Last night we went to the Bank of America stadium to watch the Carolina Panthers first practice. Their first practice is open to the public and is free. We had never been before, but I was alerted that it was happening through an email I get from www.Hulafrog.com. This website sends me emails each week about different events that are happening throughout the city. It is a great resource and many of the things to do are free. I believe that it is available in many other cities as well.
Because I am too cheap and it is too loud for the kids, I knew we wouldn’t be going to the stadium for a real game anytime soon. This was the perfect substitution for a real game. Tom wasn’t going to be able to meet us there until after 7:00pm so my parents said that they would go to help with the kids until Tom arrived. We all dressed for the occasion…
We could sit anywhere we wanted so we chose to sit on the twenty yard line and in the tenth row which is better than any seats that we would ever be able to buy. The kids were bored soon after we sat down so I took the boys to check out what there was to do (other than watch practice). We found “Sir Purr’s Playhouse” just outside of our section. The kids could try on real helmets and pads. Wilson and Miller attempted to kick a field goal and Wilson let Sir Purr throw him a pass. Very fun…
After the practice, the players came around to sign autographs. We were not prepared for that at all: No markers. Faith was very upset that she couldn’t get an autograph. The kids are obsessed with Cam Newton, the quarterback, and she really wanted his signature. We had to convince her that we would get it right next year. After the signatures was the band, “The Voltage Brothers”. Oddly enough, I swear that I used to see them play in college. It is possible. I did realize that I watched about as much of the practice as I do a regular season game – not much. I enjoy people watching and walking around more than I enjoy watching the game. The best part of the evening was the fireworks show inside the stadium. They turned off all of the lights in the stadium and then shot off fireworks from the field, the scoreboard and above our heads on the upper level. It was awesome! They played music during the fireworks and had a small light show on the field. The fireworks were very loud! I wanted to take a picture but Miller had my hands so tightly over his ears that there was no way that a picture could be taken. It was one of those moments in life that I will just have to remember the old fashion way…in my head. We had such a great time as a family doing something that we normally don’t get to do. I am sure that we will go again next year. Here is our family selfie before the fireworks…
Here are a few other pictures…