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. 

Hair cut....cuteness!

On Saturday Erik had a hair cut appointment and I told him - Elaina and I are coming with you.  His hair stylist has trimmed her hair in the past.  I have been considering cutting her hair for a while because it has just been getting so dried/frizzy at the ends.  All that hair on the ends has been growing out for about 3 years.  We've had her hair trimmed before but never cut it majorly....  We cut about 5-6 inches off.  I love it - it, of course, makes her look older.  We basically just cut it even with where her bangs has grown out.  Just a cute 4-year old bob.  She was very excited about it.  Two of the girls in her class have short dues so she was excited to have hair like theirs. 

Before...

During...adoreable

After (still wet)

And after....

after.....from the back

Mini vaca to the Wilderness

Erik and I were thinking about our summer and realized that we had not really taken Elaina anywhere fun this summer.  Not that she has not had a great summer and she certainly isn't deprived of anything but we were thinking back, and the one vacation we took was to Vegas and she did not go.  Sooooooo, we made a last minute trip to the Wilderness... of the Smokies, that is.  It's a super fun indoor/outdoor water park.  We took Thursday off and went up for 1 night.  We got to stay 2 days at the water park.  It was fun.  I would recommend this to anyone who has a youngster - very reasonable price.  Especially, during the time we went - after school started and during the middle of the week.  Not having too many people made the time a bit more enjoyable.  This was her first time at a water park and needless to say, it was a fun time for her.  I have always loved water parks/slides/etc... so this was fun sharing it with her.

Waiting on our bus to take us down to the indoor park......

It took her a few times to go down this slide by herself but once I got her to do it, we couldn't keep her off.  We love to see her face.  This is how she look every time she went down. 

Erik and Elaina in the wave pool

She thought it was so cool to be able to crawl around the 1 foot section of the wave pool...  Here is her and Erik doing this.

This is the other slide we could not get her off of.  This was the one she was tall enough to go down with us on.  She is about 3 inches too short to go on all of them with us but by next summer, she will be good to go. She would just giggle and say "woo-hoo" all the way down.  So fun!

This last series of shots was Erik standing under huge bucket that pours out water every few minutes....  The first was the start and by the last picture you can hardly see him for all the water...  You had to hold on to your glasses and your drawers or else you might lose them.

Camping....preview

Each summer, mom and Gale take all the grandkids camping for a long weekend.  The only stipulation is that you have to be 5 in order to go on this camping trip.  They do all sort of things from swim, fish, paddle boats, rock hopping in the creek, bike riding, hiking.... you name it.  The grandkids love it.  Well, since Elaina is now 4..... well, I'm sure you can surmise what I am about to say... She is going on this trip next summer.

About a week ago, I had to drive my niece Alexandra up on Saturday morning to meet with the rest of the gang because she couldn't go up early because of band camp.  I took Elaina so that she could hang out for a couple of hours and get a preview of what to expect next year.  Good news... I think she will love it. 

Here is almost everyone... Elaina wouldn't get in the shot.  Sadie was super sick this year so she couldn't go.  Kind of a bummer.  My mom makes them shirts each year to wear with their names on them.  I think it's for her sake so she doesn't forget their names.
Alexandra (in front), Back - Quentin, Celia, Hannah, and Blake

Sweet Celia

Catching critters in the creek

The girls....  See, I told you, Elaina is ready for this for sure.  And, there's another granddaughter, Ella, who turns 5 within a week of Elaina who will be there next year so they will have 8 grandkids in total next year!! 

Showing me her critter

The boys... Blake and Quentin

Sweet Hannah....

The crew.....

I think it is so cool that they do this each year and can't wait for Elaina to be a part of this fun with her Granny, Poppy Gale, and her cousins.

First Movie

We took Elaina yesterday to see her first movie at the movie theatre.  We saw Winnie The Pooh. It was a perfect movie because it was only a little over an hour long.  Erik and I NEVER really watch movies much less go to the theatre so this was kind of a big treat for all of us.

Elaina did well, she did take a bathroom break in the middle (I forgot to have her go before the movie started - oops!).  The movie was a perfect one, no scariness or overly loud scenes to frighten her (as she is easily frightened).  So, we will do it again, next time.....$2 movie :)  Even though we saw the matinee, still expensive - one of the reasons we never go.  Second reason is because we can never agree on what movie to watch.  We have different taste in movies.

Anywhosie.....as always, I brought along the camera for some photo ops.

Next to the Winnie The Pooh window decal with daddy

Now with mom...

All set.....  popcorn - check, drink - check, candy - check

And now one with mom....

Again, another time when Elaina had the camera in the back seat....  We did not know she took this until we were downloading pics from the camera.  I think it's a a cute pic of her (as a mother should) :)