Bret from Green Bay plays football again...

This is Bret the football player for whom we can all cheer!

Our son, Bret Jr., spent this morning banging heads with other 5th graders in his first football game of the season.

This is August - and we still have another three weeks of summer to go - so we all dressed appropriately to watch football on a typical Wisconsin summer day...



Kekoa, in particular, was just overjoyed to be outdoors on this normal Wisconsin August summer day...



When Bretty last played organized football in Nevada several years ago, he played for the Bobcats. Amazingly enough, that's the name of his new team in Door County.

While the name is the same, the referees are competely different.

In Nevada, there was usually a single referee who was just a high school kid wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

That's not the way it is with Bret's new league...



There are four referees, and as David pointed out, they even have cool socks.

The Bobcats were the visitors at Chief's Field in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Bret played at varying times on boths side of the football, periodically at offensive left guard, but mostly at defensive tackle.

He seems to enjoy defense the best. Here he is getting real low just before the snap...



Bret is number 76 and he had a really good game.

In the second quarter he knifed through the offensive line disrupting the play, and another player stripped the football which was recovered by the Bobcats. Here is Bretty and another Bobcat wreaking havoc in the backfield and forcing that fumble...



Bret really did a nice job holding his position at the middle of the defensive line...



Later in the game the Bobcats forced another turnover and here is Bret just before he dived on the ball and recovered the fumble...



In addition to being involved with two fumbles, he recorded 1/2 a sack!

Here's my favorite picture of Bret after he blew through the offensive line and is in hot pursuit of the running back...



Bret's older brother David was overjoyed (well, as overjoyed as you can be on a summer day like this)...



Our boys thrashed Manitowoc...



But more importantly they had fun.

And since we were in Manitowoc - the birthplace of my mother - we stopped by my grandparent's grave...



We also dropped by to my visit my Aunty Dorothy.

But when in Manitowoc, we had to stop for lunch at one of the last car hops around...



Penquin's Drive-In, home of the big penny burger.

Although this isn't the 1950s anymore so it costs a bit more than a penny!

Brett Favre was treated dishonorably by the Packers!

Favre should have been the Packers QB last year - and they would have been contending for a Super Bowl rather than the losing team that they were. After all, he had just led them to a 13-3 record and the NFC Championship game.

So to demonstrate our commitment to our belief in Mr. Favre, Cari and I went to the Packers-Bills game wearing our brand new bright purple #4 Farve Vikings jerseys...



Of course, I was only brave enough to do so while hiding behind our little girls...



With all that purple, you'd think a Filipino like me would love the Vikings! Hey, at least they're my brother Jimmy's favorite team.

Someone said we'd be risking our lives to wear our purple jerseys to the Packers game but I said that I wasn't worried.

This is Wisconsin.

Packers fans are like a cult. But it's a polite cult.

We have four pairs of tickets to several games this season, so different kids get to go to different games. This is still the pre-season, so it was Nalani's and Malia's turn - mostly because they don't know what's going on anyway.

Malia was looking at the players on the field...



She was most excited at how big everything looked in the binoculars.

Nalani took her turn with the binoculars as well. She couldn't understand why people were yelling mean things at the Bills...



After all, Nalani said, "Bill is a nice name."

Nalani also got quite excited when it was announced that fans in a certain row would have a chance to win a gift certificate from Tony Roma's - the rib place.

She thought they meant her hero, Tony Romo - the Cowboys quarterback who's from Wisconsin!

Both of the girls joined in the cheering for the most part...



But Nalani kept sticking her fingers in her ear every time it got loud...



The most exciting part for the girls was halftime. Lambeau hosted some local 5th grade football teams and let them play on the field...



A little boy scored and tried to do the Lambeau leap - that touchdown celebration when the Packer who scores jumps into the endzone stands - but he was just too small to make it.

So the fans reached down and pulled him up...



It really was great.

The girls had a terrific time...



And Nalani made sure to subtly demonstrate her commitment to her favorite team by wearing a Cowboys hat with a blue Cowboys star on it!