Peyton's First Terps Game

On Saturday, we took Peyton to his first Terps game. Here he is before we left for the game. Isn't he just the cutest thing ever?

My dad and Jeremy came down to our house and we left for College Park around noon. Maryland played Middle Tennessee State and the game was scheduled to begin at 3:30. We wanted to get to College Park early to tailgate though.

Us before the game

It was National Pirate Day, so Jeremy was decked out in his pirate finest. You can't really see it in the picture, but he's even wearing a hoop earring. He said many "Arrr's" throughout the day. We also heard lots of pirate jokes.

Peyton liked tailgating because he got to eat lots of food. He ate so many Doritos that he was covered in bright orange cheese. He also ate two hot dogs, some macaroni salad, and a brownie.

After he filled his belly, Peyton tried to play some tailgate golf. It was quite unsuccessful though, because he couldn't figure out how to throw the balls straight ahead. They kept going sideways. He even hit Jeremy in the head and a car parked next to us (oops!). Thankfully, they didn't notice!

We decided that tailgate golf was not a good idea, so we played catch with a football instead.

Around 3:00, we packed everything back up and headed over to the stadium. There are several of these turtles, each painted differently, scattered around the campus. This one is outside of the Comcast Center where the basketball team plays.

At the stadium, Peyton was ready for the game with his foam finger. He couldn't quite figure out how to wear it properly though. But, he tried!

We enjoyed the pregame show by the band. Peyton was cheering "Go Terps!" and clapping as the game began. I tried to teach him the motions to the fight song. We'll keep practicing that.

With 8 minutes left in the first quarter, Peyton passed out. He woke up early and didn't get a nap in before we left for the game. I guess all that tailgating wore him out! He slept through the first Terps touchdown, which included lots of cheering and two cannon blasts. It was only 73 degrees, but there were zero clouds in the sky, so it was quite hot. Peyton and I were both soaking wet when he finally woke up, about an hour later.

Three generations of Terps fans!

Unfortunately the Terps suck and lost the game. Middle Tennessee kicked the winning field goal with 2 seconds left. I could point to lots of reasons for the loss, like the Terps inability to tackle, a missed field goal with less than a minute left in the game, and four turnovers. You're not going to win when you play like that, guys.

I think Peyton had a good time at the game after he got his power nap in. He cheered, danced, and clapped. Next week's game is at 3:30 too, so depending on the weather, we may take him again. Hopefully Maryland can win one with him there.