Ashley's Homecoming

Ashley experienced her first high school Homecoming Week.  It was pretty fun for her and the high school has a lot of neat traditions.  The week starts with the each class assigned a color, then they use that color to decorate a hall in the school.  These kids go all out with streamers, balloons, posters, etc.  This year the Freshmen were blue.  This also means that they dress up in the color blue to show class and school spirit.

The week includes lots of inter-class challenges and games.  There is also a big bonfire one evening and a huge pep rally.  All leading up to the Homecoming football game.  Ashley of course, went to the game with friends, but Dave and I also decided to go.  We weren't too optimistic about the team's chances as the school has never had a winning season in the nine years it has been opened and never in school history won a game against their scheduled Homecoming opponent.  But what a surprise---the Oswego East Wolves won the game!  Actually dominated the other team and looks like they may even go to the playoffs this year.  It was a fun night, Paige and Riley got their faces painted and bought lots of baked goods and treats to eat.  They also met up with friends from school who were at the game with their families, so it's a big social event for everyone.  I even caught one of those mini footballs they throw into the crowd.  It's pretty funny because the ball came line-drive like right towards my face and I put my hand up and the ball pretty much stuck to my hand.  Everyone around me was impressed by my one-handed grab!

These school boosters are hard core with tents, inflatable tunnels, etc.

After the game on Friday, the Homecoming Dance is on Saturday night.  Ashley got together with a bunch of her friends to go.  Nowadays, a lot of kids just go in groups rather than with a date, this is especially the case for underclassmen.  All the kids met at one person's house to get ready, take pictures and eat dinner before heading to the dance.

Ashley and 1,599 of her fellow classmates, danced the night away at the school.  Wow, that is a lot of kids at one time!  Anyway, she said she had a good time.  The theme of the dance was "Masquerade" everyone wore their masks for about 10 seconds.

It's nice to see her enjoy life and have fun, but also a little bewildering how grown up she is.  I have a feeling that I'm going to be saying that a lot over the next few years.