This Thanksgiving was spent very differently than it has in the past. Instead of having a semi-relaxing weekend at home visiting different relatives and having a large dinner, we decided to go to the Madison Badger football game against the Minnesota Gophers. When I say we, I mean the 5 families in my neighborhood that are very close and could possibly be considered a clique. The morning of Black Friday was hectic in its own way. No I was not shopping with my friends or family, I was packing up the car with everything that I needed for the weekend and for college, since I would be getting dropped off at Eau Claire on the way home. From the back of the car it looked like we were going away for an entire week, but it truly was only 3 days. I am not sure what was all packed up in the back of the car, but the trunk was able to shut and that is all anyone cared about. The five hour drive was awful, but thankfully the group decided to stop in Eau Claire for lunch. Though I was just at home, I was in my second home. We did not stay very long, but there was something very comforting about being in Eau Claire that I can't pinpoint. Finally reaching the main doors of the hotel was a celebration within itself. I was so happy to be out of the car that I grabbed all of my bags and sat in the lobby until our room was ready. I am sure I could have helped out, but I was the only one who over-packed for the trip, I came to conclusion that grabbing my bags were enough. Dinner was almost, if not more, hectic than lunch. Thankfully we were put upstairs in a large room with no other families, for the restaurant would have had some angry costumers. With 25 of us, 10 being children under the age 13, it is not always the easiest meal to have, though I'm sure the waitress loved it because her tip was very generous. I ended up ordering two sides, because I am not a huge fan of Irish food, but they were good and so was the beer that I got. Who knew that if you were in Wisconsin with your parents out to eat that you could order alcohol... oh wait, I did. He he he. Saturday afternoon was spent pre-gaming and exploring State Street. Words cannot express how much I love visiting new cities and seeing the old buildings, busy streets, and cute boutique stores on every block. Finally making our way to the game, which took us a very long time since we decided to walk two miles to the stadium, we found our seats and got lunch. By the time we were actually eating, it was more of a lunch and dinner combo, for none of the parents fed us or felt it was necessary to before the game. I think they forgot that they had 10 children, including a 16 year old and I. I don't know how Mike did it, but he got 25 tickets right behind the end zone on the end of the isle. I did not think we were going to have this good of tickets. The game lasted almost four hours, totaling our time outside to be around seven or eight hours. It was a very close game until the third quarter when the Gophers fell behind by two touchdowns and sorta gave up. The game ended and trying to get out of the stadium was a complete mess. After spending so much time outside of the hotel, we totally forgot that our walk was 45 minutes back. Grumpy and tired kids turned into over emotional and unbearable. With the smart parents we have, there was pizza waiting for us at the hotel in a separate room when we got back. Now in the car on my way back to campus, looking back on the weekend makes me realize how thankful I am of the wonderful group of neighbors I have and how we are able to take trips together without too many negative outcomes.