Before we took our trip to Alabama, Damon saw the Auburn Raptor Center was now offering demonstrations of its rehabilitated raptors every Friday before a home game. He suggested that Grandma and I take Fuller to see the show on Friday, and I thought it sounded pretty good.

The Auburn Raptor Center does their demonstrations at the SRC Amphitheater. For some reason, it never occurred to me amphitheater = outdoors. So when we arrived there and saw the outdoor seating, I had a slight panic. No sunscreen, no hat for Fuller, and I didn’t bring my water bottle.

Fortunately, the admission stand ($5 per person for the show) had cold bottled water for $1.15. Damon said $1.15 for cold bottled water was much better than the $4 a bottle we would pay the next day at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The demonstration was really amazing. We saw owls, hawks, falcons, a vulture and an eagle. The handlers showed us how the raptors fly, hunt, and eat. Some of the raptors are tethered when they fly and others are trained so well they are not tethered.

Fuller learned one bird call, which at the moment he can’t duplicate, but when he did… it was cute!

In case you are not aware, Auburn’s war cry is “War Eagle!” Part of the legend has a Golden Eagle circling the football field when Auburn was playing Georgia, causing the fans to yell “War Eagle!”

As part of the pre-game ceremony at Auburn home games, an eagle is released to circle above Jordan-Hare Stadium and flies down to the field. They swap out the eagles, and currently Spirit, a Bald Eagle, is being used in the early games of 2008-2009 season. However, in the tradition of War Eagles, War Eagle VII, aka Nova, is the Golden Eagle we were able to see up close last Friday. He will fly later in the season at home games. We were able to see him released and fly around the amphitheater once.

It really was a fun experience. Damon was able to join us, so it made it easier on me to take pictures and for Grandma to enjoy herself as well. While it was hot, we stayed hydrated and happily fanned ourselves with complimentary fans to keep a bit cooler. If you are ever in Auburn on a home game Friday, make plans to see the raptors. It really is an awe inspiring event.

Technorati Tags: Auburn, Auburn Raptor Center, Raptors, War Eagle

I’m almost ready, but Fuller keeps trying to climb in the car so we can go now. We are embarking on our new stage of family life- Auburn Season Ticket holders. This weekend is the kickoff and we plan on going to Lake Martin for the hospitality of D’s parents. While Fuller is enjoying some grandparent time, Damon Auburn Elvis and I will be at Auburn enjoying the fans, atmosphere, and some football.

Fuller has been looking forward to football season just because it meant one more trip to the lake.

A few weeks ago I approached by a fellow Auburn fan who saw the Auburn sticker on our car. His car was covered in Auburn magnets and stickers. He is the grandfather of Bailey Woods, a red shirt freshman who will be one of Auburn’s tight ends this season (number 48). Grandpa Woods was going on and on about Bailey, giving me stats and a little family history (Bailey’s dad and grandpa both played for Georgia Tech, Bailey bucked tradition).

It was nice to see someone so proud and excited for his grandson. It made me think forward to the future and how Fuller’s grandpas will probably talk about him when he plays for Auburn too. And it got me even more excited for the season, since I have a little something personal to hang on to. I guess I’m one of those spectators who likes the color commentary and back story on players, a lot more than stats and speculation.

So, our family will drive south with our Tiger Tail out the trunk and ready to shout “War Eagle!” to every Auburn fan we pass on the road.

Guess where we will be this weekend?

Technorati Tags: Wordless Wednesday, Auburn Football, Auburn Tickets

Well, our overnight trip to Auburn has been considered a success. We were able to get to Auburn by 7:30, had a sweet visit with Grandma Great, enjoyed some time with cousins, played outside, and watched some football!

We were pleased with the weather. It stayed so sunny and hot all day, making the rain gear we lugged around a bit of a bother. But we were pleased we also remembered sunscreen (except one triangle of skin on my neck, which is a bit of a bother).

Since we took this trip as a test run for how things will run when we start going to Auburn games in the fall, we were able to see room for improvement but realize being Auburn fans in Auburn is totally doable. It was a great taste of what the next football season will look like. Right now we are planning to go to at least 5 games.

Fuller had a ball visiting with Grandma Great and playing with the toys there. Grandma has a tea set she played with as a child and Fuller was totally getting into playing tea party. Damon taught Fuller to serve tea (or coffee) to me while saying, “Here you go, madame.” It was so much fun.

A good trip was had by all.

Technorati Tags: family travel, Auburn A Game