Sunday, October 16, 2011

homecoming @ the capstone

Last weekend we took Banks and Mary Reese to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama/Vandy game.  It just happened to be homecoming at the capstone.  One of my favorite times of the year.

I can remember the intense choreography competitions, working for hours pomping the lawn decoration, walking to the corner of Reed Street and University watching the parade come by and the buzz around campus on game day.  It hasn't change much and I was excited for my children to experience all the hype of homecoming.

We got to town around lunch time and decided to grab lunch before heading to the quad/strip area.  I was excited when I spotted...

IguannaGrillTTown

Iguana Grill!  One of our favorites in Birmingham.  It was pretty empty and the perfect place to grab a quick lunch before heading to the madness.

We parked the car in some college kids backyard near the stadium [I bet they make a small fortune on game days!], and headed towards the quad via sorority row and the strip.

I made a quick stop by the Alpha Chi house.  I showed the kids where I spend 4 glorious years.  Mary Reese and I made a quick trip upstairs.  I showed her my old room and the sleeping porch.  She wasn't real impressed with the sleeping porch.

The lawn decorations are AMAZING!  Here was the one at the Alpha Chi house...

AXOLawnDecoration

They ended up coming in 2nd Place for the lawn decoration and ended up winning the homecoming spirit trophy.

I tried to get their pictures in front of it...

BLawnDecoration

They were not having it!

We started our mad search for a cheerleader outfit and a football jersey.  We popped into a few shops on the strip but none were to be had in our sizes.  So we headed to the quad...

StepsofLib

We saw some cheerleaders and the band on the steps of the library.  We found the huge Sup Store tent where we finally found a cheerleading outfit...

MRLibrary

We found some friends from home and crashed their tailgating tent.  I also found several of my college friends.  We tried for about 30 minutes to get all our children rounded up for a group shot.  We finally roped everyone in...

CollegeKids

Front row:  Banks, William [Lori Lee Orrell] & Emma [Catherine Ray Martin]
Back row:  Sara Frances [Mande Elliott McLeod], Mary Reese, Harrison [Catherine Ray Martin] and Elliott [Mande Elliott McLeod]

After visiting, throwing the football and running around...it was time to head to the stadium...

MDB

The Million Dollar Band before the game...

MDB2

Big Al and the cheerleaders leading out the team...

ALTeam

We cheered, we danced, we ate...

MRHotDog

stadium dogs and nachos.

We even talked the lady behind us into taking our picture...

FAMHomecoming

I hate Owen wasn't with us but I knew he could have never survived the 6:00 kickoff.

We decided to take it to the house at the beginning of the 4th Quarter...hoping to beat the traffic.  And by the looks on these faces heading to the car...

LongDay@Homecoming

...it was the right decision.  I knew it was definitely the right decision when McFarland Blvd was like a ghost town and it was smooth sailing down I20.  We made it to our doorsteps around 10:30 and I was thankful I was snug in my bed at a decent time.

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