Grandma and Grandpa Perkes visit

Guess who came to visit us?! That's right--Grandma and Grandpa Perkes! We were so excited to have family near us again!

Scott and Neil had talked for quite some time about how they wanted to get Neil down here and go to an SEC football game together. They finally made it happen, and for pretty much the coolest and most exciting game that A&M would play all season long. They decided to come down for the A&M vs Alabama game! 

It was a little nerve wracking trying to get Neil a ticket, seeing as how they weren't doing guest passes with the student passes for this game, and this game only! (LAME!) But, we made it work...Whew! 

Scott was excited to be able to show his Dad around campus more now that he knew a little bit more about the school from when they drove down here for the move. This was a weekend we were looking forward to for a while!

They came down on Thursday, October 15th and stayed until Monday, the 19th. We picked them up at the Austin airport Thursday afternoon and showed them around the city. We drove past the sights to see while in Austin, and then decided to take them to the Lady Bird Lake trail so we could get a little more sight-seeing in and some exercise as well... These are a couple of photos of Kaiser and Neil after our walk. :) 

For dinner we went to Round Rock and ate at the famous Salt Lick Barbeque. One of the top 3 BBQ joints in all of Texas. We took my parents when they came in March and we loved it and thought they would too! It was a hit! Then we drove home and went to sleep!

The next day, Friday, we walked around and did some sight-seeing of campus--campus is pretty big and it was fun to be able to show Neil and Andrea around and teach them all the deep history and culture that A&M has--it is definitely a school to be super proud of, that's for sure. We showed them the student center, the hall of honor for A&M students that have won the medal of honor, the century tree, Scott's school buildings, the stadium (obviously), Sully the Statue, the Corps of Cadets plaza, etc. 

We went to lunch at a place Neil heard of from a coworker who is an alumni of A&M. It's at the top of Rudder Tower and we believe it's called the University Club restaurant. It was a buffet style lunch (only open from 11-2, reservation only) where we could eat with a beautiful view of the school and College Station. It was a fun place to eat! Here are a couple photos of the views:

We went to dinner at Torchy's Tacos and watched the BYU and USU football games. Then later that night was the infamous "Midnight Yell Practice." This was a big Midnight yell seeing as we were playing Alabama the next day... So we got a friend to watch Kaiser so we all could go together! It's something you have to experience at least once if you live in CS or come visit... Here are some pictures of that...

Me and Scott under the Aggie Ring. (Rings are HUGE here..)

Night view of the field

Midnight yell--Man, I look tired. Midnight is late when you're a parent hahaha!

Haha Scott is a goober

The 4 of us at Midnight Yell!

The whole student section side was full!

Saturday was the big game! We woke up and got ready for the day. I drove everyone as close to the field as I could get them so they could walk around and see some of the crazy tailgating sights before the game. Then I met up with them later when the busses were going. They watched the Corps of Cadets, the football team and Coach Sumlin, the Yell Leaders (Because there AREN'T any cheer leaders here at A&M...don't confuse them!) and they got to see Reville (their Mascot) as well... 

Since ticket prices were rather expensive, we decided that just the boys would go to the game, and the girls (and Kaiser of course) could just enjoy a little alone time to chat. So we said bye to Neil and Scott and Andrea, Kaiser, and I rode home to take a break from the heat and chat. Here are some of the photos that Scott snapped at the game--little stinker for NOT getting one of him and his Dad together at the game...

Sad to say, Alabama won. The game was still fun and exciting, but it would have been PERFECT had A&M won... The boys were beat after the game and after standing in the heat all day. So Andrea and I went to pick up a pizza and we came home and relaxed for the rest of the night. It was fun to just relax and catch up.

Sunday was our chill day. We went to church, came home and ate..Then while Kaiser took a nap, Scott drove Neil and Andrea around College Station. They were gone for a long time so I'm sure he showed them quite a bit of things... I'm just not sure of the details. Then we made some yummy dinner and spent time hanging out at home. 

Monday was the day we had to take them back to the airport... :( Scott had class early in the morning for a few hours, so Kaiser got some more time in with Grandma and Grandpa before they had to go, and we went for a quick walk...then we drove them down to Austin again. We stopped at this super tasty burger joint just outside of Austin that was delicious--I only wish I could remember the name!

We dropped them off and said a tearful goodbye. We had so much fun having them here to visit! We missed them the second they left us... It is always depressing when family leaves and we get back into our routines. We were both sad, and we could tell Kaiser was sad too.. he kept trying to talk to Grandma and Grandpa cuz he'd forget that they weren't there. Family is the best!

Saying goodbye at the airport...