Arkansas game with my sweet niece Ava!

As the rain fell we geared up for what looked to be a long wet ball game. We didn't care! Ava was so excited to go to an Alabama game she wasn't worried about the weather one bit! She looked so cute in her pink Alabama jersey, pink bow, and pink converse tennis shoes! We suited up in our borrowed rain gear and headed to Bryant-Denny stadium. It was a long wet walk for me but Ava enjoyed every minute of it. She talked about the game she went to last year and her brothers being Auburn fans. She jumped in every single puddle we passed (which was a lot). She was so happy that I almost forgot about the rain! We made our way in the stadium up to our upper deck seats we could hear the crowd getting pumped up from the pregame videos. She would just look at me and smile every time the crowd cheered! We finally made it to our seats and we could see everything.

Ava and I in our rain gear about to head to the stadium!

The view from our seats!

We watched the cheerleaders and Big Al. Then it was time for the band. We saw the "Big BAMA Spell Out" and I tried to teach Ava as we went. She caught on pretty fast. I sang the fight song and she just waved her shaker along with the crowd (one day she'll know the words too). The National Anthem played and I looked down to see Ava's hand over her heart just like I had mine. I picked her up so she could see the team approaching the tunnel, then running on the field. She cheered and smiled and waved her shaker like she'd been doing it for years. It brought tears to my eyes to get to share this with her. We cheered and cheered. I taught her how you make a lot of noise when Bama's on defense so the other team can't hear. I told her that was part of her job as a fan in the stadium. She happily obliged. She screamed as loud as she could.

Then boredom set in. Neither team was scoring and I have to admit the first quarter was kind of boring! We went to the restroom and as we were about to climb the stairs back to our seats Bama scored. She was so excited she cheered and smiled. It made my day to see her so excited! Next possession Bama scored again. Once again I saw that excitement return to her face (and mine)! We watched the half time show from our seats so she could see the formations. Then we headed down to sit by my dad. His seats are really good. Alabama scored two times right in front of us. They scored one more time early in the fourth quarter to make the score 35-7. Dad and Ava decided to beat the crowd and head on back to the house. I stuck around to hear Rammer Jammer.

Ava on Dad's shoulders and Bullet (my cousin) with his son Matthew. Matthew and Ava are the same age and are both Bama fans in homes of orange and blue !

It was an awesome game. I'm so excited that I got to share it with my niece. She really reminded me how to enjoy life by just jumping in the puddles!

Roll Tide Roll!!!