Our youngest grandmonster, Bailey, is very interested in attending University of Kentucky. She is a senior and must make that determination this year. She wants to attend a school with a good marching band program. She loves playing in the band. This year, her senior year, she has worked so all her classes but one are band classes. The one class she is taking that is not band related is located close to the band room. The girl loves playing music.
Bailey called us while we were driving home from Jake's and asked if we were busy on August 31st. We assured her we were available. It seems UK's first football game of the season was the evening of August 31st. The UK band was inviting high school students to participate with them at this game. Bailey was on board for that and thought two of her classmates were also going. They backed out and Bailey was hoping we could get her to the performance and back to our home. We assured her we could do that. Plans were made to pick her up Friday and return her home Sunday. You see, Hayden's day and time to get into his apartment at DuPaul University in Chicago was this day as well. Andie and Michael would be driving him to school, getting him set up in his new apartment and returning home. Having grandparents in the area can be a blessing. For them, for Bailey and for her parents.
Friday, August 30th, we picked Bailey up about 3:30. We came home by way of the Walmart in Georgetown. Bailey needed a white shirt to wear, a clear purse to take into the stadium and some snacks for the event. After a very successful Walmart run, we went to Five Guys and bought burgers to go. Back to our home to enjoy a nice dinner together. I cut Bailey's hair. And we called it a day after watching a bit of television. Bailey fell asleep under her blanket on the living room sofa. I kissed her goodnight when Claude and I headed to bed. She slept there all night.
Saturday, August 31st, we received a notice on our phones that Bailey now needed to be at Shively Field at 12:30pm instead of 1:30pm. This was because of impending bad weather. Claude fixed pancakes for us to get her a nutritious start. UK would provide a meal for the band participants in the afternoon.
Claude would be the driver for the weekend. I would be the walker for the weekend. Claude and I scoped out the location of everything the week prior. We made it to the sports center and around behind that building is Shively Field. This is where check-in was located. I received an arm band with Bailey's name on it so that I could pick her up after the half-time show. Bailey was given her UK t-shirt to wear over her white top. She was looking good and ready for her adventure.
Then I received an alert on my cellphone saying the game was delayed due to weather. It seems that when lightning is spotted, they must delay the game for 30 minutes. Anytime there is a new lightning strike, the clock resets and starts the 30 minute wait again. I had been studying how long a college football game usually lasts so that we could figure a time to leave our home to get back to UK and find a place to drop me off to get Bailey. We figured with a 7:45pm kickoff time, we would leave our home at 8pm to get me in position for when Bailey finished halftime. Now, we had a wrinkle. I started a text thread with Bailey and Michael and Andie. I found a radio station that broadcasts the UK games. I would listen to them to hear when the game would actually start. The delay ended up being to 10:05pm for kickoff. Ugh!!! At one point, they told the band kids they could choose to go home then or wait and see if they got to march. Bailey opted to wait. She did make it into the stands but did not get to march.
The game started and Claude and I picked a time to leave. We were just getting down Paynes Depot when Bailey sent a text she was going to come on home. They were not marching the high school kids. I texted her that we were on our way.
When we got to UK, there were many streets blocked off preventing us to go our planned route. I know this is to protect the flow of traffic but Ugh!! We made our way to Alumni Drive and to an entrance into the blue lot. Many people had already left and were leaving. Claude got me close to the stadium and I got out of the car and headed around the end of the stadium to Gate 1 to pick up Bailey. Claude found a parking spot and pulled in to wait for us. Bailey was standing there and the lady took a picture of my arm band and we were able to leave. Back around the end of the stadium to the blue parking lot. I called Claude and he told me he parked very close to where he let me out. Yeah. We found him quickly and then made out way out of the blue lot and home. I sent Andie a text at 11:37pm stating we were headed home.
As we drove home, there was lighting over Georgetown. We got inside and more rain, thunder and lightning came down. We would learn that they called the game 9 minutes into the 3rd quarter because of weather. The final score was 31-0. The Wildcats won.
We all went right to bed when we got back to our home. Exhausted!! Think about it. Andie and Michael drove to Chicago, got Hayden's things into his apartment and set up, went to the store to stock his kitchen items, then drove back to LaGrange while we did these antics with Bailey. What a day it was. We spoke with a friend a church on Sunday who is over UK Athletics. He said in all his years with them he had NEVER seen an evening like that one.
I did tell Bailey that, even though she didn't get to march with the band, she was able to experience what the WMB (Wildcat Marching Band) was like to help her assess if the school was somewhere she might want to really go. Bailey was very favorably impressed.
Sunday, September 1st, Bailey slept in while Claude and I went to church. When we got home, Miss B was up and about and looking fresh and happy. Claude and I changed into comfy clothes. We loaded the car with Bailey's things. We had lunch from Jimmy John's. The across country to LaGrange. I would cut Andie's hair. We haven't done that since before our trip to Italy because of my bad arm. After a nice visit, Claude and I returned home and watched more Northern Exposure for the evening.
It was great fun having Bailey around. We have a better picture of what to expect at a UK football game now. If she does go to UK, we are more prepared to attend a game.
Monday, September 2nd, is Labor Day. We had options for how to spend this day. We both decided to wait and see how we felt after we woke up. We both determined a quiet day at home would be great. We may have BLT's for dinner or we may go out. That will be our big activity for today.
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