Superbowl Village 2012 – Once in a Lifetime Experiences

One of the best things to me about homeschooling is how we can take any day and make it a “real life experience” day. That being said, Tuesday was one of those days. We spent the afternoon at Superbowl Village, Indianapolis Indiana.

After battling my personal demons of “do I REALLY want to drag 2 kids, a stroller, a backpack, some snacks, the camera, coats, drinks, and me into a crowd of who know how many and go downtown” I decided that the Superbowl Village here in Indianapolis was something that we really needed to see. Since it may be a once in a lifetime experience, why not make the time and go. And after thinking and pondering the weather decided to be almost 60 degree in Indiana in January. God said “you have no excuse.” So we went.

Superbowl Village was awesome! After a brief consideration of leaving because it was REALLY HARD to park, we lucked out into the last space in a lot and then we were on our way to our 6 block hike to the Village. Since the streets were lined with people and police officers and the weather was extraordinary we actually enjoyed our walk.

There was lots to see and do for free. We didn’t even do the NFL Experience as the lines were long and the price a little more than we were willing to put in our budget this month. Plus, we had so much fun outside enjoying the weather and doing the free activities there was no reason to head inside.

As we walked along the street we talked about the Superbowl and what it was. Avarie read signs to me and sounded out words and Leyton grinned ear to ear when he got to see “Francesco” from Cars 2. Ok, it was an Indy Car painted for the Giants but…he thought it was Francesco and that’s all that matters.

Avarie asked about the helicopters flying overhead and then spotted the media booths above the street. We talked about media coverage and why it was there. I explained that there would be lots of media coverage. She said “can we go try and get on TV.” I chuckle.  “Well, it’s really not that easy honey, but we’ll see.” and I shrugged it off.

Then we saw the zip line. Avarie and I talked about why the zip line works. About gravity, speed, and everything else we could think of related to the zip line and watched people on it for some time. She asked if we do it sometime. I explained she needed to be 12 to do the zip line and said “maybe when you’re old enough we can do it together.” She said, oh so lovingly, “but you’ll be…well…old.” Nice. So we did some math 🙂

We headed into an inflated building and discussed why we had to wait inside the set of doors for the outer door to close before we entered the building. “How do you think the roof stays inflated?” I said. She said “magic?” So we talked about why that happens; why there were turning doors and double doors. Then we went in and she tried her hand at XBox 360 Kinetico games of running a race and bowling.

We also ducked inside a Catholic Church and looked at their display. It was one I have ALWAYS wanted to go inside. As we are not Catholic, we talked about the Saints, the lighting of candles, confession, and looked at the intricate stained glass and marble alter. It was a beautiful church and she learned a little about the Catholic faith. “Why do they call it Mass?” she asks. So that begins a discussion for a block.

UNTIL….

We see a TV camera setting up. “Can we go?” she asks. Sure. She walks over. “Hey, its the man from Fox 59.” She recognizes Brian Wilkes, the meteorologist from Fox 59 Indianapolis, one of Indianapolis’s own news channels. Soon, a small crowd grows and the cameraman lets us know to yell when he raises his hand and…there we are, on live TV. After I went and said it was not so easy, Fox 59 and the Superbowl Village proved me wrong.

After the camera shut off Avarie said she wanted her picture with Brian Wilkes. She stood behind him and patiently waited while he talked to others and then he turned about and talked to her, posed for a picture, talked to Leyton and I and thanked us for watching. Little did I know that when we got home my little girl would be on the Fox 59 Facebook Page. She was VERY excited and this started another conversation about meteorology and a long wait while she waited to see if she was on the news again that evening.

But I digress.

So, I think that our adventure, that included so many fun outdoor activities and great learning conversations, was definitely worth the diversion from our normal afternoon school routine. She is still asking questions and talking about being downtown. It was a great experience and I feel grateful to have taken advantage of the opportunity to experience the Superbowl Village myself. It isn’t just a once in a lifetime experience for the kids, it is for the whole family. Indianapolis has put on a great display all over the downtown and I am blessed to have been able to experience it. Though we had no major celebrity sighting (though I think we were in the elevator at Circle Center with an athlete but I’m not good enough to tell you who it was) and we didn’t get to see everything there was, we had a great time in Superbowl Village.