Oh yeah baby! It's that time again!

Our Trip to Pittsburg ... Part 3 (Pictures)

Pregame festivities ... (before the drama)

Benjamin did awesome!

Samuel had a great time ... minus the part where he
was whipped in the eye with the terrible towel.

Folks under the influence have a real lack
in judgment regarding personal space.

The long walk back ...

View from our hotel room
Little Ben is sacked out ;)
Pittsburgh is a beautiful city!

Sweet Memories

Our Trip to Pittsburgh ... Part 2

We left early Saturday morning for the preseason game in Pittsburgh with plans to arrive in the afternoon with plenty of time before kick-off at 7:00 p.m.

The drive was beautiful and we got to the hotel with plenty of time to change clothes and eat dinner before walking across the Fort Duquesne Bridge.

Since I started this post a couple of months ago I feel like brevity is in order ... especially since I would love to churn out several posts and try and catch up! It is probably best that I have taken such a while to decompress. It will allow my words to be less offensive ;)

Let me give it to you in bullets:

• I did exhaustive research in regard to bag & purse sizes, camera's, food, etc. that Heinz Field allowed into their glorious stadium. Please feel free to click on the following link which details the Security Guidelines.

*However, do not feel as though you have gained proper knowledge of what the security requirements are. The "real" guidelines are apparently kept under lock and key and only given out as you are trying to cross through the entrance gates at kickoff.

• Because I have a baby I was allowed a diaper bag but I told my girls to keep their purses at the hotel. I did bring my camera bag and it did meet the above "guidelines".

Please read the quotes with a great deal of sarcasm.

• We carried the Hoss 2-3 miles because the rules do not allow for strollers.

• We did not bring our flasks of whiskey because we like to follow the rules.

*However, we would find out later that flasks of whiskey were greatly needed in order to curb my overwhelming desire to jump and/or push someone from the Fort Duquesne Bridge.

• My point? We meticulously followed said guidelines in order to ensure that we had absolutely no delays.

• After realizing that the will-call booth was located on the other side of the stadium and the tickets were in my name, I waddled as quickly as I could and collected the tickets and I made my way back around to the gate where my family was waiting. We proceeded to security where we were appropriately groped and sent on our way through the ticket gate.

• After handing our tickets to the woman who nearly ruined our life ticket collector we started to make our way through the turnstiles when she abruptly stopped us and asked about our 6th ticket ... one for Benjamin.
  

*I think I may have nervously giggled at this point and then said something like, "He is under two ... he doesn't need a ticket."

• Then the sky grew dark and she may have laughed ominously (or maybe it just felt that way) and she said that everyone needed a ticket, regardless of age ... even infants.

*We bantered back and forth about this new tidbit of information and how ridiculous it was until we realized that we were left with little choice in the matter. We were given these specific instructions:

• Because all of our tickets had already been scanned they were now void. They needed to be reissued.

• We would then need to buy an additional ticket for Benjamin. No matter that the seats would not be together AND no matter that he would be sitting on our lap the entire game because the seats would envelope him like an alligator.
  

These things DID NOT MATTER.

• We made our way around the other side of the stadium (again) where they sell the tickets. I informed the sales person of our dilemma and slid my credit card through the slot.

• She said the words: "Cash Only"

• I began to shake violently because I was certain that we did not have $100 cash and turned to Chris who had turned a very light shade of gray and looked terribly woozy at this point.

• He dug around in his pocket and thankfully pulled out enough cash. In the meantime I tried in vain to avoid the ugly cry and listened to the fellow beside me lament over the very same issue we were dealing with.

• A woman who was sitting on a stool behind the glass (where all the secrets are kept) got up and whispered something to the woman who was helping us. I assumed it was something about a rule regarding flip-flops or ponytails ... but I was wrong.

• She GAVE us her ticket. She wasn't going to the game after all and she had this extra ticket ... and she gave it to us! The guy beside me wasn't as thrilled with this arrangement and so we hastily made our way back to security.

*Please recall that we have already made it through security once before.

• I am the last one to go through security and when the woman who hates me for no apparent reasonsecurity person sees my camera bag and she asks me to open it. I oblige and she asks for the length of my camera lens ... to which I have no answer for. She opens it and says it is too long ... and YOU. CAN. NOT. COME. IN. THE. STADIUM. WITH. IT.

*It got ugly here. A lot of crying. Children crying. Adults crying. A whole lot of crying. Visions of the nightly news started to flash before my eyes and I dug deep for some resolve. In retrospect I could have used a friendly slap across the face to jolt me back into reality.

• I took a deep breath and told Chris to head into the stadium with the kids. I would make my way around to the other side of the stadium (AGAIN) and choose a more kind and gentle gatekeeper.

About 30 minutes later and without drama I entered the stadium and I found my family. I had missed kick-off and Chris was still in deep-breathing mode. We looked each other in the eyes and made a determination that we needed to let it go and enjoy the game.

And we did :)

More pics to follow ...

Our Trip to Pittsburgh ... Part 1

Ya'll know I am the BEST at blogging in a series.

Not.

I have such good intentions to come back and finish my thoughts (Disney, Family Integrated Church, etc.) ... and we all know what road is paved with good intentions, right?

Well, let me tell you that the road to Pittsburgh is paved with Cheese Nips, Sour Patch Kids & coffee for our driver :)

We stopped in West Virginia for a bathroom break and to let the kids run because, like Nacho says, "They are just ninos! Trying to release their wiggles!!!"

Where I Talk About Football

Let me preface this post about football (where I will be scrutinized and then hung out to dry if I mess it up) and say that while my husband and his brothers grew up loving the Steelers I cannot claim to have been a lifelong fan.

And so, this is the part where I hang my head in shame and admit ...

My name is Kim ... and I loved the Dallas Cowboys.

When I was in kindergarten, this poster hung in my room.

Even though Roger Staubach was the best quarterback, I wanted to marry Danny White ... much to the chagrin of my Papaw.

Cause Danny White was a pansy.
(his words, not mine)

I had a mean gambling habit back then and took my Papaw to the cleaners every chance I could. We had a standing bet:

I took the Boys.
He took their opponent.

The Cowboys were a force to be reckoned with back then, so needless to say, I went home with my pockets just a janglin' with coins.

That was until the dark day, when the new owner, Jerry Jones came along. This is the part where I have to show restraint and not speak honestly ugly about those Cowboys and their very scandalous, shady, obnoxious unprofessional behavior. Seems a bit like a co-winkydink that after Mr. Jones booted Tom Landry out on his keister, things started to stink in Big D.

And it wasn't just the Trinity River, either.

About that same time (1989) I met Chris. I didn't completely turn my back on the Cowboys but with each arrest or foul-mouthed interview I became more and more disillusioned.

Plus. I think Scott (Chris' brother) might have hated my guts or at least gouged my eyes out if I actually cheered for a team that opposed the Pittsburgh Steelers.

So there began my little journey towards becoming a Steelers fan. So without further ado, I shall now boast in the glory of the greatest football team in the history of the universe.

And as of Sunday, February 1, 2009 ... that my friends .... is a FACT! Despite having the hardest schedule in the NFL, they are the Super Bowl XLIII Champions!!!

The Steelers' franchise has won the most total games, won the most divisional titles, earned the best winning percentage, earned the most All-Pro nominations and has the most Super Bowl wins.

That would be six.

In August 2008, ESPN.com ranked Steelers' fans as the best in the NFL, citing their "unbelievable" sellout streak of 299 consecutive games.

When the Steelers are on the road and facing teams with poor attendance and low fan turnout at home, that would result in a local blackout on television, they usually end up selling out when hosting the Steelers, due to Steeler fans buying tickets.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have sold out every home game since the 1972 season.

Cheerleaders? I love that they have no cheerleaders. I said it. We don't need no stinkin' cheerleaders.

I like that football is for men and I don't really like women commentators. There. I said that too. (I might have to write a whole other post about this)

Who needs cheerleaders, anyway?

Pittsburgh has won more AFC Championship Games (7) than any other team. They have also hosted (10) and played in (14) more AFC championship games and than any other franchise.

There have been three coaches since 1969. All three have won Super Bowls.

Speaking of Super Bowls ... We had just a little bit of fun here on Sunday ;)

This first set of pics is from the previous AFC championship game:

Troy Polamalu ...#43
Loves Jesus and actually takes flight during a tackle.

Benjamin ...
Loves AAA batteries and makes a great protest when we remove them from his mouth.

We had some friends over Sunday and it was the first time that we have had a whole family show up in Steelers gear. It made us a little giddy.


We had a lot of food. So much, that just thinking about it has caused me to pop some Tums.


I have seen Chris and his brother lose their mind cheer enthusiastically during a game, so it was fun to have the additional commentary this time.


100-yard interception by James Harrison! A linebacker! Help him somebody! RUN! RUN! RUN!

Touchdown Steelers!!! Would you look at that baby's face?
Tell me the boy doesn't understand the game.

Here's the part where I try to protect the baby and his fragile eardrums.

It was hard to celebrate things like touchdowns because ...

"Did they just throw another flag?"

Gratuitous baby picture

Thank you half-time commercials. The children looked forward to this part all day.

Wouldn't it be funny if we saved the game on DVR and Samuel watched the commercials every single day as if they were an actual television show?

As if.

Hey look! We exist! At the same time!
And seriously, I had no idea we were posin' like "Twinkies" until after the picture was taken.


This guy showed up a day late and obviously a few dollars short. He was immediately taken outback, roughed up and painted black & gold from head to toe.


I think he learned his lesson.


It was an awesome game and we had a fair amount of confidence up and until this happened.



So then we all gulped real big.

Then we held our breath and waited for the minutes to pass.

I actually had my camera out and was going through pictures on the viewer and trying to pretend that this apparent loss was going to be okay.

I mean it is JUST a game, right? (Scott. I am just kidding. Please breath.)

And then. GREAT GOOGLY-MOOGLY! HAVE MERCY!
Did Holmes just catch that ball surrounded by THREE Cardinals with nary an inch to spare???
Are those his beautifully pointed toes that came down INBOUNDS to score the GAME WINNING touchdown with 35 blessed seconds left???



So I snapped the moment. Sure wish I had it on video.


Needless to say. We had a mighty fine time ;)

***And Happy Birthday Scott. This post is dedicated to you ;)