We got to the tailgate at our usual time. While we set up the girls got comfortable and spread out their many many toys. We brought a bean bag toss with us and that kept both girls entertained for awhile, especially once everyone else broke out their bean bag toss. That really got Stasa in to throwing them and man, she's pretty good, too.
The girls spent most of the tailgate running around, climbing in and out of the car, and snacking on junk. They had zero interest in eating their lunch (shocker) and only wanted to drink multiple juice boxes and eat cupcakes.
We did spend quite a bit of time running Lexi back and forth to the port-a-potty. She kept holding herself and dancing around, but then refused to go once we got to the port-a-potty. I can't say I blame her - I'm not a huge fan of them either. Luckily she finally did go before we headed up to the stadium. Tommy spent the tailgate snoozing on a blanket and then hanging out with me and Tom. He was super chill, as always.
We packed up earlier than usual to give us plenty of time to head up to the stadium and then take the girls to the potty (again) because they always always have to go again.
We had planned to try to all sit together, but since we got to the seats so early the people around us weren't yet there, so we split up, Tom took Stasa with him and I had Tommallama and Lexi with me. Lexi loved, I mean L-O-V-E-D the stadium environment. She was jumping and singing and yelling and having a great time. I pointed out the giant blow up helmet that the players run through and explained that there would be fireworks and lots of music. She was in heaven when everything started, the band, the cheerleaders, fireworks, music, booing the Bills, and cheering for the Skins. She even knows most of the chorus of our fight song. Tommy ate and then promptly passed out until we got up to leave.
Tom and I texted each other throughout the game and it looked like he and Stasa had fun, too. Stas was mostly interested in the cheerleaders and had a lot to say about them when we met up. She even showed me some new moves once we got home. "You know, like those girls at the Redskins, mommy!" Sorry, kid, you're never dressing like that.
We ended up leaving right before halftime, which worked out well for us since the game didn't start until 4:30 and the kids didn't nap. All in all we had a great time and I'm glad we made it a family trip. Here are some things I would do again and some things I would do differently if we did this again.
Get to the tailgate early. We arrived about 3 and a half hours early which allowed us to take our time with set up and cooking and breakdown. And it gave the kids plenty of time to run around.
Run the kids into the ground pre-game. We didn't do enough of this and I wish we had them run around a bit more to get more of their energy out.
Bring a training potty. Neither of the girls like the port-a-potty and it takes a Herculean effort to get them to pee in one. We saw another group set up a little personal potty with curtains and everything and agreed that next time (if there is one) we'll definitely bring a little potty for the kids.
Feed the kids until they're full pre-game. No way do we ever spend a cent once we're inside the stadium. Snyder is already getting plenty of our money and I have zero interest in forking over $10 for a crappy lite beer. Of course the girls didn't really eat pre-game and saw everyone with food and immediately started in with the "I wants."
Pick a day game. 1:00 or 4:30 are good times to go with young kids. 4:30 was pushing it a bit, but they would have made it through if we had different seating, which brings me to...
Make it fun! Point out all of the things a kid would love. The fireworks! Music! Yelling! (oh, the yelling. lol) Singing! Jumping! High fiving! Our kids are a little too young to grasp the rules of the game, but they can understand something as simple as "follow the guy who has the ball."
Teach them the fight song. Learn 'em young so they can participate in the fun when the home team scores. No one wants to be that person sitting there while everyone else is singing along. Bonus points if you can make up some fun dance moves to go along with it.
Sit together! We split up since we were using our tickets and my uncle's, but next time I would make it a point to sit together. Had we done that we definitely would have made it through the whole game. And I might not have missed kick off due to Lexi insisting that she go potty. Again.
Leave early. Yeah, I know. You're paying a butt load for the tickets and you want to get your money's worth out of them. BUT. If you leave just a little early you're guaranteed to get back to your car and on the road before the hoards of other people. No need to be stuck in traffic with overtired kids.
Have snacks ready for the ride home. Since we don't spend money in the stadium and the kids didn't really eat much at lunch they were hungry by the time we left. We stocked them up with all sorts of snacks and drinks for the ride home.
Finally, take pictures and video. Document their first game. My kids had a blast going through all of the pics and video we took at the game (and all with our phones, too). It helped them remember things about the game that they wanted to share with us.
