Cris Carter...

So back to our vacation! 
Cris Carter was the entire reason for the trip to Ohio and I have yet to share those exciting pictures!

As shared before, the new hall of fame inductees were walked into the stadium and seated on the field while the other 120 HOFers were introduced.  Jason immediately spotted CC walking into the crowd.

This is a picture on the teleprompter while CC was introduced and walked to the stage. What was really awesome was the high school football team that made a tunnel for the players to walk through on their way to the stage. All inductees high fived the high school players!! Wouldn't that have been cool to do as a kid!

Here CC is being introduced to the crowd. During his introduction, Jason handed me the camera and said, "I can't take any pictures. I have to watch this in real life!" and handed me the camera. I was happy to help him out!

Jack knew how excited Jason was to see his idol.

I LOVE this picture!

And I think Jack thought it would help his chances of getting on TV!!

 

CC had a great speech (all the speeches were about 20 minutes in length and CC was the last to be  inducted!) It was pretty cool to hear his journey through football, ineligibility in college, drugs and alcohol after the Eagles and the entire rocky road.  But as he said, "I have had a smooth landing!"

 

There was a lot of driving in order to reach our destination of Canton, Ohio, but it was well worth the trip.  We will definitely go when Adrian Petersen is inducted...and when Jared Allen is inducted...and I am sure Jason will think of a few other Vikings players we will have to be witness to their induction to the Hall of Fame.

First Day of School!

 

First day of first grade......First day of second grade!

 Jack has grown an entire brick in one year...and in pure Jack fashion, spilled water down the front of his shirt!

                         

 

First day of 5th grade...first day of 6th grade!

           Sam has grown almost an entire brick!

The poor kiddo was so tired this morning, that his eyes are barely opened!

The two kiddos together.

They have grown so much in the past year and were super excited about starting school. Poor Jack, was tardy on the first day (I don' think it will count against him!) It was crazy chaotic in the parking lot and had to park WAY out.  The school clocks were 5 minutes fast and so he was late by the time we got into school. I walked him in and got him situated, the pledge started and I took off. Crossed my fingers that he was ok and then it was time for Sam to be dropped off at Middle School!  That was much smoother!  He told me that he could go in on his own..which was awesome, but also a bummer. I sucked it up and said, "Good for you! I know you are going to be just fine."  Out he jumped and with a wave he was gone on his new adventure.

And I am glad to report, that  did not cry. I did the night before school, but I was good to go this morning!

 

 

The Enshrinement Ceremony...

After autographs and museum touring, it was time for the big finale and it did not disappoint!
We headed to the football stadium, right by the HOF, for the enshrinement ceremony!

We walked into the stadium and there was a garage up on a hill..in plain view. Jason was looking for gold jackets and immediately found this one!

Mike Ditka...smoking a big 'ole cigar!

While standing there, HUGE VIP buses pulled up. Someone important had to be them!

And out came 120 different Hall of Famers!
John Madden and Frank Gifford

Emmitt Smith

Roger Staubach and Steve Young

Mean Joe Green

Joe Namath

Inside the stadium, the players all mingled around and talked. It was fun to watch!

Emmitt Smith saying hello to Eric Dikerson

Chris Berman (Boomer) shaking Jim Kelly's hand.

This is Boomer starting the show. Needless to say, they had a close up on him and not a crowd shot, due to the fact that the players were just starting to take their seats!

John Madden sitting with Dan Marino.

Howie Long! I have LOTS of pictures of Howie Long!!!

Madden talking with Marino and Joe Namath.

Marcus Allen and Troy Aikman

Suddenly there was a bunch of cheering in the crowd. The 2013 Hall of Famers were being escorted into the stadium. This is LarryAllen leading the crowd.

Back to the ceremony....Boomer introduced all 120 of the 160 Hall of Famers that attended the ceremony. Jason took a picture of each person. Don't worry, I won't share all 120. 

 

Alan Page from the Minnesota Vikings. Mr. Page is now a judge and has written a great children's book, Alan and his Perfectly Pointy Impossibly Perpendicular Pinky

 

And you can see that his finger is perfectly pointy and impossibly perpendicular!

Shannon Sharpe

Jimmy Johnson...in the front row of course!

Howie Long and John Madden

During the ceremony, the entire Cowboys football team walked in..they were there because they played in the HOF game on Sunday night. Tony Romo signed a few autographs and posed for some pictures.

It was great fun to watch the crowd on the field. There were LOADS of players and coaches...all mingling with one another during commercial breaks.  Brain Billick, previous coach of the Ravens, stopped to talk with ex Minnesota Viking,  Brad Johnson.

Saints coach, Sean Payton.

Bill Belichick, the Patriots coach, spent some time chatting with Urban Meyer, the head coach for Ohio State.

Jon Gruden and Tony Dungy, who both coached Warren Sapp when he was with the Buccaneers, were in attendance.

Ray Lewis

And the man we came to see...Cris Carter!
(finally!)

Pro Football Hall of Fame...

After the autograph session, we grabbed some lunch (while Jason got tow more autographs on his Hall of Fame football) and headed to the HOF museum.

The museum was much larger than I expected which was awesome!

There was one area with all interactive displays...that actually worked...unlike some of those interactive children's museums we have attended! Here they boys got to review plays with instant replay!

Several football players have their hands molded and Sam enjoyed sizing up his hands! Here he is comparing to Warren Sapp.

This one amazed me!  These are actual forms of different players legs. Jack came up to their hips!!

These boys are HUGE!!!

These are quarterback helmets, so the boys were able to check out how the coaches communicate with their QB. Impressive technology!

Sam tried on some FB pads!

Each new inductee had a "shrine." We obviously had to get a picture in front of Cris Carter's...it included his helmet, jersey, shoes and a signed football.
 

 

There were LOADS of other memorabilia in the museum that I have pictures of, but I won't bore you with those 200 pictures, except this one...Robert Griffin the 3rd.  He was wearing this jersey when he set the record for most yards for a rookie QB.  I love that it still has dirt on it!!!

This is the uniform that Adrian Petersen was wearing when he ran for 296 yards in one game.
And this is Petersen's MVP uniform!

and we couldn't pass up getting a picture with the Super Bowl trophy!

There's still a lot of football to share with you all!