Clemson Homecoming 2015

Saturday was Clemson's Homecoming game for this season. Diane, Nator and I decided a few weeks ago that we were going to try to make it happen for all of us to go together. MaSha agreed to keep the boys for us, we searched the internet for tickets, texted about tailgating plans and got ready. We were excited. 

Boys on Saturday morning.... of course they were wearing Clemson gear. They totally love the Tigers. We're working on their cadence count. ;)

Tiger fans!

Stokes giving Ryan a hug

Yep, I never get all them smiling at the same time!

William, don't eat your jacket!

Nator, the boys and me

Our fam :)

We had a leisurely drive up to Clemson and weren't able to meet friends at the tailgate yet and had to kill a little time, so we went by Goobers to sit outside and drink a cold beer. The weather could not have been any better. It was absolutely perfect!

Nator and me

Diane, Thomas and Justin

We were able to use Carole's parking pass to park in Lot 1. Yeah, baby! We met up with Susan and Rick and got our tents, tables and food set up. Tailgating is so awesome.

My man!

Go Team Wilkes!

Besties! Me, Nator and Diane

After we had been tailgating for a while, I wanted to walk up to Bowman field to see the homecoming floats. I don't remember what the floats looked like when we were there, but I don't remember them being this good. These floats are amazing!

Diane, Nator and me in front of the KKG float

Kappa and Sigma Nu paired up on the float. Guess what. They got first place! ;)

Us in front of our beautiful float. We're proud. hahaha

Diane and Justin in front of the KA float (you can vaguely
see the letters on the float near their heads)

There was this one float that had a platform with a fake Howard's Rock on it. All these little kids were going up there and getting their pictures made. We are such nerds and waited in line to get our picture made too.

Rubbing Howard's Rock

The float also had a hill that you could run down after rubbing the rock. I mean, I felt like I was in Death Valley doing the real thing! ;) Not quite, but it was really very cool!

Running down the hill

We are having so much fun!

This was just a cool float of DeShaun Watson

After Bowman, we walked across the street to TD's. It was surreal walking in there. So much time has passed since we've been there, but it made us think we were back in college and 21 years old again. I love stepping back in time. Especially in Clemson, SC!

Nator and Dide in TD's

The main reason we went to TD's was to meet up with an old friend. This was a surprise I concocted for Nator, We met up with our TBF (teacher best friend), Chris Hopkins. Nator and I loved him while we were in school and have sporadically stayed in touch with him since graduation. I knew Nator would be just as excited as I was to see him so we worked it out and met up in TD's. We also got to meet his sweet and gorgeous fiancee, Karen.

Karen, Nator, TBF, me

After a little catching up and beer drinking, we meandered back to the tailgate and had some awesome visitors!

Steph and Clark came to tailgate with us!

Clark and Thomas

Steph and me - love this girl!

These tiger tailgaters were so much fun and we had to
get a girls picture with them!

Susan, Diane and me

Susan and me

Guy time!

Love these fellas - C-Note, Thomas and J-Rock

Beautiful besties - Nator and Diane

The whole tailgate!

The game started at seven, so we packed it up and did the short walk over to the stadium. Having a 7 PM game was just perfect because we got to have just the right amount of time to relax and enjoy tailgating and the gorgeous day.

Clemson has to be one of the most beautiful places and college campuses. Yes, I am biased, but it's a scenic place!

Picture doesn't even do it justice -
sunset over Lake Hartwell

Ready to cheer on the tigers with 81,000 of our closest friends!

Thomas and Justin - tailgating buddies since 2007ish :)

Fireworks!

The balloon release

Team Wilkes

Tiger Touchdown!

We won! YAY!

We didn't tailgate for all that long after the game, but after getting the car loaded and waiting in traffic, it was about 1 AM when we finally made it home. It was a long day, but so much fun and so worth it!

I have to give major props to MaSha for keeping the boys by herself all day long so we could make this tailgate and game happen with our friends. That is a tall order and she is fearless. She said they were great for her (hope she wasn't just saying that!). She is an awesome grandmother! No doubt about it.

The unsung heroes of the game were definitely MaSha, the Hardy's (Diane's parents) that kept Grace and Bobby and Nator's husband, Neil. Neil kept The Colt, who is only 10 weeks old, for over 24 hours all on his own. He checked in with Nator a little, but wasn't stalking her all day for help. He stepped up in a big way. What an awesome Daddy!

After having 2 super rainy and muddy games in row, we deserved a beautiful game day and it all worked out. The Tigers are now 6-0 and there are a lot of people that are really excited about this season. I hope we can keep up the momentum!

Cheers to the tigers and I hope we can make a similar plan for next year. This day couldn't have been much more fun. It was the best!