Labor Day Weekend

This weekend, Molly attended her first UT football game in Knoxville.  I think mom and I had a temporary moment of insanity when we agreed to participate in this holiday weekend adventure!  ha!  It has been a family tradition and we made it work with Madison and Eddie...but now with 3 kids ages (almost) 2, 3, and 4 years old...a college football game with 107,000 crazed fans is not the place to be.  I think mom and I entered reality after a few plays into the first quarter and the ref apparently made a bad call...the crowd started yelling
a very understandable 'bull-shit" chant and we knew we were sunk! ha!  Can you just see all three kids going around saying bull-shit all weekend??

 The main point of the weekend was to get cute pictures and for Molly to wear these cute outfits I bought on etsy this summer.  So we did succeed in those two objectives!  This little ruffled pants outfits was SO CUTE and I bought it here.

And this little A line dress came from here.

Now that the notes on the weekend's fashion is done, let me get to the good stuff...

Mom, Molly, and I drove down together and were only running two hours later than our "scheduled" departure time!  Packing with and for a toddler makes weekend journeys much harder than they used to be!!!  Molly was in a good mood and ready to go.  We were in the car for about 20 minutes before she went to sleep and slept the entire way to Knoxville!  (About 3 hours)  We stopped for lunch and a little shopping and then met up with the rest of the crew at the hotel.

 There was a lot of running and playing with the curtains

 laughing

and fun times before we ever left!

 It was a gorgeous day, but we had a long way to walk.  It was hard on the kids.  Before they all melted down too much, we got a few good pictures.

 Molly is trying to tell Eddie something...to move closer or hold her hand.  I can't remember.

 Touchdown, Tennessee!

Molly is still hoping for a touchdown!

 That is the sunsphere built for the 1982 World's Fair...Eddie and I were there!

Eddie, getting a ride.

 welcome to a UT game...it's a complete sea of orange!!

Our seats are about 20 rows down from this sign...the highest point in the stadium.

 It's a long way up for little feet, but Molly insisted on walking the entire way there and back to the hotel...probably 3-5 miles total for the day.

too much going on around her to look at the camera...

 The Pride of the Southland Marching Band...true beauty!

Molly insisted on sitting in the seats in front of us instead of with us!  Madison joined her for a while.  We left after the first quarter...yeah that is $120 to see 15 minutes of a game but what's the saying...

$250 for a hotel room and room service

$120 for tickets for a game

$40 gas for the car

pictures of your child at the game...priceless???  well, that's what we'll keep telling ourselves.  Because these pictures will be shown to Molly for many years because it will be MANY years before we on a trip again! ha!

 Molly and Eddie were intently concerned about this 'trash' flying around on the street!  ..."should we pick it up or not????"

Mom, Ambre, and I left the game with all the kids after the first quarter...lucky Eddie!  He got to see the whole game in peace!  Tennessee won, 50-0, but UT Martin is not even in our conference so it should have been a blow out.  The first game is almost always an easy win.  

Molly was actually pretty good all day long and at the game.  She would have lasted to halftime probably, but we didn't want to test our luck and wait for a melt down.  Madison would not sit still and I just knew she would eventually topple down all the stairs and hurt herself and Little Eddie was just not interested in the game.  So it was easier for us all to leave together and have a "nice", leisurely walk back to the hotel without the crowds around us.  We were so hungry when we got back we just ordered room service, took baths, and tried to get everyone to wind down.  

I don't know if it was over stimulation from the day, exhaustion, sickness, or if the hotel room triggered a memory of China at bedtime but Molly went completely ballistic which is so unlike herself.  She would not come to me, pushed me away, and would not even sleep in my bed!  She kept going to the door and saying "go".  She slept in mom's bed, but every time mom touched her she screamed.  She cried herself to sleep and the moment she woke up in the morning she went to the door and said "go home".  It was a long night and I felt so helpless with her and sad for her.  I really think the atmosphere of the hotel room at night brought back some memory for her and she couldn't deal with it...on top of all the other things I mentioned before.  

We were supposed to leave Sunday morning with Ambre, Eddie, and the kids to go to a water park in Pigeon Forge, but we decided to come home.  Molly has been happy and more like herself ever since we got home.  So I'm guessing she is not ready for traveling and now that I think about the whole weekend it was really too much to expect of her little body and mind after only 4 months of attachment.  Everything up to this point has been so smooth, I hope this doesn't' set her back with trust and attachment issues.

She is her mother's daughter, and we are home-bodies!!!  I enjoy a good vacation, but I'm perfectly content to be holed up in my home for days at a time!  Molly loves it at home and can keep herself busy moving from one activity to another.  So, it may be a couple years before I try a vacation with her.  I think as parents we want to give our kids all these great experiences, but really all they want and need is to feel safe and secure with their parents in their home environments.  I know they have to learn to adjust, but that can and will come later for Molly.  She is just not ready.

I'm trying to upload a great video of the first of the game but it's taking forever!  Check back and see if it's loaded in a little while...

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Labor Day Weekend