A University Rich in Tradition…

My husband and I graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles – we live roughly 45 minutes to an hour from campus.

When football season arrives, we look forward to supporting our team and of course the pre-game festivities!   Our friends think we are a bit nuts, bringing the whole family up for a day, but we love it.

So, this is how we roll – our “College Gameday Tradition”

We travel up to the University roughly 5 hours before kickoff, park at the Coliseum and walk about 15 Minutes over to campus. (Notice the new 3 person stroller by Joovy- love love love it!)

We love walking through the Rose Gardens and arrive on campus to visit the great statues of Tommy Trojan and Traveler, our horse mascot. The kids love to walk by all the tailgaters and students throughout campus.

Our picnic awaits us in the heart of the campus and we enjoy this catered event for roughly 3.5 hours together with our family and friends.

Kids play football and await our infamous marching band and cheerleaders as they march right through our picnic and perform a few songs for us.

Just being together in an environment that is so dear means so much to us and their grandparents.

About a half hour before kickoff we head back to the Coliseum where we load up the car wtih strollers then head inside for game.

Of course, I recommend you go in prepared with all the basics for any event with your children…we add sticker books, university kid books, radio headsets, binoculars and plenty of pom poms!

With the new baby, we adjusted our timeline for gameday….now, after picnic- I change kids into their pajamas and I make the drive home and my husband goes into the game. (They normally pass out en route).  Men love me for doing this, but honestly guys- hanging out with 4 kids under 6 inside a Coliseum at night for another 4 hours..I am at the season in my life where my comfy sweats and watching the game from the big screen is just fine!  My son has been joining his Dad and grandparents as of late, as you can tell by the size of his smile…he is hooked!  I can take one for the team!

Overall,  it works well for us- we are laying a foundation for the love of the University, its rich family tradition and the game itself.

I hope we have inspired you to create a gameday tradition for you and yours!  We are enjoying it ourselves…especially when they will form their lil fingers into a “V”ictory sign!  Fight On!