) Of walking and driving around Athens. Of night games under the lights and between the hedges. Of silver britches. I could go on and on. I realize that football season just ended a few weeks ago but I am already looking forward to next season. With small kids, work, commitments, etc. it is very easy to get wrapped up in life and not have time to go on dates. Saturdays in Athens have become something I look forward to not just because I love college football and the Dawgs but because I love having built-in dates with Andy. We've talked about adding seats to our season ticket collection so that we can bring the kids...and while I look forward to family weekends in Athens I am soaking up the kids being little and just having two season tickets.

Athens, we'll see you September 7th. Till then we'll be counting down the days...

It's Saturday in the Classic City...

It's Saturday in Athens and that means that the Bulldawg faithful will be gathering for another meeting 'Between the Hedges'. AG and Avi-Kate will be cheering the Dawgs on in their UGA gear with Nanny while we'll be at the game. Andy and I are excited to be back in Athens after a month away. (This year the Dawgs were either off or traveling the month of October.) Here are some pictures of the kids from last weekend before the Dawgs beat Florida. And since they knocked off the Gators we are now in control of the SEC East. If the Dawgs can beat Ole Miss tomorrow and Auburn next weekend we'll be headed to ATL for the SEC Championship in December. We're excited...

 And the bulldawg the kids are sitting on is actually from Athens. My best friend growing up, David, went to UGA and this bulldawg use to sit on the steps of his fraternity house. He gave it to us as a wedding present when we got married. He sits by our back door and greets us every time we leave/arrive home.

And this will be our view today. Oh, how I love Athens, especially, in the fall. 

Glory, glory to Ole' Georgia...

Saturdays in Athens.

We are UGA season ticket holders and so in the fall we find ourselves among the hedges of Sanford Stadium with 92,000 other people cheering on the Dawgs.  I have always in enjoyed college football but I've really come to relish our Saturdays in Athens because it means quality time with Andy. Eventually, we plan to add on to the number of seats we have but at the moment we just have two. The Dawgs are off to a great start this season and are sitting at 4-0 heading in to the bulk of their conference schedule. Anyways, here is what we did this past Saturday...after dinner at the Varsity we headed to the intramural fields to park. From there we took the bus to Sanford. We were early enough that we wondered down to the field and walked along the hedges. Andy wanted to go see the mausoleum that is tucked in to a corner of the stadium. When the current Uga dies he is laid to rest here: 

We picked up some pom-poms for the game and to give to the kids when we got home. They have them out for the fans to grab on the hedges before the game. We then wondered up towards our seats. We picked up some surprises for the kids. (Foam Bulldawg Paw and eyeblack with super Gs for AG. A bulldawg purse for Avi-Kate. Then we made our way up to our seats to get ready for the game. Our seats are high but we actually really like them because they offer a perfect view. We can see everything on the field from our seats plus we have a perfect view of the scoreboard and the bridge next to the stadium. Ready for the game:

The team was pumped up and ready to dominate. And dominate they did...48-3!

We got a laugh out of this sign that made it's rounds in the student sections...it said 'Free Rambo'. Bacarri Rambo plays defense and has been serving a 4-game suspension. He should be back this next week and the defense will look even better.  

The Redcoats did a Foo Fighters medley this week for half time. 

We left towards the end of the fourth quarter because Andy wanted to catch the end of the Clemson/FSU game on XM as we were driving since it was close till right at the end. It was a great night, the stadium was packed, and the Dawgs played really well. We are very optimistic about the rest of the season. Whatever happens we love spending our Saturdays in Athens. 

Labor Day Weekend Roundup...

We headed to the farm for the long weekend and it was glorious! The kids wasted no time making themselves right at home. On Saturday we left the kids and went to the classic city, Athens, for the day to see the Dawgs home opener. UGA did something new this year called the Game Ball Relay to deliver the game ball for the start of the game. It started 24 hours earlier at the Shepherd Spinal Center and made it's way from Atlanta to Athens. Vince Dooley ran it in to the stadium and then handed it off to Alison Schmitt. I was super excited to see her on the field since we watched all of her races in London just a few short weeks ago. I'm glad she returned for her senior year in Athens...and I'd love it if Missy Franklin found her way to Athens next year. Enough of that tangent...back to the game. The Dawgs played Buffalo and won by three touchdowns. It was great to be back in Athens watching football. I'm really looking forward to the next few months...now to get the rest of my outfits together for the season. Yes, if you've never experienced a football game in the SEC you are probably scratching your head as to why I'm concerned with my wardrobe. I guess it's just part of being in the south but most people dress up for games...yes, I wore a new sundress to the game that I bought specifically to be a game day dress. I've been dressing up for games since I started going to games. It's just what we do. Need more info click here. Thankfully, one can never have too much red and black in her wardrobe. ;) After the game we headed back to the farm. The kids had a great day with Nanny. The next day our friends, the Hornsbys, drove over from Macon and spent the day with us. AG loved showing Emma the farm and swimming all afternoon with his best friend. We were planning to have a cookout at the pool that evening but a storm rolled in and we ended up having it inside instead. Later that evening AG enjoyed watching Chipper Jones hit a walk-off homer to beat the Phillies in the 9th inning. He went bananas and the family members watching the game were so tickled watching AG. Monday, we laid around and did some projects. That afternoon we did one last swim before getting everything packed back up. We ended up leaving some of our stuff at the farm since we plan to go back in three weeks. AG was beside himself because he didn't want to leave the farm. He even woke up the next morning asking if it was time to go back. We love the farm. Being down there for the weekend was a great way to say goodbye to summer and welcome in the start of fall. Did anyone else do anything fun for Labor Day Weekend?

Early Morning Birthday Parties.

 Hello, Athens...I've missed you.

 Vince Dooley and Schmitty on the field. 

 Helping Nanny make brownies.

 So excited to see his best friend.

 Love these two. AG was holding her hand and showing her around. 

 Swimming the afternoon away. Annie was loving life in the pool.