Go Buccaneers!

I did something completely different today. I (finally!) went to see Gaige, who just turned 6 a couple of weeks ago, play football. Gaige is our oldest grandson. It really is about time I saw a game.

Of course, the weather was crappy (severely overcast with intermittent rain showers). The game, which was in Harford County, 41 miles north of my house, started at 8:00 a.m. Which meant I had to be out the door no later than 7:15.

That's WAY early for me to be up, dressed and out on the road. Awake is one thing, but dressed and out of the house? Hah.

I'm a big girl (as in grown up), though. With Hubby off at some plumbing convention, I just had myself to worry about.

Amy and TJ had it far worse. Gaige had to be at the field at 7:00 a.m. That meant they had to leave their house by 6:45. And, before they left, Gaige had to eat breakfast (he eats REALLY slow). He needed to be suited-up, too. So they probably got up at 6:00. At the latest.

This isn't the first time one of his games has been ridiculously early. And on a normal weekend, Brianna (almost 9) and Joey (26 months) would've been dragged along, too. But this was no normal weekend. Aside from the horrible weather, Joey finally started showing symptoms of the H1N1 flu (Gaige and Brianna both had it over the past week), so Amy didn't want him out in the weather.

Luckily, TJ was able to drop Gaige off on his way to work, which just so happens to be the start of a one-month deployment (he's in the Army). Amy stayed home with Brianna and Joey. That meant it was doubly important that I get there on time (yes, I did).

I can't say I understood anything that was going on. Clinic football rules are apparently VERY different. They don't have play-by-play announcers either. Or instant replays. So, I can't tell you how the game went. But, despite the very poor light, I did manage to get some good pictures.

Look how little these guys are. They're not all this skinny. Some are taller, too. The little guy to the right of Gaige is the shortest. And I think he's the quarterback. But I couldn't swear by it since I really could not follow the game.

He may be little, but he's got the look down.

And he's a pretty good tackler, too.

He sure looked cute in his uniform, didn't he?

How does a cute 6-year-old like Gaige learn how to look like such a bad-ass? It must be a guy thing.

Of course, I had to make him pose afterward. Then I had to help get the helmet off. One of his ears almost came off with it, but he assured me that's normal.

Now, Gaige is usually very smiley and photogenic. But he had to pee. Really bad. I wanted to get a picture first, which I did, but that's why his brow is furrowed. Can't you just hear him saying, "C'mon, G, I gotta pee"?

He did a good job holding it. Especially since it took me forever to get his pants undone, what with the tight, heavy duty belt-thingy ("So my pants don't fall down," he said as I was struggling and griping) and the laces that he yanked right into a knot.

I did warn Amy in advance that I wouldn't be setting foot in her house after the game, no matter how much Lysol she'd saturated the house with. I was going to go to Brianna's soccer game, but I just didn't feel like spending another hour standing in the rain. So I headed north hoping the rain would stop so I could do some birdwatching. More on that tomorrow...

The rest of the football pics can be seen on my FLICKR site...