A Sweet Daddy-Daughter Date

Today was a very special day. It was the first Daddy-Daughter day I got to spend with my sweet baby girl. I got this crazy idea last week that it would be fun to take Mary Kate to Athens to show her the sights and sounds. UGA was scheduled to play Tennessee Tech for homecoming, and it wasn't a game I had circled on my must see games. Based on the season thus far, I wasn't too pumped about going at all. Then I started thinking about taking my little girl to Athens. She has talked a good bit lately (thanks to my brainwashing skills) about Hairy Dawg and Uga, and she's been known to sing the fight song every now and then. I started to get really giddy about taking her. Literally, it was like waiting for Christmas morning when I realized I was really going to get to take her.

When this morning finally arrived, I wasn't sure who was more excited - me or her. She certainly hadn't stopped talking about going since we first told her she was going to get to go. But, I was definitely just as excited. We loaded the car, packed a lunch and put the magnets on and the flags up. She borrowed a UGA sweatshirt from our friends (thanks Jackson!), and we hit the road.

We got to Athens, parked the car and headed across campus toward the stadium. Then, we stopped off in Myers Quad (my typical tailgate spot) and caught up with old friends from Griffin where Mary Kate talked me into two rice krispie treats (thanks for the suggestion, Judd). Soon, we moved down to another spot to catch up with Mike and some other buddies and Mary Kate managed to score a brownie. After that, it was time to go to the game. As we waited to meet up with the guy who had MK's ticket, I could barely keep her from running through the ticket gate. She really wanted to go in!

When we made it into the stadium, we picked up some Bulldawg stickers for her cheeks and started looking for Hairy Dawg. My good buddy, Michael Edwards, had talked to a friend who played Hairy during the games and we were supposed to meet up and take a pic or two with him. As we walked down the steps, MK took a tumble and it scared me and her. It was a minor fall, but she was shaken a bit, so she managed to get a sucker from Daddy (that's three treats so far...). We couldn't find Hairy yet, so we watched the cheerleaders and headed to the other side of the stadium. We looked at the team from behind the hedges, and pointed out Coach Richt to MK. She wanted to sit down for a while, so we found some seats open on the lower level and MK quickly made friends with everyone around us. She shared some laughs with them, looked through binoculars at former Dawg players back for homecoming and Uga walking across the field, shook her shakers to the fight song, and danced to the band during halftime. Mary Kate was also able to score some of Daddy's Laffy Taffy as we sat there (snack four!).

Then we set out to find Hairy again. We stopped off to see a friend, Cook, and his dad for a few minutes and made our way to the other side. MK really wanted to see Hairy at this point, but I hadn't seen him anywhere. I spoke with mic man Jon and figured out that Hairy would head back over soon. Finally, as I was about to give up, there came Hairy. MK, who had been slumping over and showing signs of being really tired, jumped up and started pointing. Her voice was really high pitched and happy and she kept saying, "There's Hairy Dawg! There's Hairy Dawg!" We felt really special as we pushed through the crowd and met him at the gate. Hairy took her from me and I took a few pics. Then he ran off and left the crowd. It was really something else. Hairy Dawg took time out just to make sure MK got to see him. I know Mary Kate felt really special, and I was impressed by how she was taken care of by these UGA student athletes. Thanks y'all!

After that, we headed back to the car, but Mary Kate didn't want to leave Athens. She talked me into getting her some ice cream (snack five) and we stopped off at the Varsity to get each of us an F.O. and some water. As the day came to a close and we rode back to Macon, I felt really rich and full. I won't ever forget this day. I can't believe that God has given me such a special little girl! Our family is incredible - an amazing wife who is my best friend, a crazy fun little girl and an awesome little man. What a gift! I look forward to many more days like this with both of our kids. As Mary Kate said, "Ford will get to go to Athens when he's a little older."