Go Big Green

I needed to record a video at Northwest during the past couple of weeks, so the boys and I spent most of the day up there on Wednesday. I figured, Jack's on Spring Break, waiting until mid-March increases our chances of good weather and it's March 17th — so maybe we could even catch the "World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade."

Jackson's always disappointed when he doesn't get to go with me to Maryville (sometimes I don't even tell him) and then it seems like I usually have such a tight schedule that I'm either in meetings, have events to go to or someone to see. So — other than my one appointment in Wells Hall — the entire afternoon was his, for us to do whatever and go where ever he wanted.

Unfortunately, I left our camera (yikes!) in the car that Leslie drove to work, so these are just some quick pics with my cell phone ... until its memory soon became full.

Using the teleprompter. I felt like Barack Obama.

Both Jackson and Landon got to hang out in the control room with the director and producer, the whole time I was in the studio. (Thanks for the pics, Mitzi!)

After being cooped up in the car and the stroller for so long, I was eager for Landon to get out and stretch his legs.

Jack wanted to see where the musical chimes were coming from, so we played around the Bell Tower for awhile.

Big Man On Campus...?

We stopped in the Administration Building to say hi to a couple of friends. Jackson liked looking in the president's office.

We cruised through the student union for a quick snack (a cup of chicken noodle soup and a pear). When I told Jack that that's where Mommy and I met, he hesitantly asked, "Eww, did you kiss here, too?"

We saw Northwest's tennis team taking on UMKC, and then — as I expected — it was on to the playground! In the shadow of Bearcat Stadium.

With an elementary school on campus, Landon played on the kiddie part...

...while Jackson played across the sidewalk, testing himself on the adult fitness/workout equipment.

And with that, I got an error message on my phone and it couldn't hold any more pictures. No pictures of us going in the student rec center, and Jack thinking he was going to gag because it smelled so much like sweat. Or him running on the track, all the way around the football field. Going to the "time zones" and identifying Istanbul. Not so carefully stepping across the overflow waterfall of Colden Pond. Hiking the half-mile to the parade, and all the sights and sounds of a thousand college "revelers" ... packed in half a city block. Walking back to campus past the dinky house where Leslie and her roommates lived. Or introducing him to Pagliai's restaurant for the first time.

Oh well. As Nash once said, "The best pictures are the ones you take with your heart."

Go Bearcats.