What a whirlwind of a little get away. Yesterday started with an early swim for Zak and the girls as I slept in. I like these kind of vacations! We got all decked out green and gold gear and headed to the local Shopko to pick up sunscreen. (Turns out we absolutely suck at packing for one or two nights. We didn’t forget a single thing on the 41 day trip, but the list of items we forgot for this trip goes on and on, including pants. I won’t tell you which one of us, but one Knott forgot to pack pants.) We were standing in the sunscreen aisle when Zak asked if we need anything else. At that EXACT moment, Ellie’s flip flop fell apart. She hobbled through the store as we found her another cheap pair that will hopefully last the rest of the summer. I did learn that her feet have grown since the last pair of shoes we bought her and her feet are now the same size as mine. I know I have small feet for my height (it’s surprising I can balance so well and don’t fall over more often), but this is ridiculous.
As we left the parking lot, we got stuck in a horrible traffic jam. I thought that there must be a bad accident ahead. We sat in the middle of the street, one similar to Ogden in the near west burbs, and just waited. Eventually, Zak and the girls got out and walked up a few blocks to scope things out. Turns out that we were already in the LONG line to get into the stadium! The parking lot didn’t even open for 45 minutes, but cars were stopped gridlock traffic. The gates must of opened promptly at 11, because a few minutes later we began inching forward and were slowly led into the parking lot.
We received an awesome spot and immediately started setting up our tailgating stuff, just like every other car surrounding us. Everyone had a tent, a table, chairs, and a grill. From there the limit was only up to your imagination. Gosh, the friendly folks right next to us even had an artificial turf rug. Although our chairs, the tent itself, or table weren’t Packers specific, we were pretty pleased with our setup. The girls’ homemade banners were the perfect touch!
Then the party started. We munched on snacks, played games, chatted with others, and just had fun. After devouring the best burgers we walked around outside the stadium. There were tons activities for us to participate in with lots of Packers swag. We walked around the atrium and the Pro Shop and then returned to our tent and wrapped up the partying with more snacks, games, and drinks.
The gates to the stadium opened at 5:30 and we made our way to the gates with the masses and masses of people, all dressed, head to toe, in green and gold. We finally got into the stadium and my breath was taken away. I’ve never been in a professional NFL stadium before and it was incredible. It was completely sold out, think about that. 67,000 people bought tickets to watch a practice. The stadium only has bleacher seats, creating an intimate feeling. Skydivers dove into the middle of the field, bands played, and then the Packer’s entered, creating excitement that was palpable. They warmed up, and then broke into special teams and held a regular practice. At the end, there was a fun scrimmage which had the whole crowd hollering and cheering. Ellie still doesn’t have much of a voice from screaming so excitedly. The night wrapped up with an amazing firework spectacle. We all had a blast, but Ellie really had the time of her life. She repeated said it was the best day of her life.
We must have all been worn out because we slept late this morning. Breakfast was at Zak’s favorite hangout from high school, Skip’s. Skip’s is a zero frills dinner with giant pancakes and good coffee. Being only two or three blocks from Lambeau Field, players are known to frequent it. The rest of the day was spent at Bay Beach, an amusement park Zak also hung out at when he was a high schooler. The girls had a blast on all the rides and Zak even went on the roller coaster twice. After a late lunch at Stadium View, another Green Bay staple, we made the quick drive home.
It was a fun little getaway and certainly got us all in the Packer spirit for the football season!
