This year we HAD to attend the UCF Fanfest. Anyone that knows our family, knows how much we love football. And how much we love our UCF Knights. So, when we heard about the Fanfest, we decided to go for it. We knew it would be a lot of fun and the kids would enjoy it. And they did. UCF is only about an hour away from us so we like to try to expose the kids as often as possible to our alma mater. Bonus for living near where you went to college. We are also huge UCF fans so the more sports related things we can attend, the better. =) Our goal this school year is to take the kids to another basketball game (men's this time) and likely another baseball game in the spring. That's just the sports stuff. We also always go to Light Up UCF and if I can find a reason for us to take a visit in the Spring... we will. We already have our football game for the year picked out and will be doing that at the end of September. We have to go back soon anyway because as I'm writing this, I realized I totally forgot to get my annual picture of the kids in front of the knight in front of the stadium. It wasn't anywhere near where we entered and we were all so hot by the time we left, that my main focus was finding water for the kids (and us). Oh well. Again, bonus to living nearby. We could go for fun just to walk around campus one day to get the picture.
We left our house a little early with plans to hit up Target to check out the UCF gear they have there beforehand. Around here, the closer you get to the school, the more likely you are to actually find good clothing without having to order it online. We are far enough away that we are limited in our selection. Unfortunately, we totally forgot that it was move in weekend. So. Many. Mini. Fridges. Seriously... everyone was buying one. The place was packed and while there was more gear there than at the locations closer to our house, it wasn't anything we were super into. Most of it was stuff I have seen in our own Targets and nothing was on sale (of course) at this time of year so it wasn't worth it yet. I also have a super specific want for a shirt for the year and I haven't found it yet. We ended up not finding anything that stood out to us as something we absolutely needed. However, Kenzie did decide that she must have a UCF bow before the football game we plan to attend. So, I will either be making one or maybe ordering something off Etsy or online. We will see. After that, we headed out to Steak n Shake for dinner. One of our faves. Sounds silly but I would go out of my way for that burger. Bonus is that we knew what the calorie count was and were able to fit it into our day (mostly... breakfast that morning after the Celebration of Running 5K was pretty high but luckily we earned some back after running said 5K). The kids love Steak n Shake. Kenzie chose a hot dog and Will chose chicken tenders. They both ordered their own meals in the most polite way ever. They like to order their own food and are always so sweet when they do it. Kenzie even raised her hand once to get the server's attention to ask for "more water, please." The server complimented both kids on their awesome manners. They are growing into such awesome little humans.
After our yummy dinner, we set out for UCF. We were only about 10 minutes away but with traffic, it took a little longer than that. We were still early for Fanfest. We parked in the lot they mentioned and then walked around the stadium to the area where they would be letting everyone in. It was actually the same gate we entered in through for the U Can Finish 5 Mile race, I think. It seemed familiar at least. We had to stand outside and wait for about 25 minutes before we were able to go in. Once the line was long enough to put us into the shade, I went to wait in the line while Steven chatted with another random UCF fan. Apparently something about us makes people think we are friendly enough to chat with because it happens all the time. I excused myself in the middle of the conversation to go stand in the line. The kids ran back and forth between us until it was time to go inside. Right as we entered, there were some of the cheerleaders and Kenzie wanted to take a picture with one of them. Then we picked up football posters before stopping at the cheerleader table and getting their autographs on their own poster.
Our next stop was the offensive line table. We had to wait quite a while so I waited in line with the kids while Steven set off to find the head coach, Scott Frost. He found him and decided to hang out in his line because I was near the front of ours with the kids. The players were all super nice while signing the kids' posters. They chatted with them and made jokes. I tend to forget that these big guys are actually just kids. Tops, they are probably around 22 or 23. Some of them as young as 18. When you watch them pummel each other on TV or on the field, you forget they are someone's baby but standing there in front of them, I was reminded they are kids. Our own kids were so excited with all the autographs they were getting.
Then, it was time to find Steven to meet Coach Frost. It wasn't hard to locate him. We found him in the air conditioning at the bottom of the Roth Tower. It was where the crazy long line was. Luckily, because Steven had decided to wait, we were able to jump in line with him about 3 groups from the front. Then, it was our turn. He was super nice. Not like we expected anything different. I can't imagine he would not be in this situation. He is also pretty tall. Even taller that Steven. Which sort of surprised me. But it makes sense. He was a quarterback for Nebraska and played some in the NFL before his OC job at Oregon which led him to us at UCF. I think I have all that right. I didn't Google him so that's from memory of Steven and I chatting about it. =) He must have thanked us (and everyone he spoke to) 3 or 4 times for coming. He asked how old the kids were and was just generally nice. We got his autograph and a picture with him before parting ways.
After that we went outside and waited to get the defensive line's autographs. Will was finally deciding that it was cool to talk to them instead of being all star struck and hanging out behind me when they would try to chat with him.
Then the kids honed in on the women's volleyball team so we had to go meet them too. It was also super hot so all this was between water breaks for the kids (and us). We then decided to go and try a few of the giveaways. The funniest part was Will winning a cool bracelet but freaking out because Kenzie won sunblock and he didn't. So... we gave her the bracelet and he carried his sunblock around the rest of the evening like a prized possession. Weird kid. Then we randomly caught sight of Knightro. From the moment we told Will that we were going over to UCF, he was asking if he could see Knightro and get a high five and picture so we had to follow him to his spot in the concourse to officially get our picture with him. And Will's high five.
It was getting late (and was still super hot) so we were thinking about leaving but decided first to go check out the field so we could see the new running scoreboard and check out the new cabanas. They are strange. Little houses on the field basically. So weird. But whatever works.
Then we went into the locker room. The kids each had to try on a helmet and we were able to see the jersey and helmet combinations they will use this year.
Then it was time for us to head home. We knew we had an hour drive back and it was getting late. It had been a big day for us so we were all tired. The funniest part was as we were leaving, Will broke down in tears. Apparently until that moment he thought he was going to get to see a football game. When we left the stadium, he realized there wasn't one and was super upset. It was sad but pretty funny. These kids may have saltwater running through their veins, but it bleeds black and gold (and aqua and orange).
We really enjoyed the Fanfest. We are really glad we decided to go. It really pumped us up for the football season. Only a couple more weeks before we get to watch our Knights take the field and about a month before our 2nd annual family game to see them do it in person.
Once a Knight.... Always a Knight
We left our house a little early with plans to hit up Target to check out the UCF gear they have there beforehand. Around here, the closer you get to the school, the more likely you are to actually find good clothing without having to order it online. We are far enough away that we are limited in our selection. Unfortunately, we totally forgot that it was move in weekend. So. Many. Mini. Fridges. Seriously... everyone was buying one. The place was packed and while there was more gear there than at the locations closer to our house, it wasn't anything we were super into. Most of it was stuff I have seen in our own Targets and nothing was on sale (of course) at this time of year so it wasn't worth it yet. I also have a super specific want for a shirt for the year and I haven't found it yet. We ended up not finding anything that stood out to us as something we absolutely needed. However, Kenzie did decide that she must have a UCF bow before the football game we plan to attend. So, I will either be making one or maybe ordering something off Etsy or online. We will see. After that, we headed out to Steak n Shake for dinner. One of our faves. Sounds silly but I would go out of my way for that burger. Bonus is that we knew what the calorie count was and were able to fit it into our day (mostly... breakfast that morning after the Celebration of Running 5K was pretty high but luckily we earned some back after running said 5K). The kids love Steak n Shake. Kenzie chose a hot dog and Will chose chicken tenders. They both ordered their own meals in the most polite way ever. They like to order their own food and are always so sweet when they do it. Kenzie even raised her hand once to get the server's attention to ask for "more water, please." The server complimented both kids on their awesome manners. They are growing into such awesome little humans.
After our yummy dinner, we set out for UCF. We were only about 10 minutes away but with traffic, it took a little longer than that. We were still early for Fanfest. We parked in the lot they mentioned and then walked around the stadium to the area where they would be letting everyone in. It was actually the same gate we entered in through for the U Can Finish 5 Mile race, I think. It seemed familiar at least. We had to stand outside and wait for about 25 minutes before we were able to go in. Once the line was long enough to put us into the shade, I went to wait in the line while Steven chatted with another random UCF fan. Apparently something about us makes people think we are friendly enough to chat with because it happens all the time. I excused myself in the middle of the conversation to go stand in the line. The kids ran back and forth between us until it was time to go inside. Right as we entered, there were some of the cheerleaders and Kenzie wanted to take a picture with one of them. Then we picked up football posters before stopping at the cheerleader table and getting their autographs on their own poster.
Our next stop was the offensive line table. We had to wait quite a while so I waited in line with the kids while Steven set off to find the head coach, Scott Frost. He found him and decided to hang out in his line because I was near the front of ours with the kids. The players were all super nice while signing the kids' posters. They chatted with them and made jokes. I tend to forget that these big guys are actually just kids. Tops, they are probably around 22 or 23. Some of them as young as 18. When you watch them pummel each other on TV or on the field, you forget they are someone's baby but standing there in front of them, I was reminded they are kids. Our own kids were so excited with all the autographs they were getting.
Then, it was time to find Steven to meet Coach Frost. It wasn't hard to locate him. We found him in the air conditioning at the bottom of the Roth Tower. It was where the crazy long line was. Luckily, because Steven had decided to wait, we were able to jump in line with him about 3 groups from the front. Then, it was our turn. He was super nice. Not like we expected anything different. I can't imagine he would not be in this situation. He is also pretty tall. Even taller that Steven. Which sort of surprised me. But it makes sense. He was a quarterback for Nebraska and played some in the NFL before his OC job at Oregon which led him to us at UCF. I think I have all that right. I didn't Google him so that's from memory of Steven and I chatting about it. =) He must have thanked us (and everyone he spoke to) 3 or 4 times for coming. He asked how old the kids were and was just generally nice. We got his autograph and a picture with him before parting ways.
After that we went outside and waited to get the defensive line's autographs. Will was finally deciding that it was cool to talk to them instead of being all star struck and hanging out behind me when they would try to chat with him.
Then the kids honed in on the women's volleyball team so we had to go meet them too. It was also super hot so all this was between water breaks for the kids (and us). We then decided to go and try a few of the giveaways. The funniest part was Will winning a cool bracelet but freaking out because Kenzie won sunblock and he didn't. So... we gave her the bracelet and he carried his sunblock around the rest of the evening like a prized possession. Weird kid. Then we randomly caught sight of Knightro. From the moment we told Will that we were going over to UCF, he was asking if he could see Knightro and get a high five and picture so we had to follow him to his spot in the concourse to officially get our picture with him. And Will's high five.
It was getting late (and was still super hot) so we were thinking about leaving but decided first to go check out the field so we could see the new running scoreboard and check out the new cabanas. They are strange. Little houses on the field basically. So weird. But whatever works.
Then we went into the locker room. The kids each had to try on a helmet and we were able to see the jersey and helmet combinations they will use this year.
Then it was time for us to head home. We knew we had an hour drive back and it was getting late. It had been a big day for us so we were all tired. The funniest part was as we were leaving, Will broke down in tears. Apparently until that moment he thought he was going to get to see a football game. When we left the stadium, he realized there wasn't one and was super upset. It was sad but pretty funny. These kids may have saltwater running through their veins, but it bleeds black and gold (and aqua and orange).
We really enjoyed the Fanfest. We are really glad we decided to go. It really pumped us up for the football season. Only a couple more weeks before we get to watch our Knights take the field and about a month before our 2nd annual family game to see them do it in person.
Once a Knight.... Always a Knight
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