I realize the game was over a week ago, but I am just now getting an opportunity to sit down and write about GC Jr.'s first game in the Swamp.  In a word, amazing.  I have been fortunate enough like many of us to attend countless games in the Swamp, many of them some of the best that have ever been played there.  No game, however, will ever top the LSU game this year when I brought my son to his first game.  It may sound incredibly corny, but it truly did fulfill a dream of mine ever since I bought him his first Gator outfit on my first trip to Gainesville after I learned we were having a baby.  It was a mix of overwhelming joy, pride, excitement and happiness that I honestly still struggle to describe.  I honestly wish I could have recorded the whole experience so I could play it back endlessly, but nonetheless the memory will forever play back in my mind.  

He was truly a chip of the old block throughout the game, never once sitting down (even when I told him he could he said to me, "No Daddy, you said when you went to games you stood the whole time"  He chomped.  He screamed.  He sang "We Are The Boys"  He cheered until the final whistle, only stopping to frequently wrap his arms around me and tell me he loved me and he was so happy to go to a game with me.   Truth be told, I've never cried over a football game, but when he turned the corner in the north endzone and saw the field, said "Wow" and jumped into my arms to give me a hug, I did shed tears in the stadium.  It truly was an experience I was blessed to share with him and I am already looking forward to the next time, perhaps with my daughter too.

Below are some pictures from game day if you'd like to check them out.  I won't post every picture we took (because Mrs. GC tells me not to) but we had a great time all around.  My daughter and my wife came to campus with us before the game and we enjoyed looking at real gators in Lake Alice, going to the Fan Fest activities, Emerson Alumni Hall, the Gator Walk (the police gave my kids an escort right to the prime spot to high five the players), and the band/majorette practice.  It was an absolutely perfect Gator day.  I probably never noticed in the past since I haven't brought kids before, but UF does a great job making it a fun day for families.