BYU Basketball Game

A few weeks ago some friends invited us on a last-minute trip to Dallas for a BYU-TCU basketball game. We were so glad we went! Next time I will try to remember to pack diapers. I don't enjoy emergency grocery store expeditions in towns I am not familiar with.

The boys did great on the 4 hour drive. Joseph did a little sleeping and Ian filled up a notebook with car and truck stickers. The boys even held hands for a few minutes and invented what Ian calls the "car-seat game": Ian puts his leg up on the side of Joseph's huge rear-facing seat, and Joseph swats it off. Hours of fun. Meanwhile, Scott and I ate Cheetos as discreetly as possible in the front seat.(PS: White Cheddar Cheetos are almost as messy as their bright orange cousin.)

On our walk from the parking lot to the stadium Ian sat on Scott's shoulders with his arms flung out to the sides, exclaiming, "I am flying on my daddy's shoulders to a BYU basketball game!" Over and over. Obviously, for Ian it doesn't get much better than that. It was a giddy little site to behold. The throng of BYU families headed the same direction seemed to think he was cute too.

We haven't brought our children to a big sporting event since we took 6-month-old Ian to an Astro's game and I swore we wouldn't go back until Ian was four years old. I remembered that promise as we entered the stadium seconds before tip off. The noise was deafening and a person dressed in a giant, air-inflated referee suit was blocking our way. The boys looked nervous and then both instantly decided they liked it all. Phew!

They loved watching the players on the court from our decently-close seats. During half-time we went down to a railing right by the court and Ian slipped under the railing and actually stood on the court until we noticed. But I think the highlight for Ian was playing with Jeff Pew's touch screen phone during the last 15 minutes of the game. Joseph preferred to squirm around under the stadium seats and collect morsels of food. My inner germaphobe was finally at peace when Scott held him in the aisle for the rest of the game. Joseph seemed to prefer it too. It was past his bedtime by then.

The horn toad TCU mascot handed out lollipops and while Ian  ate his I asked him who he liked better, "The big frog who gives you lollipops, or Cosmo?" Ever loyal, Ian replied Cosmo. We were all sad Cosmo wasn't there that night. We would have loved to get a family picture with him.

But Ian did get to 'meet' a few of the players as they exited the stadium. Unfortunately the camera was on a weird setting, so this is the best photo I got. When a player came up to Ian to give him a high-five, Ian felt shy and pulled his hand back. So the player gave Ian a pat on his chest. Ian was very happy about this. [The player was actually none other than Jimmer Fredette. I was way impressed that he stayed around after the post game interviews and everything just to high-five all the fans that were hanging around.]