A Beautiful Day in Boiler Country

Saturday was our second tailgate of the year, a Purdue home game against Notre Dame. After last week's lackluster performance by the Boilers, expectations were low, even by the faithful fans. An 8 o'clock p.m. start, however, meant lots of time to enjoy the beautiful day, good friends, delicious food and ice cold beverages before heading into the stadium.

Little Noah did not attend the game, but he was supporting his Boilers anyway!

Haleigh and Ella didn't get to come to the game either, but they cheered for the team from Grandma and Grandpa's house. Matthew did get to come, and stay up late with the big kids. :)

We arrived early in the stadium parking lot,

and hoisted the flags to mark our spot. It is a good way for friends and family to find us!

We had lots of good food.

Matthew and Courtney had matching shirts!

Courtney and Chellsey.

Matthew and his new friend Mason had fun playing cornhole.

And the big boys did too.

Just part of the group.

Jonathan concentrates on his throw.

Jim tosses one.

Shylah helps Matthew with his tattoo.

Shylah, Darci, and Courtney.

Adam and Courtney.

Had to throw in one of Drew.

Matthew had a little tussle with the parking lot while playing football with his new friends. Good thing Granny had those Cars bandaids in the Tahoe!

Andrew, his friend Joe, and Jonathan. Joe roomed with both of these Stewart boys at the AGR house.

Shylah and her brother Joe.

The blimp.

David's friend Nate with his family.

Kyle and Kristin.

We had a birthday cake,

and birthday cupcakes,

and were led in song by Jonathan to celebrate Jim's 54 years one day early. Happy Birthday, Jim!

When we got to the stadium, we were super happy (and a little surprised!) that we scored first!

It is cool for us to play under the lights. There are no permanent lights at Ross-Ade, so portable lights are brought in on big lifts for night games. The stadium was full, and the fans were enthusiastic.

Especially when we scored again!

That made Matthew smile despite the scraped noggin'. (He had decided to ditch the Cars bandaids by that time.)

The ND band did the first part of the halftime show.

Complete with guys in dresses.

Then the Purdue band came on, featuring the drum, of course.

It's hard to see in the photos, but the band members were wearing lights on their uniforms.

You can see the orange in this picture. It was very cool, and the lights even changed color during the show.

They made a motorcycle formation to introduce an actual motorcycle coming over the ramp and onto the field.

Guess who? Purdue President and former Governor Mitch Daniels, of course!

He got off his bike, saluted to the band,

shook hands with the director,

climbed the ladder,

and directed the band as they played 'Hail Purdue.'

All Hail Our Own Purdue!

We liked watching the overhead camera move around the field. It looks a bit like something out of Star Wars to me.

Jonathan, Matthew, and Jim in the stands.

In the end, those pesky Irish came out on top, but we were proud of the effort by our Boilers, and hope to see more of it as the season progresses.

Matthew took a little rest against my shoulder,

and soon moved to my lap. Goodnight, Boilers!