Go Grocery Shopping... Meet a Packer

My brother texted me earlier in the week and asked if I knew when LeRoy Butler was going to be in Neenah. My reaction was "LeRoy Butler is going in Neenah???" After a few minutes of Googling, I found that he was indeed going to be in Neenah at Pick n Save from 12-2 signing recipe cards. Guess I was going to Pick n Save in Neenah.

After a nice lunch with some friends and a quick stop at Kohls to spend Kohl's cash, I ended up at Pick n Save. I HAD to pick up a few specials they were running anyways. It wasn't like I wasn't going to go to Pick n Save today... I just went to the one in Neenah instead of the one 5 minutes from my house.

I walked into the store, which I think I may have been in once or twice before, and was greeted by a lady asking if I was here to see LeRoy Butler. Duh, of course. She steered me over to the table he had set up with his recipe book and other pictures. She asked if I wanted my picture taken and "made" me to sign a waiver to be able to use my picture on social media. Hello, I won't want my picture taken if I knew there was a chance it was going to be all over social media.

LeRoy was busy talking to a father and two kids when I got in line. He finished up with them, took my picture, signed a few recipe cards, and off I went to pick up my groceries. I would have loved to ask him about his favorite recipes but another lady was already monopolizing his time. The hubby and him would have had a nice chat. LeRoy is just that kind of guy.

I am glad my brother informed me about this.. kind of amused Danielle failed to mention that hey a Packer is going to be at my store. He had to reschedule due to getting stuck in the blizzard (even though The Roy Butler doesn't cancel....). The hubby now has some recipe cards to add to his quite unique collection and I got to meet a very nice Packer. Win-win for us all.

#606. See a Celebrity Softball Tournament

When Rosie asked who wanted to go to the Jordy Nelson Charity Softball Game this year, I was like ME! I've always wanted to go, partially because it's on the bucket list (Packers are celebrities, right?) and partially because Hello hot Football Players. I was able to get 4 bleacher tickets together back in January. So Rosie, her parents, and I headed to Fox Cities Stadium for the softball game.

The weather was calling for rain in the morning and a decent afternoon. When we got to the stadium, the sponsors softball game was going on. It was Kwik Trip versus the Packers. Since it started sprinkling, we stayed under cover while watching the game. After about a half inning of being there, the rain picked up and they stopped the game to put the tarp on the field. There was about a 45 minute rain delay -- short enough to keep the rest of the event almost on time.

Once the tarp was taken off the field, it was time for the home run derby. This was the part I was looking forward to. Because of the rain delay, they shortened the home run derby where each player got only 7 outs (I think) to hit as many home runs as they could. Damarious Randall kept his home run derby champion title with 23 home runs in the final round. He said he would hit 23 home runs to win because that was his number and he did. I kind of wished I sat in the outfield and attempted to catch a home run ball. That would have been a nice souvenir to add to the collection especially if I could have gotten it autographed.

After the home run derby it was time to wish Jordy a Happy Birthday. His birthday was on Wednesday. He turned 32. They presented him with a cake. Too bad there wasn't enough for the 8000+ people to have a piece. Then I could say I had some of Jordy Nelson's birthday cake.

The actual game pitted the offense versus the defense. There is a reason why certain players play defense... they aren't very good on offense. At one point the offense was leading 18-3 so being the nice guy he is, Jordy decided to flip the score and let the defense have the lead. It really didn't matter because the offense ended up winning 27-25. Richard Rogers had 7 home runs in the game.

Some of my favorite players showed up and played:
Jordy pitched for the offense
Clay Matthews pitched for the defense
Randall Cobb was the catcher
Aaron Rodgers was on first for most of the game.

As Rosie said when Matthews was up to bat, it's good that he plays defense so all my favorite players are on the field at the same time.

One would think the hubby would have rubbed off of me completely by now and I would have been smart enough to bring a sharpie and/or a pen with me to the game. Neither Rosie nor I thought about bringing a sharpie or a pen for autographs let alone anything for them to sign. I honestly didn't think there would be a chance to get autographs but we had several opportunities. Several of them signed during the rain delay. Aaron Rodgers decided to play right field for a while so he could sign autographs at the outfield fence... then he came over and started signing by where we were sitting. Man how I would have loved to have my Jersey signed.

Rosie and I agreed that we need to make this an annual event. We will remember Sharpies next year, get our tickets in December so maybe we could be over a section or 2. It was definitely fun and I will be back. It's not every day you get to hang out with your favorite Packers and watch them play softball.

# 3901 Go to Packer Training Camp

When I posted my agenda for the day on Facebook, one of my friends said she was going to Packer Training camp and I should go. Based on what else I was I doing, training camp fit in the schedule nicely and I was flexible enough that I could push back the time I was meeting my brother and sister-in-law for the zoo.

Since I never have been to Packer Training camp and was meeting Rosie and her parents there, I quickly googled Packer Training camp to find out where to park and other important details. I have never actually driven to Lambeau. When we go to a game, we always park at the Shopko in DePere and take the bus to the game. Even when Danielle and I did the Cellcom 5k, she drove.  I figured when I stopped lunch at McDonald’s in Little Chute and plug 125 Lombardi Avenue in the GPS. Well there was no parking available at McDonald’s so I had to rely on my memory from getting to the Cellcom. Good thing there was an exit for Lombardi Avenue, which is not the exit we took for the Cellcom. I made it Lambeau field unscathed and just had to find Rosie.

Rosie and I were going to watch the players ride the bikes to Ray Nitchske Field while her parents saved us seats at practice. Kids line up their bikes just outside of the locker room and Packer Players will ride their bikes over to the practice field. The kids will carry the players’ helmets and run/walk along side of a Packer. I was I had a bike that didn’t have a flat tire so maybe I could have had a Packer ride my bike.

Watching these big, burly football players ride itty, bitty little bikes is all part of the experience. It turns out not all the players ride bikes over to practice as 2 of the Packers we wanted pictures, Rodgers and Matthews, did not come out on bikes. I like to think there is a super- secret tunnel from the locker rooms to the practice field. In reality, they are just driven over in black sedans. Even though we didn’t see Matthews or Rodgers, we were able to see Jordy, Cobb, Lacey, and a lot of the rookies.  We even got high fives from 2 guys. Even if you don’t want to watch practice, come out and watch the players ride the bikes to practice. You’ll never know who you will see.

After the players came through on the bikes, Rosie and I headed over to practice. Luckily Rosie’s parents saved us seats otherwise we probably would have had to wait to get a seat.  People sit outside the fence and watch from the sidewalk..3 to 4 deep. There’s a probably 6 rows of bleachers on one side of the practice field. We were towards the one end zone so we saw some passing, a lot of kick off/punt returns but very little Aaron Rodgers. We did get to see Clay Matthews though. We stayed at practice for about an hour. It was interesting to watch a practice. It is similar to warm ups before a game but there is a guy on the PA telling who to go where…and everything is in code. There were even referees (local guys) that watch for penalties.

I am grateful to Rosie for inviting me. I am only 30 minutes from Green Bay and never have seen training camp until today. It was definitely the highlight of my day. I may just have to make this a yearly event. It is nice that the Packers have a few open Saturday practices that allows people to see training camp that might not otherwise see it.