Fan of the Game

Last night we all went out to dinner. A group of young women came in--the Colgate soccer team. E and I got to talking--about soccer and school, and she wanted to ask them a question. So, I stopped one of the ladies and let E ask her question.

"Do you play soccer every day?" E asked. The woman, named Avery, answered they normally play 6 days a week. They talked for a little while, and Avery invited us to come watch her game.

So we did! We dressed up in our best UVA colors (hey--even though we would cheer for Avery, we wanted UVA to win) and I made sure to pack E's best cheering gear--pom poms (we only have pink ones), and our "Go Hoos" banner that our fantastic Nanny Annette gave the girls. It was super hot out, and the stadium is a far cry from the parking lot--so I knew I'd need *the works*--stroller, crutches, packpack, etc. It's a super pain to lug all that stuff...but what other choice do I have, if I want to get E out and about?

Elena loves cheering people on. She loves sports and activity, too. Aside from the heat, it made for a pretty entertaining afternoon. E yelled "Go UVA! Let's go HOOS!" for about 5 minutes nonstop before anything even happened. Two gentleman came up to us 15 minutes after the game started, and told us that they would like to nominate E for the Fan Of The Game. That Fan gets a coupon to a soccer store, and gets to go on the field at halftime and accept a soccer ball autographed by the players!



I figured that E wouldn't last in the heat, even though I tried hard to keep her hydrated. I told her there was another 35 minutes to go before the game was over. She was terse:

"Mom...Real Fans don't leave until the game is over."

Well didn't I just get served!