Superbowl in NJ/NY

Jake and I arrived in New York, and made it to our Hotel in Manhattan.  Checking in at the front desk,  we were told we had the right colors on, we were wearing our Seahawks gear.  We didn't have any idea, but the staffer said "why don't you guys go ahead and take this room."  Not sure what he was talking about, we made our way to our room.  I opened up the blinds and wow, I knew what he what he had in mind in.  The Empire State Building was lit up in Seahawk blue and green and our view was unobstructed.

On Superbowl Sunday, we headed to Penn Station at about noon.  Getting to the game was a bit crazy to say the least.  There was two options to get into the stadium, the fan express bus or the NJ transit.  Fan express buses were all booked by the time we decided to head out to NY.  Luckily we arrived with, I would say the first 10,000 fans.  Waiting in the transit station was adventure, we were shoulder to shoulder most of the time.  You had to stand on the stairs for 10-15 minutes if you were lucky and longer if you weren't,  The 12's took full advantage of having thousands of fans inside the transit stations.  There were deafening Seahawks chants that were a wave from one end to the other end of the building.  It was awesome.  The Broncos fans tried to come back with their own cheers but it was mainly in retaliation, they needed a lot more practice.  I felt like I was going to pass out twice on the trip, once on the transit from Penn Station to Secaucus and once standing on the stairs heading to the next train from Secaucus to the Meadowlands.  At least I wasn't  like one of the guys on our first train who was puking all over himself the entire ride.  HA!

Arrived at Metlife stadium around 2:30PM.

We expected hours of waiting in security lines at the stadium but we got inside in less than 30 minutes.

This was the set outside the stadium for the NFL Network.  You can tell by the pictures below, Deion Sanders was inside, Willie McGinnest actually came outside and said hello to a few fans and even took a picture with a kid.

We checked out our seats, the welcome pack that was there and went to buy some gear and souvenirs.    The welcome pack had hand warmers, a beanie, a pouch for your waist to warm your hands, a poncho and a few other things I can't remember.  We also walked around the stadium, took some pictures, ate some food and got on face time with our wives and kids.

The first snap from scrimmage sent all the Hawk fans into a frenzy.  We were all jumping up and down going nuts after the botched snap and safety.

The beanies that were given to us, were equipped with LED lights in the front.  The lights were controlled and were part of the halftime show.  The lights you saw on TV around the stadium were on our heads.  It was pretty cool to watch in person.  I think it was a great idea to get every fan involved as part of the halftime show.

Bruno Mars was good and it was a nice change up to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  

If felt like we were jumping and yelling the entire game, there was always something to cheer about.  Complete domination by the Seahawks and now it was time to celebrate!  The first Superbowl win in Seahawks history, and I was there to witness it.  People always ask me what it was like, the trip, the Superbowl itself and the overall experience.  In all honesty it's hard to put into words.  Amazing.  Epic.  Dream come true. Cloud 9. Once in a lifetime.  Those words still don't seem to do justice to what it felt like to be in NYC and watch the Hawks win the Superbowl.  Next to marrying Heidi, and the birth of all my kids it was certainly the best day of my life.  

Superbowl 48 champs!!!!  We hung around the stadium for a few hours to celebrate, take pictures and soak it all in.  We did it!  I've got to give the Broncos fans that were there some credit, after getting smacked by the Seahawks most of them that I ran into either shook my hand or patted me on the back and said congratulations.  Almost all of them were classy.  We are talking grown men, literally crying but still had the class to say congrats.

Disneyland

I thought it would be amazing...wonderful...awesome....fun....fantastic if we went to Disneyland without the kids. All I needed was 1 day. Cirdan thought I was a little weird but who cares. I wanted to do it! When we have been before it was all about watching the kids. I didn't really get to do anything I wanted to do. I had to make sure that I didn't lose someone, change diapers, make sure they were fed and take them to their kiddie rides. Don't get me wrong...I really don't mind the kiddie rides but I want to be able to do what I want to do.

We arrived at around 9:30 and it took us a while to even get into the parking garage. There was a big line of cars and we slowly made our way in.

But it was exciting and I was happy to be there!

We first walked over to California Adventures. The first stop was Cars Land where we tried to get a fast pass for the new Cars Ride. It was already out for the day! There was no way were were going to wait in line 2+ hours when we were only there for one day. Bummer!

I have never realized that hotel was there in the distance until I looked at this picture. Strange.

We were looking for breakfast food but there was nothing so we ended up with a clam chowder bowl.

We only saw a few characters. We saw Goofy on our way out of the park.

We walked over to Disneyland. We had planned to be going back to California Adventures but never made it back.

Our first stop was Starbucks

Even the cups are fun

We walked around for a bit. We stopped at this koi pond to take a picture to send to our friend Greg. We still make fun of Cirdan standing at a koi pond for 10+ minutes taking video of the koi fish in Hawaii while Staci, Greg and I walked away and waited for him. All of us were wondering what the heck he was doing and what his deal with koi was. It was quite funny.

I've always wanted to try one of these turkey legs. It was a let down and totally nasty! Cirdan swears he got a mild case of food poisoning from it.

While we were walking up towards Star Tours I saw a guy walk past us that had a Seahawks shirt on and looked just like a guy in our old ward/neighborhood. His wife and I were good friends but we lost contact after I moved. I thought..what are the odds? He was alone and not with anyone (they have 6 kids) so I doubted it was really him. Cirdan and I ended up seeing him again and it was Matt. Crazy. He said Kristel and the kids were there also so I text Kristel and we met up. It was so funny. We had been trying to find a time to get together in Washington but it never worked out so running into each other hundreds of miles away made me laugh. We actually did get together this past week though for a late dinner here in Washington.

We also ran into our neighbors who live across the street.  Cirdan was wearing his Seahawks t-shirt, there seemed to be as many Seahawks jerseys/shirts as there was Disney shirts.  Cirdan thought he would see who the 'real' fans were....he said "Go Hawks" when he saw someone with a jersey or shirt.  He was sure this was a way to see who was a real fan and he's convinced that it was right on.  Each time he would say GO HAWKS, the 'real' fans would snap their heads and smile, and without thinking, give a GO HAWKS right back.  The fair-weather fans would either not even acknowledge, or take too much time and give some lame nod or something like that.  NOT REAL!  Fakers!  :)

I had to get a churro. Love those!

There were a lot of Seahawks fans there. I felt actually out of place with a Minnie shirt on. I felt like I needed to wear a Seahawks one. We were trying to take a picture of us (selfie style) and a Seahawks fan asked us if we wanted him to take a picture. He made a comment that is was because of Cirdan's shirt. The 12th men stick together!

Cirdan was pretty annoyed with being there and not riding all the scary rides. I told him to go ahead and I would wait for him but he didn't want to ride solo and be 'that guy'. He did end up going on California Screamin' by himself with some major coaxing.

By the time we got to Toon Town he was done. You can tell by the next pictures. Totally sarcastic. He said Toon Town stunk like dirty diapers as was more like Poop Town. Grrrrrr

We met up with some friends from Washington and had dinner with their family. Cirdan went on some rides with the husband and kids after dinner and I was able to hang out with Dana (she's prego) and her 2 little ones. We all went on Pirates of the Caribbean and I did end up going on Star Tours and closed my eyes over half of the ride. It was freaky! I can't handle all of flying ones that make you think you are falling from the sky. I do like the 3D rides though.

While we waited for the guys to go on one last ride I walked to one of the stores with Dana and the kids. I picked out stuff for our kids to take home and then realized I didn't have my wallet and had to wait for Cirdan to meet us. There was a little ice cream parlor that was connected to the store so we got one to share. The Huerta's also got one to share and it was quite comical. The little one was eating it without a spoon. She was so cute! Her face had ice cream all over it!

Yep....more fun faces from my husband

I love Disneyland at night

I had to buy a sweatshirt there. It got to chilly for the sweater I had brought. I hope that I will actually wear it again! Seems like when we buy Disney stuff it is always cool to wear there and then when you get back to reality it isn't as cool as you had thought.

I had a lot of fun! It made me wish my kids were older and were we could take them there and actually enjoy it with them. Soon enough though!