We beat Navy. (And Finley discovered cake pops.)

Army-Navy weekend is always kind of indescribable. It's special, it's emotional, it's a little crazy, it's full to the brim with plans and meals and beers and shouted conversations and half-finished sentences and friends and acquaintances and people we love and people (mostly of the Navy persuasion) who very nearly escape encounters with Seth...

But this time there really aren't words. After a 15-year losing streak (Seth was on the last team that beat Navy, in 2001), Army pulled out a huge, emotional win in Baltimore Saturday. It was a great game. And I'm pretty sure Seth will never forget this moment. (You have to be pretty dedicated to watch it, since Lena captured the last several minutes of the game.)

Naturally, this was the year I had decided to take one for the (Nieman) team and skip the game so we could bring the kids along for the rest of the festivities. (It is way too cold for them in the stands.) I will probably never quite get over missing it (and am a little concerned that a superstitious Seth will never let me attend in person again.)

But Finley and Ford got to watch the game in front of the fireplace at Josh and Michelle's, and play with Scott and Grace and the dogs to boot.

And they had fun hanging out in the hotel, which had- to Finley's delight- a Starbucks. (No, we do not usually allow her to eat goldfish crackers out of the bag, but all bets are generally off Army-Navy weekend. Hence, also, the cake pop. Her new favorite thing.)

And we hired a nanny to come to our suite both nights so I got to do some celebrating too.

OK, plenty of celebrating. (This photo was taken in a bar/club we were clearly much, much too old for, and we beat a hasty retreat not long after it was taken. Still...)

But not as much as Seth. (This picture, from Saturday morning, cracked me up. Two peas in a pod.)

On top of the huge, emotional win, we had a terrific time- as always- catching up with our friends-who-are-family, in what has become one of our favorite annual traditions.

(And their dogs, to Finley's delight.)

Naturally, we stayed longer than we should have and drove home late and in the snow, and now I really have to buckle down for finals week. But couldn't let this weekend go by without a few words. None of which, as I said, are sufficient. It was incredible.

Oh, and so was Seth's spot on the CBS pregame video, available here: https://www.facebook.com/CBSSports/videos/10154450942856773/

And this photo, from a Ruby Tuesday's stop on our road trip.