01.31.2015: The Real Deal - NFL Experience

 

On Saturday, we headed downtown to experience the NFL experience (round 2 for me!).  Drake and Vince were at a track meet all day, so I met the rest of the crew down there for some Superbowl fun!  It was already packed by the time we got down there in the morning...and it was raining!  Pretty easy to find the group though, and when I did, we headed into the convention center.

 

The boys (including Brent) wanted to do everything...all the events they could participate in.  I should say the boys, and Avery!  She insisted on doing everything too.  She was a riot out there!!  I love that she sees herself as just one of the big kids and doesn't even think twice about NOT doing anything!  If we tried to not let her do an event, she would have a fit! So, needless to say, she did most of them.  Nana wasn't too excited to participate, but really enjoyed watching everyone else! Great people watching in general!  We spent a few hours in the expo and did most of the events.  The boys really wanted to play in the Play 60 flag football game, but the next game didn't start for over an hour and we were pretty much ready to go. 

 

We decided to walk around the events that were going on outside for a while, but it was super crowded!  We checked out a few things, but it was getting into the evening and the dynamics of the crowd was changing to a crazier, more adult (drunk) crowd!  So, decided to was time to go get our drink on at home :)

 

So, I headed back to Scottsdale to pick up Kaizen, Drake & Vince...and food, and the rest of the crew headed to Mesa.

 

Winning TD catch

Not AZ without some Mariachis.  These ones we found were pretty cute, and looked awfully familiar!

Sisters

Happily waiting in line for a catching drill

Devon Still

Waiting on the sidelines to meet Antonio Gates

Alvarez!!  Funny that we ended up in line behind him waiting to meet Gates. 

The Durbs & Antonio Gates

Future Charger

Future #1 draft pick

WAY too stinking cute! She loved this!!! She was so excited to be "drafted".

01.25.2015: NFL Experience Trial Run

Today we went downtown to buy tickets for the NFL experience next weekend.  We wanted to get them early & get the military discount on them as well. Since we were already down there, and it was so cheap, we decided to do a "trial run" today and go in anyways.  It wasn't crowded at all today so was easy to be able to see everything and really get to experience it all.  We didn't do any of the events, but watched a lot of them.  We saw a few famous athletes (and a lot of people that looked like famous athletes!).  I think the kids are going to have a great time next weekend....

 

After we left the event, we walked around downtown a little just checking out the scene.  Surprisingly, they didn't have a lot of the stuff setup yet!  I expected everything to be up and ready by today...but it wasn't. I guess a lot of those events don't happen until later in the week.  We had a late lunch at the Tilted Kilt down there, then headed home.



 

Talking heads setting up...
They are going to start filming live from there tomorrow & thru the week.

Kids playing touch football on a field..that's an AZ Cardinal talking to them.

01.24.2015: First Win of the Season





 

Andrew had his 3rd game of the season today. I missed last week and they had some action between one of the parents and a kid on the other team.  Most of the other teams are giants.  Like all 12 year old giants.  Andrew's team is all pretty small in comparison.  I guess last week, one of the kids was full on tackling our players throughout the game, then taunting the parents after each one.  One of our parents did not approve and rushed the field to confront the kid (standing eye to eye with him...that is how big he was).  Guess it was kinda awkward haha!  So, anyways, bummed I missed all the action!!! 

 

This week was pretty tame.  The kids were normal size, which was good.  Our kids didn't come out onto the field completely intimidated before the first snap.  They came out aggressive & scored a TD on their first drive.  Andrew came out on fire and did amazing on both offense & defense.  He had a few TD passes, a couple catches, and pulled a few flags.  He caught the ball on the opening kickoff and had a great run too.  All-in-all, the kids looked great and you can tell they are improving with each game....which is really all you can ask for!  They had a great time, and came out with a win.  Brent even seemed to enjoy it! :)  It was a great confidence boost for the team!

 



From the look on Brent's face, I think the other team just scored!

The water gurl...chasing Daddy with the water!

Running off the field....adorable!



01.23.2015: Crab Fest

Today is Vince Jr's 36th birthday.  Unfortunately we can't spend the day with him, but we were able to have a crab fest and celebrate from here.  Mike is in town still and LOVES crab legs.  It is something they don't have easy access to in Costa Rica, so its a delicacy when he comes back here.  So, we did a little all-you-can-eat crab fest at Brent & Alisa's tonight...complete with multiple bottles of champagne, wine, crab, bacon pesto pasta, bread, and salad.  YUM!

 

 

Vince's birthday collage...and one of my fav pics of him w crab legs from a couple years ago

Tonight's feast

01.19.2015: Great Day for a Run

Alisa, Wendy and I signed up for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon at Disneyland in May.  I have slowly been running so as not to be completely out of shape and struggle in some last minute training!  I had been doing great up until the holidays, then slacked off big time.  I only ran once in the entire month of Dec. UGH!  So, it is January and its time to get back into it.  The lake down by the Hyatt is a 5 mile round trip on a great secluded running trail from the house and this is my new daily run...when not in "long run" mode.  It is such a gorgeous view, and gorgeous trail, it makes the run a little better.  Wishing I was running along the beach though...I can dream I guess.

 

Such a pretty night!