Monday, September 12, 2011

Notre Dame Weekend

Last weekend we were excited to head out of town for the opening game at Notre Dame. My father-in-law went to ND and is a huge fan - Bj was excited to go back and I was excited to explore the campus and see a game in the stadium. I love college campuses and it always fun to explore a new campus. It was gorgeous and the history was so neat - I of course said it was no Elon, but really what is?! :) I loved looking at the chapel and the grotto (we lit a candle and said a little prayer, bj said it is FULL on game days). The main campus building with the dome was SO pretty with a huge open rotunda looking up to the dome. The dorms were so neat and so was the stadium. They needed more seats so they built an upper level around the excisting stadium which was just so cool. I learned this weekend when we were watching the game that it was modeled after the stadium at Michigan.

The grotto was so neat, as a Catholic it was really cool to see the Catholic elements all over this Catholic school. The dorms all have a chapel in them, and there are no fraternities or sororites because they are all one big family. For the first time they let people walk through the tunnel that the players run through in the stadium. It was so fun to walk down and imagine what game days must feel like for the players. We saw the "Play like a champion Today" sign - though my hubby was being a stick in the mud and wouldn't pose for a picture :)


It was so neat to be down where all the action takes place and then see it again for game day the next day. We walked around for awhile but it was HOT. After lunch and a few purchases for Connor in the bookstore we were off to get ready for dinner. We went to Tippecanoe Place and it was SO NEAT. It is the old Studebacker mansion turned into a restaurant. You eat in all the different rooms of the house, we ate in the library that was pretty much the size of our house :) It was then time to get rested for tailgating bright and early the next morning.


We started tailgating at 8:30 - and it was HOT, really hot. By the time we left the stadium at almost 10pm it was almost cold! After extreme heat in the morning, half of the football game, a two and a half hour rain delay followed by more football and another rail delay - we said it was the longest day of tailgating/football we had ever had!
We were dipping wash cloths in the cooler to cool ourselves off and I had a water bottle in my shirt between my boobs, it really was that hot!
It was such a fun weekend - we are so thankful we were invited to go! It was such a neat experience and definately makes watching the games a little more exciting when it's a place we have been. We were so excited to get back home to our sweet Connor and the doggies - Nonny was a saint and watched all three of them for us this weekend! We are so thankful for amazing parents who take us places and watch our "children" :)

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