Hail to the Chief

Today was game day. The Illini got beat by Iowa 6-10... guess we didn't cheer loud enough. It was a pretty quick trip from our hotel in Cedar Rapids to Iowa City, and with the exception of stadium security not wanting to let Jenn in with her back pack/purse/kid supply tote, the Hawkeyes were rather welcoming. On the way to the game Abigail shared with us that "Trees can talk!" Ah, the things you learn from a 3-year old. Our seats were in the Illini section, in the east stands, even with the south end zone in row 79, aka the very top row of the stadium, in the corner. We were surrounded by J Leman's dad and various other members of the Leman extended family. Nik asked the approximately 10-year old girl in front of us if she knew J, and she replied that he was her cousin... Nik replied with "He is my favorite player, and I don't even know him!" The girl's mom and brother were very entertaining throughout the game high-fiving after each Leman tackle, keeping a tackle tally.

Nik and I gave Sidney a football tutorial. She is an excellent student and now knows the following: Offense is when you have the ball and are trying to score, you have 4 tries to go 10 yards, the little lines are one yard, the big lines are five yards, you have to cross two big lines to get 10 yards. Defense is when you don't have the ball and you try to keep the other team from scoring. The guys in black and white striped shirts make sure everyone follows the rules. They throw yellow flags if you are in trouble.

When Rashard didn't make it on 3rd and 2, Sidney said "Two little marks... that isn't very far, I could run that far!" When the band came out at half-time Nik told Sid that she used to play the trombone in the band. She asked Sid if she wanted to play in the band when she got older... no response... did she want to be a cheerleader instead?... shoulder shrug... or maybe you want to play football!... strange look followed by "I'm just not into that, I like to watch!"

The Illini just didn't have it today, they just didn't look sharp. We got all excited about the would be touchdown towards the end of the game, but it was called back because of an illegal receiver down field. Although we lost, this program is definitely making strides, after beating us the Iowa students stormed the field. Illinois football is definitely back on the map, defeating us hasn't caused the opponents to storm the field in a very long time.

On the way back to the hotel after the game Sid said "I know why they told on us!" Huh? When they didn't let us have our touchdown... the other team told on us because they didn't want us to win. Nik agreed with "Yep, if we had that touchdown, the Illini would have won the game". Sid then said "Yeah! Then I could have run on to the field!"

After the game White Mocha (or Dubby-short for "W" for "White Mocha") and the Lil Mochas went swimming at the pool. On the way to the pool the three of them serenaded us in the elevator with the following:

"Oh baby you, you got what I need, but you say he's just a friend, but you say he's just a friend, Oh baby you, you got what I need.'

Evidently the pool was not overly warm... according to Dubby, definitely some "shrinkage" :) After the swim we went to Leonardo's Lounge for dinner. The front desk clerk recommended it, and kudos to him. Besides some great pizza, the decor was completely fabulous and retro with red pleather circular booths, black padded pleather walls... very Vegas circa 1968. When we left we commented that it was getting crowded at Leonardo's and that it was a good thing we got there early. John's response (referring to spending just the right amount of time in the pool and hot tub) "Yeah, Dubby spent just the right amount of time in the Tubby."

Oh, our waitress at Leonardo's was wearing a rather low cut t-shirt. She was a great waitress, but John definitely referred to her cleavage as looking like she "had two bald guys in a headlock".

After dinner Sidney, Abby and then later Jenn came to hang out in our room. Sidney read to us from her 1st grade readers, and so Nikki and I got to "sign off" on her reading log. Also, Abby mentioned that her cough is gone, then pointed to her mouth and said "See?".

Okay, so it isn't even 9:00 and it is about time for this blogger to call it a night. Please see all the pictures posted below. It has been a great weekend, and fabulous to hang with the Thomas family. We hope to hit the road by 10 a.m. tomorrow, just after breakfast.

Editors Note: So the title of this blog "Hail to the Chief"... might not be what you think. John always refers to Jenn as "Chief". She asked John if she could wear one of his t-shirts for the game. He said yes, but only if she wore his "Chief" shirt. When we were explaining to Sidney that Chief Illiniwek isn't allowed to dance anymore, she later said... pointing to her mom, "See, we still have a chief, it's just that she doesn't dance much." Oh, speaking of Jenn, we decided she so needs her own set of yellow penalty flags for when Abby and Sidney "are in trouble and not playing by the rules"