K-State Home Opener

I love fall, and I love football...and I especially love K-State.  

So it should go without saying that one of my favorite 

days of the year is the K-State Home Opener!

The Friday night before was spent perfecting my K-State nails, 

complete with mascot stickers, of course.

(It even required a last minute trip to Wal-Mart for just the right shade of purple to match the stickers!)

I had made some phone calls earlier in the week to try and get a couple tickets for my brother and nephew to go to the game, but when they backed out Friday, my other brother and sister-in-law decided last minute (Saturday morning) that they wanted to go instead!   So after a trip to grab some tickets from my old roommate, we set off for Manhappiness.

A beautiful Saturday in the great state of Kansas

It was a quick hour and a half (quick because I drove about 90 the whole way) in to town.  I dropped Jason and Kelli off in Aggieville and went straight to meet up with Kelsey and the girls for lunch at Houlihans.

(Yes, Kelsey came back to Kansas for her wedding shower / bachelorette party to incorporate a K-State football game!  That's why I love her)

Showing off my nails at lunch.

All the girls at Houlihans: Me, Kels, Kenna, Stacey, Kari, Sarah, and Abby

After lunch, I went back to Aggieville.  I mean, I can't leave Manhattan without at least visiting Varneys.  

Aaaand of course I ended up buying - of all things - another scarf.  I need another scarf like I need a hole in my head.  But it was a super cute, soft K-State one!  I couldn't resist.

Off to the stadium.  We scored a pretty good parking spot south of the rec, and walked up to the main parking lot where Kelsey's dad had the tailgate set up.  

Did I mention it was HOT.  Like, really hot.  I had sweat running down my...everything.

Kelli and I

I couldn't wait to get in to the game -- and hopefully out of the sun.  

On my way in, I saw a guy trying to buy a ticket, and I knew Kelsey's dad had one for sale.  So I gave him my one single ticket, and ran back to get Bob's extra.  That way at least I was guaranteed to have somewhere to sit with someone I knew if nothing else worked out.

Thank goodness the seats Mike gave us were in the shade.  On the east side and just under the overhang...and up high enough/on the aisle to catch a little breeze.  Heaven.

The view from the seats.

I really didn't want to go sit on the other side with Kelsey's dad - mainly because I was pretty sure it was in the sun.  So after getting the boot from the ICAT section (just across from the seats), I decided to just squeeze in between / in front of Jason and Kelli.  

Tight quarters.

My brother is not a small guy, and the old man next to the seats was literally halfway in to ours.  Oh and it was hot.  So that didn't last too terribly long.  I decided I would try my luck at finding the girls in their upper-level seats.

Big mistake.  Talk about brutal.  Not only was there not a drop of breeze, but the sun was directly in your face.  I'm talking in your face beating down like an oven kind of hot.  I absolutely could not do it.  Miserable!

View from the upper level - where I'd never even been before!

To prove my point of just how miserable it was up there, the KSU staff had buckets of ice water and were handing out free rags to hang around your neck.  Huge fans were all over, too.  Like, I said: HOT.

All the girls eventually gave up, too, and weren't far behind me to find shelter in the shaded grass area. We didn't even care about the game at that point!

We were ready for half time and more tailgating.  I had some snacks and the girls finished off a bottle of vodka.  Yes, a bottle.  

No, I didn't have a drop of it, but it's a funny picture! ;)

Thank goodness the sun was going down by then, which not only made for cooler temperatures, but a nice backdrop for pictures, too!

The second half of the game was so much more enjoyable.  It was already a blowout so a lot of fans didn't come back in to the stadium.  I was able to sit with Jason and Kelli in their good seats.

Aahh I love this place.

Much to Jason and Kelli's disappointment, I made them stay the entire game.  I didn't care that K-State was winning by 40-some points.  There were fireworks after the game, and that was half the reason I came!

In anticipation for the sandwhich he was so excited about making after the game (I had stuff in a cooler in the back of my car), he got cups of ketchup and mustard...and carried them around for about the entire last quarter, haha!

The fire works were...so-so.  Not as good as I remembered in years past.  So of course right when I decided we could leave before they were over, we missed the finale, which sounded pretty amazing.  I just didn't get to see any of it! :(

We all snarfed down some sandwiches and hit the road back to KC.  

I had been debating staying the night in Manhattan and partying in Aggieville with the girls, but when I couldn't get ahold of one of them (all phones had died during the game), I decided to just go back home.  My poor foot was super sore and swollen from standing on it in the heat for way too long, so I wouldn't have been much good at the bars anyways.

It was a long two hours back home and we were all ready for some water and bed.  Kelli had been complaining about not feeling well on the way home, and actually went right inside and threw up!  We are officially too old for day drinking. 

Next time we'll just stick with water.  And shade.