Annual ND Trip

This post happened almost a month ago... I realized today I did not post anything on it.  Over Labor Day Weekend, we traveled to South Bend, IN to see Notre Play their opening game of the season.  It was good to go because we were not able to go last year (so, I guess it's not annual but whatever... we've gone every other year but last year).  Anyway, this year we took my mom and Gale.  They had not ever been before and were interested in going to see the campus.  Again, the campus is remarkable - so beautiful and my mom couldn't believe how clean it was.  We had a good time.  ND lost but it happens.  Not ideal but a fun time was had by all.  The most interesting thing that happened was the stadium was evacuated twice for thunderstorms in the area.  The first time the evactuation was about 2 hours long.  The second time we had already started heading to the car because we saw this coming our way...

But we ended up in this little Irish Pub right off campus where we watched the last 4 minutes of the game on a big screen.  Beer and food were good so all in all, it turned out well in the end.

Some pictures of the weekend....

Like I said... this campus so beautiful.  I really like this shot - gets a view of the Basilica and the Golden Dome (should have cropped out the tents, oh well)

My mom is really into going to different cathedrals.  This is inside the Basilica, not a cathedral, but was georgeous.  This was one of her favorite things that we did.  It was super beautiful

Gale and mom before the game....

Erik in his "IRISH" get-up... He looks like a school boy but he was ready for the game for sure.

We waited outside the stadium to watch the team march into it.  There is a reflecting pond just down from the stadium.  The day before I had asked and wondered if anyone had gone swimming in it.  Well, while we waited some students took a dive....on an air matress??  I guess when you are in college, you use what you got.  Anyway, it was funny and entertaining - they were quickly pulled out by the local security. 

Erik took this shot - good shot :)

Erik also took this shot.... um, really???

At the game....

Band before the game in ND formation

Like I said, ND lost but we still had fun.  We got to see a day game, and then when it resumed after the storms, it was a night game by then.  On top of that it went from upper 90 degrees to 70 degrees so we got to see a summer game and a fall game too :)

Frozen Yogurt Wall of Fame...

Well, maybe it's not fame.... and more like hands.  A new frozen yogurt place opened up by our house recently and we decided to try it out.  These types of places seem to be popping up all over the place lately.  So, why not try them all??  In my opinion, they are all pretty much the same.  This one lets kids put their handprint on the wall in paint.  It's pretty cool.  After we ate, Elaina said she wanted to put her hand on the wall.  So, we did.  Not much more to it then that - but I felt it was fun enough to blog about.  They provided the paint (although she had enough chocolate sauce on her hand that she could have used that), she dipped her hand in it, and the rest is history.  She wrote her name underneath it too.  She is forever a part of Koolioz frozen yogurt.... until they repaint it.  But, until then we will commemorate the occasion by showing pics taken with our cell phones...

Surprise!!!

I have the greatest friends!!!  About 2 weeks ago, me and my friends, Tonja and Sabrina, had a date set to go out to eat.  Unknown to me and Tonja, Sabrina had planned a homemade dinner for me and Tonja at my house.  I came home from work to a set table, dinner in the oven, and salad in the refrigerator.  The husbands were all in on it too so they went out to eat while we enjoyed a night at home with each other.  Tonja's daughter Christine came and Elaina was able to hang out with us too.  It was so very fun and a very nice surprise.  Sabrina did it in honor of our birthdays - mine in August and Tonja's in September.  She wanted the daughters to celebrate long with us (Christine is studying abroad this semester so this was her send off too). 

BTW - I should have known something was up when Erik picked up AND vacuumed the downstairs the night before.  Don't get me wrong, he is a great help but usually only does those things when there is company coming over.  :)

So, a special thanks and love you BIG to Sabrina for doing that for us. 

Photos from the night....

me, Tonja, and Sabrina

Mom's with their daughters... Tonja, Christine, and you know those other two characters over there on the right

Adorable pic of Christine with Elaina....

Sabrina made the cake... it's a teapot cake.  I was originally going to do a teapot cake for Elaina b-day but decided on the princess cake last minute.  So, she did one for the occasion.