are you ready for some football?

Our experience watching Monday night football live in the US Bank Stadium was completely impressive.

Grandma Betty, Uncle Bruce, Aunt Julie and cousin Isaiah joined us for the events driving to our house and then we left together in our van and Bruce and Julie's Outback. We parked just off Hamline Avenue, ate a  Noodles and Company and then boarded the light rail--destination US Bank Stadium!

We arrived at the stadium along with a rush of other fans. I had forgotten to tell Betty she needed to leave her purse at home so we had an added experience of having Brad go back and check her bag while we waited just outside the stadium. Some Vikings staff that saw Osten offered him a cup of hot chocolate, to stand near their warming house and also a fancy "first game button". Brad arrived and we were all able to filter into the stadium with the 67,000+ other fans.

We found our way to our seats in section 313 row 17 and were treated to some professional entertainment. There is a lot more going on to the game than what you see on TV. My last Vikings game was in 1997, and it was noticeably more of a production with the technological advancements. The SKOL drumline was fun, the Cheerleaders were energetic and gorgeous, the noise levels were impressive, the horn, the fireworks and the responsiveness of the crowd was amazing.

The game itself was a little disappointing--the Vikings only had 7 first downs the entire game and their time of possession was half of what the Packers had. Aaron Rodgers threw some nice passes including an interception, but their offense was just clicking like the Vikings weren't. It did get a little old hearing the Packer fans cheering, but I never did get angry. We still had a smile on our face was we exited the field.

Osten did confess on the way back to the light rail that he was sad the Vikings lost. I know how he feels and hopefully in our next game, we will see a well oiled machine that puts one in the victory column. Anders predicts that we will be 2-0 versus the Packers next year.

The light rail back to our vehicle was pretty packed and we had one moment that a man who looked like he was pretty high jumped on the train and scared Isaiah, but we did get back to our car about 11:45pm and made it home safely to River Falls about 45 minutes later.

All in all, I'm very happy with our family Christmas gift...we were prepared for the score and had a wonderful experience. Yes, we are ready for some football!