Another Football Weekend

This past weekend we headed to Notre Dame for another football weekend, our second of the season. The fall colors were just starting to pop which made for a pretty drive.

We left on Thursday after Drew was done with school with the plans to drive to Chicago and spend the night there and then Friday morning we would drive the remaining 2 hours to Notre Dame. This would give us most of Friday to enjoy on campus and take in some more of the game weekend festivities.

We were even lucky enough to have Tyler join us on this trip. Jake had really wanted Tyler to come to ND so he could show him his school and show him what all a football weekend is about. Tyler agreed and his only request was a stop at Gene & Jude's, our favorite hot dog place in Chicago.

We were packed to the brim not knowing exactly what the weather was going to be and knowing that we would be outside for most of the weekend….And Jake had wanted us to bring his goalie hockey bag too. :)

We arrived at Notre Dame around noon on Friday

and met up with Jake.

We walked around campus so Jake could give Jake the tour.

We have never been here this early on a game weekend so we took advantage of some events going on around campus. We walked over to the stadium and did the Tunnel Tour which is open to the public on Friday's of game weekends.

It was pretty cool to be right down on the field level.

Walking out of the tunnel you see 'Touchdown Jesus' in the background.

The student entrance that Jake goes into the stadium on game days.

We walked to the other side of St. Mary's Lake to see a great view of campus.

We stopped at the grotto.

The fountain that the students celebrate in after a big football game win, which apparently happened last weekend. :)

We went over to the Main Building to see 'Trumpets Under the Dome' where the ND trumpet section plays Notre Dame Our Mother and the Notre Dame Victory March under the golden dome.

We regrouped back at Jake's dorm for a bit before heading out to dinner

at Main Street Grille in Mishawaka, where we enjoyed a great dinner!

Saturday morning we were up and back at campus for a day of football festivities.

We started with some tailgating at some of our friends 'cabin' and then met back up with Jake to tailgate  with him.

Jake and friends.

Such a great group with so much humor and positive energy!

It was a perfect fall day for a football game.

Notre Dame with the win! Undefeated so far this season!

'Touchdown Jesus' lit up green for mental health awareness week.

We parted ways with Jake after the game and headed back to the 'cabin' for a bit and then over to Parisi's for dinner- because it seems a trip to South Bend isn't complete without a stop here. :)

Sunday morning was a quick breakfast at Perkins and a good-bye to Jake.

Notre Dame football weekend are always a blast but this one was special because the whole family was there!

A Brewery and an Orchard kind of Weekend

You know it is going to be a good weekend when it starts like this.

Pete brought home roses for me today to celebrate the day we first met, 28 years ago. So crazy to think it has been that many years and so sweet of Pete for the beautiful flowers.

Saturday morning Pete and I took a little day car trip down to New Ulm, MN with the intention of taking in the beautiful changing fall colors and also doing a tour at Shell's Brewery. We have been here before, but it is the first time we have done the tour. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and it was the perfect sunny and cooler day to just leisurely walk around.

Next we headed to the downtown area and strolled through the Octoberfest area and listened to some live music.

And then dinner at this German restaurant.

Then it was a stop at 'Minnesota's Largest Candy Store' in Jordan. This place is amazing and has just about any candy or soda you could ever want.

Sunday was our annual trip to the Pine Tree Apple Orchard which we have been doing since before Tyler was born (23+ years). The cast of characters this year was Pete, me, Drew and his girlfriend Mackenzie. We did all of our usual things including the hay ride, the corn maze and the apple barn.

It was a fun day hanging out with these two.

And another perfect Fall weekend!

Dinner and some Music

Pouring rain all day. And cold. It looks like summer is officially winding down. Luckily we had a date night planned that was indoors. We started the night off with dinner in downtown Minneapolis at Rock Bottom Brewery, which is always a favorite of ours.

A beer sampler flight may have been enjoyed (these glasses look much bigger here but were actually shot glass sizes).

Then it was over to the State Theater to see 'Old Crow Medicine Show'. We had seen this group perform at the Grand Ole Opry and just fell in love with their music and their energy. At the Opry there are a bunch of different acts and each group only plays a few songs and so were very excited to see more of Old Crow.

This show was so entertaining and it was so fun to see them play a bunch of their music. 

Homecoming

Homecoming for our high school was last night.

Drew and Mackenzie went to homecoming together last year and have been dating ever since. 

This year they went shopping together for the tie and the corsage/boutonnière.

At least the rain held out for part of picture time. 

first day

This guy. My baby. A junior in high school.

As much as I was in denial with my older two boys going through high school and all of the mile stones reached... my baby going through this is that much harder. :) Just thinking that I only have one more "1st day of school photo" to take is bittersweet. 

Snapshots from a ND Football weekend

It is not even two weeks since we moved Jake back into his dorm at Notre Dame for his sophomore year. This weekend we were back to take in a football game...

"Touchdown Jesus"

"1st Down Moses"

After the game we headed over to Parisi's with some friends for some dinner.

And we just happened to run into Jake there!

Notre Dame football weekends are always so much fun but go by way too fast!