Getting ready for the Super Bowl in Indy!

As a family, Henry, Holden, Alex and I decided we didn't want to spend the thousands of dollars it would cost to go to the Super Bowl this year. But that doesn't mean we aren't excited about it! Henry and Holden decided to show their spirit by getting dressed in their football finest. (Football shirts courtesy of cousin Jenni, and football socks courtesy of Grandma Amerman!)

 I think Holden decided not to smile in response to the Colts' dismal performance this year. (Or maybe he's sad about Peyton's injury?) Henry decided chewing on a football was kinda fun, and that whatever Grandma was doing in the background to get his attention was worth a smile. :) It's sad how many pictures I take to get a good one; these are the best of the bunch!

My friend Christie wanted to go downtown and check all the Super Bowl activities out, so I'm glad I got to go with her! I mean, how often will we have a Super Bowl in our city? (Maybe more often now, since everyone seemed pretty excited with all the festivities. We can hope!) And, it's pretty amazing that the weather was close to 60 degrees in early February. (I should know, last year I had a snow day on my birthday! What a difference a year makes!) These pictures were taken on her iphone and put in a collage. Pretty awesome!

Anyway, we did a LOT of walking. We saw the zipline over Georgia Street, which looked so fun. I wish they'd leave it up so more locals could get down there and do it! (The line was so, so long, and I think you had to get tickets in advance.) We didn't do the Super Bowl Experience, because it cost too much and would have been a long wait. We got to see some of the decorated Indy Cars with the Giants and Patriots logos on them. Then we walked through the Super Bowl Village area (mostly a lot of snack/beer tents). There weren't any performances going on since we were there in early afternoon, but they have a lot of different live acts scheduled. We saw where they were taping ESPN shows in Pan Am Plaza. I wish we could have stayed to see SportsNation! (And I really want to go back downtown on Friday because they're taping the Today Show there! I'm considering it...I'd have to pay to park and get there REALLY early. So probably not going to work out.) Then we walked over to the circle to see the XLVI letters and get some pictures there. That's where we saw the little trio of violinists in the bottom picture! How cute! Then we walked back to The Huddle, (the spot where Norstrom's used to be in the mall) where they had the souveniers. We couldn't help but get some "official" Super Bowl onesies for our babies, even at the "official" price. Pictures to come of the kids in the onesies! Then we treked over to the stadium to get a few last pictures, and finally headed back to the car where we got to sit in traffic for a while. I'm glad we got to go in the afternoon, since I'm guessing it was only going to get way more crowded as more people headed there after work! I was a little sad I couldn't take the boys, but it would have been too crazy. We did see lots and lots of babies being carried in carriers or in strollers or just walking...but it would make me way too nervous with so many people around. Although it's exciting to think about taking them to activities like this in the future! So even though they won't remember it this year, we'll have the pictures to document it. :)