We decided to get away for the Labor Day weekend since it's the one Saturday the boys didn't have a football game. Since Saturday was Cameron's 9th birthday, Michael thought it would be fun to take all of us to the Gators' opening game. So we went to stay at my grandmother's house in Live Oak, FL which is about an hour north of Gainesville. So we trekked down to G-ville Friday night to buy some Gator gear and found the best Gator store EVER, Gator Mania! I would love to go back and just shop an shop! Now that we were all gatored up we were ready to hit the field Saturday for the noon kickoff. Boy was it HOT! We had great seats, though. We sat close enough that the players actually looked like grown men and not a pee wee team. What fun we had! Cameron absolutely LOVED it. He screamed and cheered and even talked about what they could be doing to play better. See, Cameron is our little engine that could when it comes to football. On his pee wee team he plays quarterback, fullback, running back, kicker, and kick returner and that's just on the offense and special teams. He also plays outside linebacker and back up safety. He plays every snap of the ball unless he gets hurt.
We also took the opportunity while we were in North Florida to drive to Orange Park (a suburb of Jacksonville) and show the fam where I lived during my eighth grade year. That was actually pretty cool. I showed them the house I lived in, the school I attended, and the local ward building we attended. Michael said it wasa nice to have a visual for all the stories we tell. Just by luck we also ran into the Orange Park ward missionaries. That was such a sweet experience.
On our last day we went to the Olustee Battelfied and hiked the battle trail. That was hilarious! Butch, the Chihuahua, LOVES the outdoors and loves to hike with us. Gator, the AmStaff puppy was certain that all that walking would just kill him. It was only a mile. For those of you who don't know, the battle of Olustee was the largest Civil War battle fought in Florida and the 3rd bloodiest battle of the entire war. Every year in February they hold a huge battle reenactment at the battlefield and a festival and parade in my hometown, Lake City. We intend to take the children and make a weekend out of it this year. Not only will it be fun, it will qualify as a school field trip. I'll be sure to check in and let you all know how it goes.
