"Nice sombrero," I said, flagging down another family to ask about their day.
"Yeah," 10-year-old Brady Swanson replied smoothly from under the broad, purple brim.
"Everybody says that to us," his 5-year-old sister Rylan said as she bounced up and down.
Their mom Shayla Swanson explained she received it as a Christmas gift, fulfilling her wish.
"Big Aaron Jones fan," Shayla said. "I'm a huge Vikings fan but fell in love with Aaron the first year he was here. It seems like he's out in the community doing a lot, and so are the Vikings."
Also with the group, 7-year-old Oakley was a source of inspiration to thousands last October during halftime of Minnesota's Crucial Catch game. Oakley was diagnosed with B-Cell ALL Leukemia on Feb. 21, 2023, and completed chemotherapy on June 22, 2025.
The Swanson family and others with chronically ill children supported by Hope Kids were also invited to the event.
"Today was absolutely amazing," UHL President Shane Hudella said. "We had 500 families — the amount of generosity from Aaron Jones and his family, and the support from the Vikings organization created lifelong memories for hundreds of military families and then a good chunk of families from Hope Kids, as well, so a truly inspiring day.
"The military has a code and a brotherhood, and it doesn't matter what branch you were in, whatever your background is. If you served, we'll go to the ends of the earth for each other," Hudella added. "And I think Aaron and his entire family lives by that code, too. And you can tell by not only giving back, but one of the biggest stars in the NFL takes the time to come out here, spend a couple hours, do pictures with the kids, I can tell this is important to him and his family. So it's just incredible."