Brayden walked around the driveway with his walker while we packed the truck
As we got closer to CS, Jimmy's excitement level increased as he started telling me facts and stories about A&M and talking about what we were going to do that afternoon. So, of course when we passed the Aggie barn I heard about how the freshman class paints it every year.
When we got to College Station, Jimmy had decided we'd either eat lunch at Freebirds or Wings N More. Luckily for me (I wanted Freebirds butdidn't say anything) Wings N More was packed so we went to Freebirds. Yum! Then, after a quick stop at the bank for parking money we headed to campus. We parked near the front of the campus by the Bonfire Memorial, which was our first stop after a bio break in the Civil Engineering building.
The Bonfire Memorial was really neat and I learned more about the Bonfire tradition. For instance, I for some reason thought the Bonfire always happened off campus. I had no idea it happened on campus, which is pretty cool (of course until the tragedy). The Memorial itself was neat and I enjoyed reading about every one of the 12 that passed away. It was also interesting watching the different people there go out to the center pole area - I saw many kneel and pray, others put coins on the marker. One thing I can say I felt and saw the entire day on campus was the huge bond and brotherhood/spirit that the Aggies have. Longhorns have some cool things too but we have nothing specifically that compares to the tradition and brotherhood of Aggies. So, I know one thing Jimmy really wanted to get out of the trip was for me to appreciate A&M for what it means to him, so I guess mission accomplished there. However, that does not mean I am converted. I sat every time they did the fight song and definitely flashed my horns more than a few times. :)
After the Memorial, we started walking around campus toward the stadium. I tried to be completely non-biased as I really wanted to take it all in from Jimmy's perspective. However, one thing I was surprised by was how drab and ugly most of the campus is. The buildings at A&M are all beige and all look old and dirty. I kept telling Jimmy that they really needed some pressure washing and paint. The campus is also extremely spread out -- I can't imagine getting from one end of campus to the other for classes within the allotted time. Not to mention that my feet were really hurting by the end of the day. Along our way I finally saw the famous tree which was not at all what I expected as well as learned about the Lawrence Sullivan Ross statue and how students put pennies on his shoes for good luck on a test. Apparently some students really needed luck because they left quarters.
We then headed to the bookstore to get Jimmy a new A&M polo because the one he had on was old and didn't breathe well. The book store is temporarily in the gym which was odd because the merchandise was on the gym floor that I had played volleyball on numerous times in the past. Of course while we were there we "had" to get Brayden an Aggie jersey and an A&M stuffed monkey. We then headed toward the alumni center. As we walked that way, we passed tailgate spots and Aggie horse butts. :)
At the alumni center, they have a giant ring that I really wanted Jimmy to take a picture of me under with my horns up but he refused. :( Inside the alumni center, they have some interesting exhibits where you can learn quite a bit of history of A&M and the Aggie traditions. One of the exhibits is a ring display that shows rings for every year they've found. The early rings were so much smaller than the rings these days.
The oldest ring they had was from class of 1891...
Did you know Will Ferrell went to A&M and donated his ring? (J/K - well about the movie star Will Ferrell anyway)
We then checked out the rec center and tried to find some people tailgating but couldn't. Then we watched what I think is just called the march of the core into the stadium. That was quite interesting although I really disliked some of the chants they were saying about the horns. Then we headed up the stadium to our 3rd level seats. One other thing I learned that I thought was pretty cool was that they have a flyover for every game. The game itself was rather boring considering it was 37-0 when we left in the 4th quarter (they ended up scoring once after we left) but we had a good time except for a few annoying/irritating people around us. We talked a lot during the game about bringing Brayden there one day as we heard the kids around us asking a million questions about everything including - can we go yet? - haha. :)
After the game, we headed to our car and drove to Franklin, TX, which was about 45 minutes away in the middle of nowhere, where we stayed the night. All the hotels in CS/Bryan were completely sold out when I bought the tickets. The hotel in Franklin was pretty nice and was full of Aggies, including a coworker of mine that we randomly saw in the lobby on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Brayden had a great time at Mimi and Papa's and was a great baby! He napped and slept all night and really didn't give them any trouble at all, although my mom could have done without some of his diapers. :) He is such a good, happy baby/little man.
Laughing at Uncle Mike during lunch on Saturday
Loves spaghetti!
Early morning smiles on Sunday morning with Papa!
Reading the Sunday ads with Papa
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