Damp Spirits

We went to Purdue for the Homecoming festivities on Saturday, but spirits (and bodies) were dampened before the end of the day.

I made the peanut butter football dip again, which seems to be well-received by the tailgaters.

We arrived early enough to do a little geocaching while the pancakes were cooking. Jim is the master of the pancakes, so that left me free to take the young ones on a little adventure. Our friends from Louisville were up for the game, so Matthew and their two girls were eager to start the hunt. Matthew manned the compass.

It seemed to be pointing in the direction of the Boilermaker statue. I was glad the description clearly stated that no climbing or scaling was necessary to find the cache. My little group would have been all about climbing and scaling. :)

Along the way, we passed this group getting all suited painted up for the game. The girls said, "Are those college kids?"
Yes.

"Why are they doing that?"
Because they're college kids.

Sure enough, we ended up at the statue.

After circling it several times, going up and down the hill, looking over the concrete wall, and checking out the stairs...

we finally found it. It was a tricky one! Matthew, Makenna, and Abbi holding the clever little container.

We signed and dated the log, and put it back for the next geocacher to find.

Success! Now we're ready to have some breakfast!

Back at the tailgate, Adam enjoyed visiting with Megan and Shelbi.

Happy Makenna!

My dad and his friend Dick, who happens to be Shelbi's grandpa.

David and Shylah with one of his chemistry friends.

David and Shylah.

Shelly (Abbi and Makenna's mom), who, while visiting another tailgate, got a little too close to the fire and melted her shirt (which she had borrowed from Darci).

So glad we didn't have Shelly on fire!

Andrew showed me his Purdue Pete golf tee.

Andrew and Darci.

Shelly, Matt, Abbi, and Makenna.

Jamalyn, David, and Shylah.

I finally made it into the stadium in time to watch the pregame show.

Andrew and Darci and gang got to go on the field to cheer for the team as they came out. This was their view as they waited to line up.

Andrew, Darci, and Matthew.

Matthew even got to give five to Purdue Pete. On the field!

From my vantage point, this is how it looked as they were lining up.

Astronaut Gene Cernan was on campus for Homecoming, and delivered the game ball. Captain Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon. Purdue is proud to claim that the first man on the moon and the last man on the moon are both part of the Boilermaker family. Matthew got to meet Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan in the summer of 2011 at a National Football Foundation event at Purdue.

I found my group in the crowd,

just before Andrew found me.

They all gave me a nice wave. So cooperative to smile for the camera. :)

Andrew is pointing to something in this one.

Here comes the team!

Go Boilers!

P-U-R-D-U-E!

 Slapping hands with the players as they run onto the field.

 The band in the Block P formation.

The flags representing the teams in the Big Ten, which is actually made up of twelve teams.

Ready for my favorite part, "I Am An American."

"You can write them on your thumbnail, or sweep them clear across this gray October sky."
And it was gray. And it got grayer. More on that later.

At the end of the National Anthem, a Mustang P51-C did a flyover. We read about the plane on the way up to the game.

Unfortunately, after the excitement of the pregame tailgate, welcoming the team on the field, the band,  the flyover, and a touchdown on the first drive, things took a drastic turn for the worse. The play got worse, the weather got worse, and our spirits got worse. We donned our ponchos and stuck it out for a while before we headed back to the tailgate lot. Jim had a little tussle with a tarp he brought along, but finally got it in place.

Before long, the kids showed up, damp all over.

Matthew showed me his field pass for the game.

And stayed safely under his bright gold poncho. They must have sold thousands! At least hundreds. :)

We cooked some burgers under the tent before we decided to pack up our wet gear and head for home. The boys wrestled the tent into the van.

In the rain.

Still smiling.

Adam was elected to grab the flagpole and move the trash bags so we could exit the parking lot. He only had a 5 minute ride before he could change out of his wet clothes. We had 2 more hours. :)

All clear to head out.

And after watching the Boilers play on Saturday, we didn't blame this group one bit for deciding to take their tent and go home.