Just us guys.

He was excited. His eyes showed it. A day with Dad. Just the guys. He kept trying to guess the suprise... "Are we going to jump on the trampoline?" The wrinkles in the corner of my eyes immediately appeared as I laughed; each time, my response was "no." "Are we going to go into town and rent a video game?" My response once again was "no." Jake said, "Shucks." as he snapped his fingers in an upward motion. "But Dad, I really was hoping we were going to play video games today." My response was, "Jake, we can play video games any old day... today we are going to enjoy the day with each other... without video games."

Our day started out at 11:30 in the book store purchasing a sweatshirt for him and a baseball cap for me. Then we headed out to the field to tail gate before the game with a few friends. We both had a burger and some chips. While the burgers were cooking, Jake would go up to the fence to watch the "real live football players" practice and warm up. A little later, we entered the stadium... and enjoyed the game. It was a perfect fall day... light breeze... sun was glistening off our team's golden helmets. Jake hung out at the top of the stadium with a friend he hadn't seen in ages. I would have loved to sit by him the whole game... but I remember being a kid. Goofing around at the top of the bleachers is what football games are all about. Besides that, it is way more fun than sitting by Dad... especially when your friend is there. At the end of the first quarter, Jake was hungry and thirsty... so we made our way to the concession stand. I loaded him down with a box of popcorn, a JUMBO freeze pop and a bottle of water. (We had a coke with our burgers before the game... so water was his only choice.) Then, at the end of the game, he hung out with his "Dear old Dad" as the time ticked away. The game was close. Our team was the victor; our team made a crucial interception as the other team was driving toward the goal line with 30 seconds remaining. The score was 16 to 10. Jake was excited by the drama and as we walked back to the car Jake said, "That interception was COOL!" (People around us laughed as Jake summed up what we were all feeling.) I couldn't have asked for a better day/game for Jake to experience his first football game.

After the football game, Jake and I made our way to the frizbee golf course. It was a new course that the college put up and the 18 hole golf course spans over 3 miles of ground which winds back into a nature area at the back of our campus. By hole five, Jake's feet were starting to hurt... so we walked slow. On the trail in the nature area, there were benches every little bit... we would stop and sit and rest for a few minutes. Each time he saw a bench he would say, "Dad, can we stop and rest a little?" Of course my response was, "Sure bud. Were not in a hurry." As we walked through the trails, zillions of Monarch butterflies flittered around us as we walked through their world. Jake was amazed. (So was I.) We FINALLY found the 11th hole and we finished up the course... we didn't keep score... just had a fun time... hanging out together. It was a day to remember. As we drove home Jake looked up at me and said, "Thanks for spending the day with me Dad, the Football game and Frizbee Golf was fun... I had a great day." My response was, "Me too, bud... Me too."

Perfect ending to a perfect day.