You Guys! THANK YOU for the love yesterday! I appreciate you so very much! By the way, I didn’t even realize how small and hard to see that font was! The way I was viewing it, it looked so very different. Those of you who commented it was hard to read-THANK YOU! I appreciate you and think I figured out what I was doing wrong! Rookie mistake, literally! ha!
If you follow along via Instagram then you probably saw what adventures we had over Christmas but I have a little more back story and details of the trip to share. Then I’ll be officially ALL CAUGHT UP and I’ve got a fun line up of topics thanks to your responses from my quiz in December.
Let’s rewind back to November when Tab got his schedule for Christmas weekend. We knew the odds were Tab would have to leave on Christmas Day for a football game on Sunday, the 26th. When I say we went back and forth about what we’d do, I really mean it. The planner in me struggles with waiting until the month before to book everything needed for a getaway but that’s the way this works. So, we got the Cincinnati assignment, booked flights for the whole crew, and decided we’d make it a family affair. Just thinking about Tab leaving early in the day on Christmas and the rest of us just hanging at home felt all kinds of wrong. Apparently this is our new tradition should Tab be gone on Christmas.
Cincinnati in December can be mild or FREEZING cold and thank goodness, the weather could not have been better! We arrived on Christmas evening just in time for dinner. The kids and I had Christmas dinner in the hotel restaurant while Tab was in meetings. And the next day we got GAME DAY ready!
Have I mentioned the weather? Because it seriously deserves another shout out. I’d gifted everyone new winter gear thinking we’d need to be wearing it while we attended the game, but there were moments I was seriously concerned we’d all have a sunburn. ha!
Our hotel was right downtown in the heart of Cincinnati and was just a quick walk to the stadium. We arrived early, grabbed our seats, and that’s when a Raven’s player MADE OUR DAY! He was stretching and kind of warming up. Then he began throwing the all in the stands all around the end zone. From young kids to older gentlemen, it didn’t matter who he threw it to, they’d light up. I wanted to thank him for taking time out of his day to make everyone feel so special and I also wanted to call his mom to tell her how proud she should be. Nowadays, I often think about the moms. We’re all doing our best and probably to hear a “job well done” would really make her day.
This was right before I realized we’d never make it an entire game with this sun so I offered up a Bengals’ hat to each kid!
Unfortunately for Britty, they were sold out of kids’ hats so they were all way too big.
Nixon didn’t want to miss any thing so he grabbed the first hat he spotted to shade his views and the rest of our group made our way into the team store.
Where Bowen talked me into this jersey. His love for Burrow runs deep {remember his LSU days} so he was stoked. And thankfully he found one on sale because I wasn’t going to easily be convinced. Win-win for us both!
One of you recommended this German restaurant right across the river on the Kentucky side of town. And I’m so glad you did! The wait was a tad long on game day, but it was totally worth the wait! We had the best German food…schnitzel, sauerkraut, pretzels, and beer cheese fries. Oh, yes, we did. I’d highly recommend this spot if you visit Cincinnati!
The next morning we got up and drove to Louisville to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum.
Notice my face…that’s a whole blog post in itself. Basically for two weeks of Christmas break I thought I was using a gentle face wash but I actually using a super strong acid involved face wash. My face got insanely dried out, swelled up and the entire time I thought it was allergies because remember “gentle face wash”. Insert the face plant emoji for me a couple times as you read because it’s well deserved. Anyway, face was a mess so I stayed out of pictures as much as possible. {I don’t know why but in that football game selfie it doesn’t look so bad.} It’s been ten days since I figured it out and quit using the face wash and my forehead is still really peeling and dry. What a mess! Tip for the day-read all the labels even when you start using a product you’ve years ago.
Nixon, Bowen, and me have all done reports on Jackie Robinson in school.
Some major league players have visited the factory to choose their own wood to use for their bats.
Super cool thing to see!
Tab walked around with my phone and it’d shock you how many pictures he took of the process.
Girlies in the dug out.
A League of Their Own has been my favorite movie since I was like 12.
We checked out the Louisville campus and then had tickets to see….
An American Underdog…the movie about Kurt Warner’s life. I’m a Missouri girl who grew up at small school without football and when asked about my football knowledge or to name football players back in the day…well, the only thing I would have been able to say was, “Kurt Warner plays for the St. Louis Rams”. That’s it.
I’ve come a long way. hahaha!
But the movie was SO GOOD! You should take your family, take your people and go watch!
After the movie, I said that we HAD to try some Cincinnati Chili. We’d asked for recommendations and heard Skyline Chili was a good one {if you’re a local and have better suggestions, please share for next time}. We’d seen a Skyline in Louisville so we tried for ourselves! Since we’ve been home we already tried to recreate it ourselves.
Cincinnati, you were so good to us! Thank you for such a great Christmas 2021.
And thanks for being patient with the blog stuff…if you see something else or notice something that needs some assistance, please let me know
XO
