Attempts in Keeping Our Gully From Being Washed.

Today was mine and Ali’s first day in Tuscaloosa this year. And, on top of that, it was her first time EVER scheduled to have the privilege of actually going into the stadium.

And the 80% chance of rain? And the week’s worth of rain that has already turned Alabama into a state-shaped mud-wrestling pit? Why, that would never curb Chris’ Football enthusiasm. And hey – I’m always up for an adventure, so we set off in the pouring rain, optimistically thinking that it would subside.

We were excited for the day, after we got over the early hour that Chris woke us up:
Okay, not really. He was actually quite merciful on us today. I’m pretty sure that his wake-up call of 7am for an 11:20am kick-off was his most female-friendly-football-day-rise-and-shine ever.

And for that, we applauded him:

This was our first relatively long car trip since potty-training really got serious, so we had to have another first: toddler usage of gas station bathroom.

(shudder.)

There was a doorway with the “men/women” sign on it that I assumed led to a hallway with the separate bathrooms.

I assumed wrong.

I twisted the knob a couple of times, and then was greeted with a very shrill, very rude, very redneck scream to “Back Off I’m IN HERE!!!!”

A few seconds later, Miss Overalls, Steel-Toed Boots, Camo-Ballcap and chew-stuffed cheeks stepped out and glared me AND my toddler (just in case it was Ali that was the shady doorknob villain) and stomped her steel toes away.

Wow. I had no idea that trying the door more than once was such a grievous sin.

Although I was much too scared of what she would do to me if I photographed her, I did get a shot of her hubby arguing with her, also in matching overalls:
Gotta love country gas stations.

At any rate, it POURED rain our entire hour’s drive to Tuscaloosa. We weren’t sure if we would actually be going to a game, or just taking a family car-wash-ride to Tuscaloosa and back, and the latter was looking more likely by the minute.

When we got there, we of course immediately had to go find the little girl’s room AGAIN, and so Ali and I decided to hang out inside for a few minutes:

However, in just a few minutes, it mercifully quit raining, and the sun actually started peeking out, so we went back outside to reconnect with Chris:
Due to the iffy weather that could turn at any second, people in Tuscaloosa were having to make the hard decisions…

Like, “Should I wear the mismatched plastic pants and hate myself, or take the chance of getting my elephant-embroidered prep pants (that I REALLY should hate myself for) wet?”

And the poor sorority girls – oh their dilemmas. They were having to decide between the usual uniform of stilettos-that-are-responsible-for-dozens-of-broken-ankles-after-too-many-smuggled-in-flasks-in-the-stadium, or the more practical but oddly-out-of-place rainboots:

Obviously, Miss Black Dress has her priorities more in order. I hope her ankles survive.

Ali and I epitomized tailgating as we people-watched and visited with Papa (Chris’ Dad)…
And Ali was feeling oddly cuddly, so I of course took advantage of every second of it:
But due to that 11:20 kickoff, tailgating was cut short to take the LOOOONG (with a toddler) walk to the stadium.

Once we got in, Ali was completely enamored by the amount of people in the stadium – she kept pointing out how MANY people were there. She spent a lot of time silently taking it all in:

AND she never let go of her ticket, given to her by Janet, a sweet tailgating neighbor. She was quite proud of it:

We sat in our seats for the first quarter and a half, all the while Ali pleading to go down and see the Elephant. So once the game was quite in hand, we picked up and headed down to meet Big Al before taking an early exit.
Of course, after having BEGGED to see him, she was terrified for her life.

But then, after we left the game, when we asked her what her favorite part was, she lost no time in telling us that it was “meeting the elephant.”

She’s so weird. I love it.

After rescuing her from the grip of the deadly beast, we hung around near the field for a few more minutes and also got some cheerleading-watching in:

She was interested in them, but not nearly as obsessed as I feared thought she might be.

But then, when we were leaving the stadium, Ali discovered her true love practicing their upcoming halftime show:

She quite assuredly told me “When I get to be a big girl, this is what I am going to do.”
She wouldn’t leave until they did, and so when the last “flag girl” was inside the stadium, we managed to pry her away, leaving the stadium in our wake:
And as soon as we got in the car and on the road again. . .

Apparently we were QUITE in God’s favor today.