Zachary joins in...

September 2, 2006
Zachary's first trip to Ann Arbor and the Big House.

To Zachary and Emily, momma has memories from as far back as she can remember of trips traveled to football games, both away and in Ann Arbor. I'm sure some things will change as you grow up .... (I don't know if we'll ever leave the house by 6am), but some things remain the same...

Bags were packed, everything laid out and the car was packed on Friday night. Tickets were not counted, recounted and locked in the glove box locked in the car...(probably only because we didn't actually have possession of the tickets)... but the parking passes were checked and rechecked.

Saturday morning, momma couldn' t sleep. We have to be up and ready to go.... told daddy we'd leave by 8:00, but everyone was ready by 7:30 (yes!) Emily was raring to go... she was excited all week about going to see football. We've got our LUs on (as nicknamed by cousin Jen; lucky undies for the laymen) and lucky shirts. Those things are not changed until we lose a game... (ok, so we change and wash, but wear the same ones for the games until we lose...which sometimes means for a lot of new t-shirts!) Then it's off to the tailgate where we visit and eat hot dogs (at 9:30 in the morning) with our extended football family. Every year I think the family grows...(obviously this year it's grown!) and it's always a treat to see everyone.

Emily ready to go in her LUs, lucky shirt, new purse and pom poms...

Made it to the tailgate and here is Zach ready to play ball. He was actually a bit under the weather (I think it was his teeth). That, and it was a chillier start than normal for the first game...Emily chatted w/ Busia and Mrs. Smith...and Zachary was one of the boys w/ Dziadzia and Mr. Joe...and then as the sun came out, Zach was pooped and needed a break! Daddy sharing his jeep stories w/ Mr. Bill and Christine, (yes, there are always new stories to share)...

Ahhh, it's never too early for hot dogs. (really, it is. Thank gosh for the rice krispie treats, bagels and chocolate chip cookies!) Uncle Fred and Derek visited us from Austin for this game....
Derek was a great help trying to help Emily warm up (everyone is so scary... especially that Uncle Rick who had the bright idea to go up behind her and poke her sides) and he also watched Zach toddle around while we packed up for "the walk".... here we're almost ready to go...
Oh dear. Zachary really is starting to fade fast. (Those darn teeth. They come in at the most inopportune times!) Finally. We played catch, visited, ate hot dogs and made "the walk"... got the traditional cup of Absopure and made it to Zachary's first brick visit... (I believe it was about this time that Daddy admits to it being the first time he's ever been scared of losing his children in a crowd before... specifically Zachary. It was this instant when we're standing taking our turns w/ the bricks, Zachary seems oblivious to the thousands of people around us and could easily toddle off w/o momma or daddy's hand. Ya, I suppose I was worried about that too. Emily clams up around people and would never do such a thing...)
The family in section 6, row 53...Zachary really enjoyed being able to climb over the bleachers.... of course he wasn't crazy about being confined as people packed in... Derek and Uncle Fred enjoying their time in the stadium...

Hopefully some of these things will remain constant for Emily and Zachary growing up much as they have for momma.... oh, except for the hens who sit in row 54. They might just get their own lesson in Rezler tradition if I have to hear them talk anymore about "why would people bring children to a game so young?" "people must feel guilty about working and not being with them through the week". ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Ya, 30 years of being seat mates or not, apparently they don't know the meaning of tradition. (Funny, did they not notice me at games as a little girl??)

Anyway, hens aside, that was the only drawback to a wonderful day and a Michigan win. Zachary made it through the first quarter only... and Emily did not want to leave. Daddy offered to take Zachary back to the car to nap, and Emily and momma stayed through half time.

Emily and Busia watching the band...At the start of the third quarter, we too made our exit. Emily was disappointed.... she kept asking "why we had to leave, why couldn't we stay, why were other people not leaving"... and continued the whole trip back to the car "why did other people not leave, why are they still cheering, why is the band playing, why couldn't we stay, why did zachary have to leave so early, why were there people in the parking lot, why couldn't i carry her, why were the orange fences up"... OhMyGosh. I know there were more "whys" in there... and they lasted the whole walk back to the car (which also lasted the whole length of the 3rd quarter!) Phew!

The good news is that she wants to go back to another game... "w/o Zachary so we can stay longer".