Chip Bowl

Diving right back into our active daily schedules, our family's relaxing Christmas and New Year's week spent in the peaceful pines already feels like a distant memory. Gone are those long, relaxing mornings without alarm clocks and the late nights spent in pajamas playing board games with the kids.

My husband, a big kid at heart, was excited to tell us about the "fun" outing he scheduled for the family after our first day back to our school and work routine. "I got tickets for all of us to go to the Fiesta Bowl," he exclaimed.

"That's a school night." I reminded him, not feeling particularly well after battling a persistent cold.

"The kids will love it." He retorted, as if fun should always trump practicality.

Monday quickly came and we did manage to get out the door at 7 AM for work and school. I fixed a quick, early dinner and we left again at 4:30 to pick Audra up from softball practice so we could race to the Fiesta Bowl. I took a couple cold pills, stuffed a wad of tissues into my purse and tried to have a good attitude, despite the fact I'd rather be curled up watching the game on TV from the comfort of my own home. 

We found our place on the freeway and fell in line with the other 70,000 fans who were headed to the big game. Fun, I mumbled sarcastically to myself. This looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. Exiting the freeway and finally finding a lot to park in, we paid the ransom they demanded and left our car to begin our brisk walk to the stadium. Colton kept referring to it as the "chip bowl" as it was the Tostidos Fiesta Bowl. We laughed and explained that most people just called it the Fiesta Bowl. After being frisked, wanded and thoroughly patted down, we were herded into the large crowd to find our seats. More fun, I reminded myself.

Slung over the back of each stadium seat, was a plastic Tostidos bag. The kids were thrilled to open their bags and even more excited to find a small package of Tostidos dipping strip chips and salsa. "I told you it was the chip bowl," squealed Colton, as he dug into his little snack using the thighs of his nice, khaki corduroy pants as a napkin. 

After discussing which team everybody was going cheer for, we were decidedly a family divided. Colton and I were the only ones rooting for TCU while the rest of the family was cheering for Boise State. Colton started whistling and the other kids cheered for their team. There were almost 74,000 crazy people inside that stadium and the kids were thrilled to be there. Yes, the wild, party-like atmosphere was a bit much for me and it was going to be a very late night for school, but as I watched our kids enjoying their little goodie bags while visiting with each other, I had to admit they were having fun and I was glad we were able to make more family memories by going to the "chip bowl."