Badgers Go Bald 2016

Mid-week last week we received an email inviting our family to this year's Badgers Go Bald event.  Matt and I posed the question to the kids and, especially since Ethan, Kate, and Matt weren't able to go last year, we decided it would be a fun event for our family to attend.

I didn't have nearly as many reservations this year about attending.  We are well aware that our kids' childhood experiences, especially Anna's, are well outside the realm of "normal", so giving them the chance to do something fun like this is perfectly okay.  Plus, many of this year's student athletes were participating for personal reasons and will be able to use the experience to grow in their own understanding of the world around them.

Time for the pictures.

On this beautiful April Friday, the kids were able to explore some construction equipment even before we entered the student-athlete center.

 It was only a short walk/run/ride from the parking garage into the facility.

Part of our tour this year included some time in the special box seats where fans can pay a hefty price to watch the Badgers play.  Ethan was a little confused that we weren't actually going to watch a game.

We also were able to explore the locker room together.

One of the highlights was playing out on the football field.  Anna walked with help, crawled, and goofed off.

Kate and Ethan ran the length of the field at least three times.

A few female athletes participated in Badgers Go Bald this year.  Although they didn't have their heads shaved, they gave up many inches of long hair in support of pediatric cancer.

Guess who can handle piggy back rides again!

After the tour, we were ushered up to the room where the shaving would occur.

 
There weren't a lot of families participating this year, and some of the other kids were pretty shy, so Anna had plenty of opportunity to use the clippers.  Kate and Ethan could have shaved some heads if they wanted to, but both declined.  Kate was too nervous whereas Ethan still doesn't like clippers.  They were content to eat the yummy food set out for us for dinner.

The final participant was Bart Houston, who is one of the back-up quarterbacks for the Badgers.  He and Ethan got along pretty well, especially at the end of the evening when Ethan was asking for autographs.

Anna tried helping trim Bart's hair, but she was too short in her chair.

So I helped her stand and we finished the job.

Again this year, plenty of media was present for photos and videos.  Here are a few links to the stories.




A preview, including interviews of the student athletes and why they wanted to participate:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2t4HDGsJlw



A summary, with better sound than the others:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIeO8d1StOA


One including parts of an interview with Matt and Anna, but with poor sound quality:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDXiiUwvmBQ

In the end, it was a fun family night for us.  As the weather switches over to more summer-like temperatures and everyone wants to be outside more and more, we are reminded yet again how different Anna's life is from another 3rd graders.  These events provide an opportunity for special memories for us.