MSU Family Weekend
 

Home Up

 

Saturday, August 13th, 2025              

Tyler, Rose, Samantha, and I woke up this morning with the intent to leave the house by 10:30am in order to drive to East Lansing to meet up with Jayden and partake in the day's activities. Drew and Teagan were meeting us at the house and riding along with us as well. Unfortunately, Tara had to attend the funeral of her Aunt Diane, so she was going to miss a portion of our day.

Although parking was a nightmare, and the streets to Jay's dorm were pretty much all blocked, we ended up in a parking garage that wasn't too bad of a walk to the dorm. We headed over to meet up with Jay and her girlfriend Hanna, as Drew and I were the only ones who had gotten to see Jay's dorm so far, and the rest wanted the opportunity to check it out. We hung out briefly before making our way to the family tailgate (see below).
 

MSU Family Weekend - Family Meet-Up
 

From the left: Drew, Teagan, Jayden's roommate Avery, Jay's dorm friend, Jay's girlfriend Hanna, Jayden, Samantha, Rose, and Tyler.

  
 

Hanna, Jay, Sam, Rose, and Tyler.

  
 

Drew and Teagan.

  
 

Rodney.

  

We were in a bit of a pickle here, as we didn't have enough tailgate passes for Hanna to join us at the MSU Family Weekend Tailgate. Jay said that they would go check out her roommate Avery's family tailgate, though they ended up just waiting outside of the provided tailgate space and waiting for us.

Thankfully they didn't really miss much, as the provided food wasn't anything to write home about. There were hot dogs and brats provided, but they appeared to essentially be dumped out of the bag and warmed in a warming tray. Certainly not anything too exciting. We finished eating, headed out to meet back up with Jay and Hanna, and then decided to walk to the parking garage to continue our own tailgate.

We decided that if we do this again (and with the changing family dynamic, who knows what that will look like) that we would try to get into town early in the morning and set up our own tailgate. That way we could enjoy our own food and music while avoiding the stress that comes with walking all over campus to the various activities.

Up next - the game!
 

MSU Family Weekend - Tailgating
 

Samantha, Drew, Teagan, Rose, and Tyler "enjoying" the family weekend tailgate.

  
 

The MSU Marching Band passing by the tailgate at Demonstration Field.

  
 

The Beaumont Tower on MSU's campus as we walked past.

  
 

Sam, Teagan, Tyler, and Rose continuing the tailgate in the parking garage.

  

Jayden and Hanna had left us while we tailgated at the garage to head over to the stadium to stake out their seats in the student section. When it came time to head to the game, Tyler, Rose, Samantha, Drew, Teagan, and I all made our way to the stadium and to our seats.

The game itself was decent. Michigan State was playing Youngstown State, and the score reflected the different status of the two teams and their respective conferences. Michigan State won handily, by a score of 41-24. Being a Michigan Wolverines fan made it difficult to get to excited by the action, but we all enjoyed the game and had a good time overall. Well, aside from the pretzel incident, that is. Drew had gone and picked up a salted pretzel and bought the cheese sauce to dip in (he wasn't impressed), but while trying to balance everything the pretzel ended up sliding off his lap and hitting the floor. Sucks to spend money on food and not enjoy it, but stuff happens. The cheese followed suit, however, and when it hit the ground it splattered all over - all over Drew, me, the people in front of us, the people two rows in front of us. Thankfully everyone was cool about it, and everyone did their best to reassure Drew that it wasn't a big deal, but he was still pretty upset about the whole incident. I get it, but I tried to get him to realize that sometimes shit just happens and to try to enjoy himself anyway.

Jayden and Hanna managed to sneak away from the student section at halftime, joining us in our seats. Tara arrived to the stadium shortly thereafter, coming up and sitting with Jay and Hanna. We took some family photos, and once the game was over headed off to find something to eat (see the next section).
 

MSU Family Weekend - Football Game
 

Rodney, Rose, Tyler, Samantha, Drew, and Teagan getting ready to enter Spartan Stadium for today's game.

  
 

Rose, Tyler, Sam, Drew, and Teagan.

  
 

Rodney and the kids - Tyler, Sam, and Drew (Jay was already off claiming a seat in the student section).

  
 

Our view of the field from inside Spartan Stadium.

  
 

A look at the scoreboard prior to the start of the game.

  
 

Rodney, Drew, Teagan, Rose, Tyler, and Samantha waiting for the game to begin.

  
 

The Michigan State Spartans marching band (and alumni) on the field prior to the start of the game.

  
 

Game action!

  
 

 

  
 

Rodney, Drew, Teagan, Rose, Tyler, and Samantha joined in the second row by Jayden and Hanna, fresh from the student section.

  
 

Rodney, Drew, Teagan, Rose, Tyler, and Samantha with Jayden, Hanna, and Tara, who had to attend an aunts funeral and missed the morning activities today.

  
 

The girls - Rose, Samantha, Jayden, Hanna, and Teagan.

  
 

The siblings - Tyler, Samantha, Jayden, and Drew.

  
 

Tara, Tyler, Sam, Jay, Drew, and Rodney...

  
 

 

  
 

The Peters Family salute!

  

We walked downtown to find a place to eat, and settled on Hopcat (everyone likes their fries!), but because of our party size our wait was going to be over two hours! None of us wanted to hang around that long. Unfortunately, everything downtown was like that - the game had just let out, and it was family weekend afterall. We ended up making a short drive to the Boston's Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar in Lansing, where we enjoyed a meal together.

After dinner Tara took Jayden and Hanna back to the dorm, while I drove everyone else back to the house.

All in all, a great weekend. We learned some things that we would do differently if there is a next time, and if there is we shall see how it goes!

Jayden - I am so proud of the young woman you have become, growing leaps and bounds during high school and now in college. I do miss having you around the house though! Love you kiddo!
 

MSU Family Weekend - Postgame Activities
 

We attempted to have dinner at Hopcat in East Lansing, where we spotted this cool banner hanging up, but with a wait time of 2+ hours that was a bit out of the question.

  
 

We ended up at Boston's Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar for dinner.

Here is Tara, Rose, Tyler, Samantha, Teagan, Drew, Jayden, and Hanna.

  
 

Rodney squeezing in for a picture with the rest of the family...

  
 

 

  
 

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