Packer Pre-season Game at Lambeau

Ok I know this post is a week late about the Packer preseason game. Actually, the Packers are playing again tonight. Tonight's game is out of town.

Last week, Thursday, Aug 10, our son-in-law Waylen and oldest daughter Erin treated us to free tickets. We were heading to La La La Lambeau Field for a pre-season Packer Game!! They were playing the Philadelphia Eagles.  It was an evening game, and we hopped in the car early to beat the traffic.  We also picked up some emergency rain ponchos.  (The weatherman was wrong and we didn't get rained on, so we returned them later)

I caught Steve in mid-blink. 

He doesn't really drive with his eyes shut...

First, we stopped at El Azteca for a nice dinner of Mexican food. We prefer Los Banditos down the road, but they were packed full.  El Azteca is known for fast service and good food too.  After a table full of goodness, and a few drinks, we headed on to the game.

Now we threaded our way through the back streets to get to the stadium.  We KNOW how this Packer Game Day traffic operates.....  Many of the homes around Lambeau make a fun enterprise of seeing how many cars they can park in their yard and driveway. They stand at the edge of the curb with a sign stating how much it costs to park there in their yard. There's not nearly enough parking spots available in the Lambeau Field parking lot.

Houses for blocks on end are full of visitors and tailgating parties and grills and people.  Some even rent portapotties for in their yards with all the people that come over during a game day.  Many people just party in their yards and never even go to the game!

We drove along the surrounding 10-15 blocks in the neighborhood until we found a house with a cute kid at the end of the driveway. He was holding a sign asking for $15 to park. Waylen gave a $20 bill and told the kid to keep the tip!

We walked the last few blocks to the 

HALLOWED GROUND OF THE FROZEN TUNDRA

LAMBEAU FIELD- HOME OF THE GREEN BAY PACKERS

A fellow fan graciously offered to take this photo of us 

Waylen had our tickets scanned and we went through metal detectors...

only cell phones and small clear purses allowed, nothing else nowadays.

(gone are the days we would sneak in bottles of booze and beer cans) 

Once inside, we rented stadium seats which would make it more comfortable on our butts. Sitting on the aluminum bleachers for 4 hours is not the most comfortable thing. We can rent the seats with cushions plus seat backs for $6 each. In the winter months these are really handy because those bleachers are dang cold

We found our seats and got settled into place. The beers are quite expensive but worth it for the guys during the game. You can go back in the concourse to buy beers or food or other Novelties. There is a gentleman who carries a very heavy metal cooler around his neck going up and down through the stands selling beers also. I don't think I'd want his job.  People pass along the beers and the money or change back and forth for the folks sitting in the middle of the rows.

It was a lot of fun watching the new players trying to impress the coaches with their very best plays. At one point one of the players, Dupre, got injured and it was quite a while before the game could resume.

During Half Time, an adorable little squad of pee wee football players from Kenosha were allowed to come on the field and run some practice plays. They were sooooo cute! What an honor for those kids, and they will remember this the rest of their lives.  They all lined up during the national anthem and you didn't see a single one of them "kneel down in protest"!  Ahem!

I am happy to say that of course, the Packers won 24 - 9 

It was getting late so we headed on home. We ran into backed up traffic on I-41 for about 15 miles. It was stop and start with many times just sitting in one spot. We would crawl ahead for 50 ft and stop again. We were imagining some horrible accident or something bad up ahead causing the delay. Nope, there was absolutely nothing! It was just stupid people not knowing how to merge where it moved from four lanes down to three and then down to two. From there, it was the dumb people trying to exit off on Scheuring Road south of DePere, not knowing how to move over or merge. Absolute clustermuck!!!!

Once we got down towards Wrightstown, the highway finally speeded back up. It took us almost 2 hours to get home. A total distance of 39 miles. That is average of 20 mph. ARGGHHHHH

But even with all of that, we had a very enjoyable time with our oldest daughter and her husband. 

Thank you so much Erin and Waylen for taking us

... GO PACK GO!!!!

Winter has come to Wisconsin

Arrrggghhhh I suppose we should count ourselves lucky.  We folks up here in Wisconsin have dodged the proverbial *S*N*O*W* bullet long enough.  It's been amazingly warm and snow-less.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a Winter Weenie.  I grew up in Wisconsin and spent my teen years in Michigan's UP, I know winter.  I have snowmobiled, ice fished, iceskated, skied and sledded with the best of them.  But I think once I have reached that ripe old age of 50, my fear of slipping and breaking bones has overtaken the daring need to conquer winter conditions.  I will still drive in the snow, but if I can stay home and avoid going out, I will.

Soooooo today it started.  I should not complain, because we are usually snow covered from early November on through till late April.  It looks like our getting by with 2 and half months being almost snow-free has been a freak of Wisconsin Winter habits.

I think part of it is because of last winter going for 7 weeks out west and in the desert (check my archives from mid Feb till mid April 2011)   It sealed the deal on our preference for spending time THERE instead of HERE once we are retired.   We will be back from May-Oct in Wisconsin visiting family and camping with everyone.  And the delicious thought of being able to stay on at a campground while everyone else is packing up to go home on Sunday is enticing.  We look forward to being able to stay as long as we want and move on to the next location at our own pace as purely delightful!

As I have said, winter is here.  Today I watched about 15 fat old turkeys waddle along the river bank by our house.  I grabbed the camera but the battery was dead.  So then I grabbed the video camera (which also does digital pics) and snapped a few shots as they were wandering into the woods.

When I took these photos, the snow had just been starting.  Now we have a couple of inches on the ground, and it's supposed to snow all the rest of today, tonight and all day tomorrow.  ICK!   

Funny how smart they are during hunting season and elusive and sneaky.... but once the season is over, they waddle around in plain sight and don't even care if you are driving into them on the road.  They make the cars slow down!!!

Once we hit a turkey with the motorhome and it scared the beejesus outta us!   Luckily we only bent a little bit of a trim ring around a light and had a scuff of feathers.   I had envisioned shattered fiberglass and destroyed grill work.

My planned little baking session with Chelsea screeched to a halt yesterday.  I went to pick her up from the daycare about 3pm and they said she was sick!  She was running a fever, had urped up some food, and even her eyes were glazed and dull and her cheeks were pinkypink.  Awwwwww  Her little congested breathing and coughing just tore at my heart.   Instead of coming to our house,  I brought her to her house for her mommy to take over the care, and we put the apple pie baking plans on hold.  I didn't want to catch it either!   Today her Daddy stayed home from work with her, so she got a full day of being a Daddy's Girl, and tomorrow Erin has her 2 year checkup already scheduled with the pediatrician, so she will be checked out and hopefully doing good by Saturday. It's her big girl 2 year old birthday party on Saturday, with all her cousins, and grandpas and grandmas and even Great Grandma and Grandpa Pfundtner if the roads aren't too bad!

Watching the news right now, the roads are slippery, lots of accidents of people who forget how to drive on the roads in winter. It's always like that for the first storm or two.  The gusting winds are making it even more slippery and difficult.

It's a big Packer Weekend this Sunday with the playoff game in Green Bay.  Did you know that when it snows before a game, that Lambeau Field puts a notice on the local news to come to the stadium and hopefully get chosen to be a SNOW SHOVELER???  It's an honor!   And you have to be 15 years or older.  You are paid $10 an hour and they furnish the shovels.  You work in rows shoveling the snow off the bleacher seats and walkways, onto long slides that loads it down into trucks at the bottom where the snow is hauled away before the game starts.  Some teens even BEG their parents to call them in sick to school so they can go to the stadium and shovel snow!!!  People come from miles around to be honored to be picked as snow shovelers and line up hours in advance.  They are disappointed to be turned away once the 400 or 500 people are chosen.   I am sure many of them would do it for FREE!   Only in Green Bay, hey?

Here is video link of how it is done:

Need Cash? Come to Lambeau Field on Friday morning!

This afternoon, I went out to get the mail and trudge over to the neighbor's house to let out his dogs.  Bundled up like an eskimo with boots, hat, heavy mitts and jacket.  I threw their frisbees for a while and then let out our own dogs.  Our dogs just do their business and run right back into the house.  The whipping winds chilled me right to the bone, so once I got back in the house, I hopped in a hot steamy shower.

Steve just got in the door here from driving home from work, going 38 miles in this mess, and he said the roads were quite slippery and cars in the ditch too. Glad he is home and I don't think we are going anywhere tonight.

Ahhhh  Yes, I guess I could be turning into a Winter Weenie?


.

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Wade

On a lovely fall day, our daughter Heather married the love of her life, Jesse Wade.  It was a gorgeous day with absolutely perfect autumn weather.


The Wedding Chapel in Green Bay was the site of the ceremony.... and getting ready was half the fun!

A reflective moment between our daughters... 

as Matron of Honor Erin helps the bride, Heather, into her dress. 

Heather's rose bouquet has an antique handkerchief tucked in between the blooms.  The handkerchief was crocheted and embroidered by her Great Great Grandmother Kafehl, 

and then used by her Great Grandmother Kafehl, 

and then her Great Aunt Lois gave it to me on my wedding day, 

and passed on now to Heather on her wedding day (Erin got one too)

Also tucked in Heather's bodice was another momento handkerchief.  It was from Jesse's mom, originally shaped as a christening bonnet... just snip a few threads and it unfolds into a hankie for her son's bride someday to wear at her son's wedding.  How sweet and wonderful to pass that on to Heather!  What a great family to welcome our daughter into their arms.  And maybe when Jameson grows up, it can be used for his future wife and their child too.

Here is little Jameson getting dolled up for his very important task of being the Ringbearer at his mommy and daddy's ceremony.  And Daddy is doing a great job of decking out the little dude in all of his finery.

(He kept the tie and vest on all the way till after midnight!)

The two 2 year olds as a part of the ceremony were a hit... Aubrey the flower girl made it down the aisle to the bribery of M&M's I was shaking in a bag from up in the front pew.   Jameson started to come, but hightailed it back towards Mommy...  and he tried to scoot around Steve, Heather and my ex Glen coming down the aisle.  Glen grabbed him around the waist and hoisted him up on one arm... to be carried down the aisle with his Mommy and Steve on the other side.  So it turns out that all three men in her life escorted her down the aisle!

(didn't get a pic of that yet, waiting to see if someone else had a camera taking that shot)

After that excitement, the rest of the wedding went on cue....

 vows were said, rings were exchanged, the unity candle was lit and music was played.

Jameson enjoyed his gummy treats on the bottom step, and didn't mind the attention at all

Time for photos.. and kisses! 

The bridal party:  (left to right)   Shana, Deanna, Erin, Heather, Jesse, Tyler, Josh and Nic

Two sisters and two brothers--

Erin Matron of Honor

Heather the Bride

Jesse the Groom

Tyler the Best Man

During the unity candle ceremony, the flower girl Aubrey shared her M&M's with Ringbearer Jameson

Our Princess now has her Prince Charming for Happily Ever After

Her dress was lovely and Jesse looked so handsome in his tux

The darling bride taking out a little bit of time 

for some special Mommy/Son time with Jameson after the photos were done. 

(I just LOVE this photo!)

This IS Green Bay, ya know, so the bridal party has to stop off at Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers!   In the atrium area is a pub dedicated to Curly Lambeau, a legend in Green Bay.

The *theme* for the wedding reception is "Mario and Princess Peach" of the video game era.  

Lo and behold, in the atrium  at the Stadium were two Mario Cart video games, side by side, 

just perfect for a bride and groom! 

And Heather WON! 

 Some Jumping for Joy at the base of the Curly Lambeau statue out in front of the Stadium

 The photographer will use her shots of these antics on some interesting wedding photo artwork

The reception and dinner were held at The Stadium View Banquet Hall just down the block from the big Packer Stadium...  What a great place.  We had about 180 guests on hand for fun, laughter and celebration!  Many came from out of town... luckily there was not a *home game* or nobody would have been able to get a hotel room for 50 miles around!  Personalized champagne flutes are flanked by personalized shot glasses and beer steins...  PACKER beer steins, this IS Green Bay, ya know!

Being a Mario themed party, the table decorations were wooden Mario Question Blocks made by Jesse and Mario Mushrooms made by Heather to hold the table signs and numbers.  The center tray held little gift boxes of buttermints, and flower petals were strewn around with tiny flickering votives in star shapes (no candles allowed)   These photos were snapped before the wait staff set the tables with dinnerware.  Little Aubrey helped me set all the tables, and Jesse came to lend a hand while the bride was getting ready.

Of course, the cake needed to have Mario and Princess Peach to adorn the top! 

What a lovely cake it was!  Red velvet!!!   

Plus other little Mario figurines were ascending the stairs around the fountain... 

We had to keep little fingers off the cake, they all wanted the figurines BEFORE the cake was even cut!  

(the cake serving utensils were from my wedding, 

and used by Erin at her wedding, and now Heather at hers)

 Each table had a different video game character's name and guests were directed to their tables from the large seating chart printed up by Shana, and place holders to help the non-gamers remember where they sat.  What a fun way to find your family's name or group to get to your seat!  We had 22 tables of eight.

This huge poster helped folks find out who, what, where and why! 

After a wonderful meal served sit down family style of broasted chicken, BBQ ribs and all the fixens, 

it was time for dancing!!!!

The bride and groom were magical and joyous in the sparkling lights

 Heather and Steveio shared a special moment in their own Father Daughter Dance

I am in the far back corner, videotaping their dance together as the floor was cleared for them alone.

Heather also had a special dance with her father, my ex.  

She is lucky to have "Two Daddies" as her DJ friend, Elvie announced 

Jesse and his mother, Lisa, had their own dance too.  Such a wonderful lady to raise such a great son! 

Kevin and Lisa Wade have welcomed our daughter into their fold, with open arms and loving hearts. 

Heather got in a POLKA with Granpa Wankel (my dad)   He was all spruced up in his best suit and tie, and talked about wanting to dance with the bride and someone take his picture in his duds! 

I think she made his day... hard to tell who is happier?

After a grand march, filled with silliness and goofy sunglasses... it was time for the garter and the bouquet toss.  I missed photos of the bouquet toss, as I was still filming.   But here are shots of the antics that were untaken to get the garter from the bride.  First, she sat on the Best Man's lap.  Her husband had to *DANCE* over to her.... and if he didn't dance good enough, he was not allowed to get the garter!

To the tune of "Tequila" --- Bridegroom Jesse did his best Pee Wee Herman imiation....  what a hoot!

and yes, he was allowed to get the garter from her leg.... (whoever started such a strange custom?)

 And now it was time to throw it into the gaggling group of single men... 

Heather helped turn him around and around and directed him where to throw it! 

We danced late into the night, when little Jameson and Chelsea both konked out. Then we did the "Grandparent Thing" and brought them home with us.   40 miles later, we arrived home and both of the little buggers woke up with a second wind!  They played and played, while we were exhausted and hoped they would go to sleep!  Chelsea dozed off at 12:30am, and Jameson at 1am!

We brought them back at 10 am to the hotels where family was staying at, and they later did the water slide fun at Tundra Lodge's indoor water park.  We were exhausted so we came home and took a long nap!

In case you want to see more???   

Here is a link to an album on facebook.. 

you do not have to be a member of facebook to view them

Share this album with anyone by sending them this public link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2084940&id=1257067735&l=63cce3aa1b

Still waiting to see if anyone took pictures of Steve and I or when we posed up front with Erin and Heather?   I was busy taking photos, but didn't get any of us!   I know the photographer got some, but those will take weeks.... anyone?

Cheryl?  Joann?  Linda?