We are the kids our mother told us not to play with

Remember when you were little and your mother used to yell at you for being too stupid to come in from playing out in the rain? That seems to be me and my brother. My brother John got us free tickets to the Patriots game on Sunday. Who can so no to free tickets? I've only been to one other Patriots game before in my life......come to think of it.....it was rainy and cold that game too! When we saw the weather report, there was still no hesitation about going. We'd both had some pretty fearsome outdoor experiences ( a canoe trip officially named "the canoe trip from hell" and some whitewater rafting in the snow).....so we figured we can handle it. We're New Englanders....we're hardy. Right? We knew it would be a good 1 1/2 drive to get to the stadium and park. Of course we didn't want to put on our heavy clothes until we got there. When we did get there, the wind and rain was like a monsoon..... we didn't want to get outside the car to put our winter gear on. So we did it inside the car. Go ahead. Get the visual. Let your imagination run wild. Sexy, huh? After donning mountains of clothes, we braved the elements to meet up with John's friends, Steve and Dawn. They were tailgating. Or trying to tailgate. Their EZ-up canopy had blown away, they couldn't get the grill started and their matches were all wet. We ended out sitting inside their SUV and eating BBQ chips and granola bars. Finally, we went into the stadium and bought some food. As we were eating in the wind tunnel beneath the stands, we glanced out onto the field and saw that it was..........snowing. In October. The game was unbelievable. The Patriots were winning 45-0 at half-time. We couldn't do anything wrong and the Titans couldn't do anything right. New England broke record after record. I got to see my Tom Brady up close and as personal as I'm ever going to.

Most of the people there, including us, left at half-time. I had brought dry clothes and changed into them.....again inside the car. Good thing the windows were foggy.....although I doubt anyone trying to get out of that parking lot cared about me in my skivvies.

We listened to the rest of the game in the car on the way home. The Patriots went on to win the game 59-0. It was an experience I'll never forget. Truly.