Notre Dame Band Reunion Weekend!

We had an epic weekend at Notre Dame!  It was the Notre Dame vs Stanford game on Saturday along with the ND Band Reunion for Steve, Brian, and I.  We had multiple family members making the trip, so Grandpa rented a great house for the weekend in South Bend.  First, we headed out on Thursday morning after a yummy breakfast at the Original Pancake House to celebrate Michelle's birthday (and Kevin's from afar).  We drove to Wheaton, IL to stay with my Uncle Jim on Thursday night.

Ready to go...GO IRISH!

The kids all did a great job in the car on the way there (which is a much easier trip using our DVD players along the way).  Trevor was pretty excited about wearing his headphones.

Theo was such a good baby for the trip. Smiles with Nanny!

Trevor really wanted to hold Theo too, so with plenty of supervision, he got to try it out.  Check out the cute little satisfied smile on Trevor.  Too precious!

On Friday, we had a yummy breakfast at Uncle Jim's.

Then we headed up to St. Joseph, MI to visit Tommy and Mary.  Tommy will be 97 years old next month!  It was great to get some hugs!

The kids had a little picnic on the deck for lunch.

They always wave goodbye from the window when we leave.

After a little visit there, we headed to campus.  We just barely made it a few minutes before the end of the check in time for band, but enjoyed catching some of our friends around the band building.  Then we walked around campus a bit and got some new clothes for the kids at the bookstore. 

The kids loved finding the Golden Dome, and, anytime it was in sight, Trevor would point at it excitedly and declare "Go-den Dome! Go-den Dome!".  Whenever he sees the interlocking ND or the leprechaun, he says, "Go Go a-Game" (toddler translation: "Go Notre Dame!").  He is more understandable when he says "Go IRISH!" instead.

The kids under the dome!  Future domers?

Family photo!

Michelle, Brian, Theo, Nanny and Grandpa made it to campus a little later and headed to the Dome.

On Friday evening, we had a great time catching up with good friends at Scott and Kim's house. So good to see them!  Then we spent the night at the nice rental house and got ready for a crazy Saturday.

On Saturday morning, we had a brief practice with the combined current band and alumni band to make sure we all knew where to go for pre-game, half time, and post-game shows.

Trombones at practice.

Then we had some time to kill before the rest of the family arrived on campus, so we walked around a bit and hung out in LaFortune for a bit.

Piccolos by the reflecting pool.

 A fun crew to hang out with...

Roomie Katie (and baby)!

(Sadly, because of our busy band schedule, I didn't get to catch up with Margaret, another roomie on campus this weekend. Bummer!

Roomies Steve and Scott

Kim and I

When the rest of the family arrived on campus (bundled well for the weather), we headed to a tailgate of a friend of Grandpa's.  Trevor tailgating and enjoying a hot dog (which he ate in a sort of corn on the cob kind of way. hehehe).

All the kids with their band nerd parents.

We then had section photos on the steps of the Golden Dome.

 Alumni Piccolos!

Alumni Trombones!

(There is a gentleman in the front row that graduated in 1952 -wow!)

Alumni Drummer's Circle

Scott and Kim ready for march out!

Piccolos ready to go!

We stepped off to the stadium long before the current band and certainly well before the game began (in fact, we were in the stadium 90 minutes before kickoff!).  I think many of us (myself included) realized how much wind it takes to play a wind instrument while marching fast around campus - I was sucking wind after the first time through the Victory March!

Though the tunnel!

Family band nerds - Steve and I and Brian.

The weather was horrendous!  It was freezing cold (high of 39 and dropping), winds of 15-25 mph, and pouring rain/sleet most of the day.  We were in many layers and still freezing!  Being in the stadium so long before the game means that by the time the game even started, we were already soaking wet and freezing.  Despite the weather, we had a great time!

Wet piccolos on the sideline.

The current band taking the field for pre-game.

 Here come the Irish!

The team takes the field...

Halftime show! Over 1000 musicians on the field!

I didn't take many photos during the game (despite a touch down occurring right in front of me!) because I didn't want to sacrifice my camera to the pouring rain!

It was an exciting game with a glorious 4th down pass to the end zone for a touchdown to pull ahead with 1 minute to go!  The Irish were victorious!

We did post-game and then marched back to the band building (even accomplishing a trot at the end of the march back!).  Shivering with cold and soaking wet, we headed back to the house to try to warm up!  After a painful warm shower and some cozy warm clothes, we had dinner at the house and celebrated Uncle Jim's birthday (Saturday) and Kyle's birthday (Sunday) with some mini-cupcakes.

We all got some rest, then headed home on Sunday. Unfortunately, due to traffic and construction an 8 hour drive was extended quite a bit.  Taking into account having to stop for meals, it took us 12 hours to get home!  Included in this drive were 3 cranky children, 2 of whom felt car sick in the stop and go Chicago traffic, and 1 who threw up all over herself and her carseat (with 8 hours to go left in the trip!).  We survived and arrived home around 10pm.  We got cranky, tired, (some) sobbing children to bed and then worked on getting the car unloaded and cleaned out, the carseat stripped of all its padding and the vomit scrubbed out of all the nooks and crannies in the seat, and the bags all unpacked and laundry started.  Exhausting, but we had a great weekend that was worth the travel hassle!