Addilyn's first trip to Kinnick Stadium

Checking out the tent

This tent is cool!

Look at my Herky tattoo! (Which was very quickly removed by Addilyn, but at least we got a quick picture.)

Addilyn & Papa. This is Addilyn's "I Hear" pose. Anytime she hears something that she hasn't heard before, she says, "I Hear" and puts her hand to her ear. In this case, it was the sound of the announcer and crowd noise outside Kinnick Stadium. Ahhh...hearing the sounds of the game for the first time at the Mecca of College Football (Kinnick Stadium)!

Mmm...Good popcorn! And, we made sure to get a souvenir Herky cup to take home!

Go Hawks!

Look at the crowd! Lots of gold today in the stands.

What an AWESOME day! I guess watching football wears a little girl out!

Today was the big day! The season opener for the Hawkeyes! We started the day off with some hot coffee, eggs, and bacon at the campsite. We rolled out of the campground on our bikes at 10:00 am with the bike trailer pulling Addilyn behind. It took us about 45 minutes to ride to the stadium. The hills were pretty challenging, but the weather was perfect. We arrived at the game just after kickoff and Addilyn was in Hawkeye Heaven! Herky, herky, everywhere. We weaved in and out of excited Hawk fans and arrived at our seat. To my surprise, we were on the 30 yard line and in a great seat. The Junior Hawk Club really treats us. Everyone around us was very friendly in a typical Iowa way. The gentleman sitting next to us was very into the game, and he was one of those fans that yells, "GO HAWKS!" at random times. I caught Addilyn jumping a few times. She would then repeat "Go Hawks" and cheer. The folks behind us kept talking to her and saying how awesome it was that she truly enjoying being at the game. In fact, Addilyn actually watched the plays and seemed genuinely interested in what was happening on the field and on the scoreboard. Of course, the band was fun to listen to, and there was lots of loud music that we danced to during the game. My favorite was the "Burrito Lift" when we were literally bouncing up and down on the bleachers. We ate some popcorn and a hot pretzel for lunch at the concession stand, and anticipated a much better second half, considering the first half had UNI leading Iowa 10-3. In the end, the Hawks pulled it out 17-16 over the Panthers by blocking 2 field goals in a row! It was a blast of a day, and another experience to add to Addilyn's lengthy list.

Addilyn's first trip to Kinnick Stadium