The Aggie Sickness

Can you guess where we went this past weekend?

That's right. We visited Aggieland. The baseball team was playing tu. (That's the University of Texas, for those that are not well versed in Aggieology. tu because they are not THE university of Texas. Ahem.)

Before the game, we took the boys on a little tour of the campus. This is the first time we've all 5 been down there at the same time. No visit to College Station would be complete without stopping by Kyle Field, the stadium where we hope some real football will take place this coming fall.

Here are all 4 of my men saying "Gig 'em!"

We decided to hop on over to Potbelly's for some dinner before the game. After eating, Liam had some energy to burn and decided to "get down" to some tunes in the middle of Potbelly's.
And he knows he is HOT!

Finally, it was time to hit the game. We were on the very back row, which was actually nice. We felt a nice breeze, and we didn't feel claustrophobic.

Liam and Jack while waiting for the game to begin:
And Garrett:
I'm not sure why he's giving his goofy grin, but he was, hands down, the happiest little Aggie fan. Garrett is passionate, PASSIONATE about baseball. And Aggie baseball makes his world go round.

When Coach Childress came out of the dugout, Rick pointed Garrett's eyes in his direction. Garrett's face lit up like I've never seen it before! He said, "That's COACH CHILDRESS?! That's HIM?! YEA! COACH CHILDRESS!!!"

Now, I have to digress from the game to explain something about G. I'm sure I've explained a time or twenty that he is "my" child. Although I'm certain he was adopted, he somehow obtained my DNA. We are strong-willed. We are perfectionists. We are moody. We love to laugh, but we're often seen crying as well. When we love someone or something, we love that person or thing with our whole hearts. We both love baseball. God clearly knew what He was doing when He gave me this child.

Part of Garrett's strong will rears its ugly head at the dinner table. He hates most of the dinners we serve him. He would rather hold one bite of food inside his mouth for an hour instead of swallowing it in one second. His eating issues and lack of weight gain were so bad as a toddler that we had to see a nutritionist monthly. Our nutritionist was awesome, because she would listen to me say this every month: "I feel strongly that he is underweight because of his strong will. Please give us more time to find ways for him to eat." And she would let us go another month without harsh testing. We were eventually given clearance from that monthly regimen, but it wasn't because Garrett's eating problems were solved.

Recently, G was stalling over dinner for the umpteen-millionth time. Everyone else had cleared their plates, but his plate was hardly touched, and his first bite was still filling his cheeks. Rick tried a new technique. "Garrett, I'm calling Coach Childress. [He picked up the phone and pushed some buttons and then faked this conversation.] Hi, Coach. I'm sorry to tell you that Garrett is not eating again.... No.... Okay, I'll tell him.... [Ended the phone call.] Coach says you can't play on the team if you don't eat. He only wants big, healthy boys on the field."

Wonders never cease. He cleared his plate that night. And every night since. And when he eats a really good meal, we call Coach to let him know that Garrett's ready to play. It's Reverse Psychology 101, and it works.

Back to Saturday's game. When G saw Coach, he wanted us to take him to the field. The boy thought that he could play that night. Poor boy! We had to explain that he needs to be 18 before he can join the team. He took the news rather well, all things considered.

The Ags didn't play too well without Garrett, however. We lost 5-2. I'm pretty sure that Garrett's left-handed fast pitch would have come in very handy if they would merely bend the whole age rule.

The highlight of the game, however, was when we stood to sing and sway to the Aggie War Hymn. And my baby boys, all 3 of them, sang and swayed with the best of us. We were a proud papa and mama. I can think of only one other moment that will make us more proud...for us to sing the War Hymn while our boys are on the field.

After the game, we headed to Motel 8, because we're classy people. While Liam and Jack were running amok in the hotel room, Garrett sat down to study Aggieland Illustrated. And when I say "study", I mean he spent the next 30 minutes looking at each page in depth. He wants to be an Aggie, people! It makes my heart swell!
(Actually, if you look at the background of the above photo, you'll see Jack's leg shaking off his pants and underwear. He was getting into the shower, so he wasn't really running amok. But Liam was, I assure you.)

After the best night's sleep of my life, (Oh, I kid. Motel 8 left me feeling exhausted.) we filled the boys with pancakes from IHOP and headed back to campus for some more photos. This Aggie stuff might be a sickness, but I'll never tell.
On our way home, we stopped at the famous barn for one more photo. (For those Aggies that travel the same route from College Station to Fort Worth, you know what barn I'm talking about.)
Aggies are not dumb. We do realize that the "s" is missing. This barn just survived a move by the TX DOT, but the "s" didn't survive the turmoil. We must get us some maroon and white paint to remedy this.

Back on the road, G resumed his study of the Aggieland Illustrated. He spent an hour reviewing it this time. People, he's three! Have you ever seen a three year old so serious about a team or a sport?!
Apparently, we wore the boys out, because this is what they did for the last half of the trip:
[Imagine "Silence is Golden" playing. Indeed, silence on a road trip is golden!]