Every fall Simon talks about how fun it would be to go up to a Notre Dame football game and every fall we have a million excuses by the name of residency (not to point fingers or furrowed brows but ... I see you fall month of night float + call weekends) but since Simon was assigned to his night float month in July this half of the year ... we were finally able to make it happen this past weekend for the Michigan game.
Just call us lucky charms because como se dice, "slaughter" in sportmanship speak?
Also, I see you handbomb + Julia's jovial temperament.
I'll just give you the weekend highlights although I do love a good detailed timeline ... as you know all TOO well by now.
The drive up!
Murphy and his law would have Simon stuck at work every single Friday we want to leave town (fact) and by the time we hit the road the sky looked threatening and ominous and very end-of-the-worldy. And then we drove through what felt like the longest ice bucket challenge of them all by way of torrential rains ...
Also, Simon and I had this nice conversation:
Grace: it looks like tornado weather
Simon: have you ever been in a tornado?
Grace: no, but I've seen Twister
Simon: heartiest laugh of our entire marriage
Grace: not laughing, still serious
So I took a gander at the weather on the old phone and would you look at that ...
... our entire route dotted with red and red means: tornado warning + vindication.
Totally over it!
Moving on.
So Katrina had generously offered to host us for the weekend but at the last minute one of Simon's college buddies offered us his parents empty condo near campus and before he could retract the offer we snatched it up and camped out there ... much to the excitement and delight of the condo dwellers below us.
We got in around 12:30 on Friday night/Saturday morning and Sebastian marched right up to the door directly underneath ours and rang the doorbell.
A gentleman formerly known as asleep answered in a stupor and looked a little something like this ...
... and I don't blame him one bit.
Game day!
With the time change the kids were up right before the crickety crack of dawn. So we dined on grapes and waited and waited and waited until the local Super Target opened so that we could grab food and drink.
Sebastian knows he's on familiar territory. And we don't have any ND gear for the older three kids so I had to improvise ... and they looked exactly like leprachauns dressed for an event where the dress code was: business casual. Sue me.
We had the great pleasure of meeting up with Katrina, Ana, and Alexandra for a playground date complete with coffee and many donuts c/o Ana and Mike. It was definitely a huge highlight of the weekend ...
The husbands were SO excited when we asked them to grab an easy snap of us moms and our cooperative broods.
Since the older kids are at the age where they can get away without naps (and we can cash in on super early bedtimes that way!) but Theo still very much needs a lengthy afternoon not-on-the-go nap we went back to the condo and let him and Phoebe sleep. This is suddenly feeling very timeliney. I'm terrible. And predictable.
Shock of all shocks - Sebastian also crashed. And shock of not shocks Simon did too while Julia kept me wide awake company slyly trying to wake Sebastian, "I just wanted to tell him I loved him!" and asking exactly how many toys she could buy with the penny she found in the parking lot.
Phoebe sounded the alarm and woke Simon so we enjoyed a private tailgate on the balcony while Julia serenaded us with her made up song, "Notre Dame" (those are the only lyrics) and Phoebe eyed Simon's adult beverage ...
... very suspiciously.
A couple of Simon's college friends were in town so after the boys woke up we loaded up the triple, cooler y todo and were on our merry way to catch the tail end of the tailgating on campus ...
In front of his old dorm trying to figure out where his friends were. Times haven't changed one bit.
I was totally caught using those doors as a mirror to fix my windwrecked hair by a kind lady who came out and asked if we wanted in and .... happened to be a blog reader! Small world. And from now on I shall start carrying a compact a la 7th grade back pocket for hair fixing emergencies lest I'm caught like that again.
In front of the library where Simon and I met aaaaalmost seven years ago.
After garnering exactly no stares while navigating through the crowds on campus with the triple wide we finally found the compadres and set up camp ...
with mimosas minus the fun for the kids (aka orange juice, in case you didn't pick up what I was throwing down)
We had low hopes for the kids on campus and fully expected to have to pack up after 20 or 30 minutes but they made themselves right at home ...
... the old "run around an empty beer can" game.
Fun times seeing Katie and meeting her husband, Brian (Simon is worried he may have thought his name was Mike ... his apologies, Brian!!!)
Phoebe calmly communicating that we needed to leave.
So we did.
We were fortunate enough to get the name of a great (and available on game night!) sitter during the game but I am a total nut and didn't want to be too far away from Phoebe because she is a really great baby until the hour of 8-9pm when she puts the fear of God into me nightly with her screams. But! Of course she was perfect for the sitter (we watched the VICTORY across the street at a restaurant/bar situation) but you know that if we'd gone into the game she would've pulled the terror card and Sebastian would've done something wild that required multiple stitches. Live and learn, I suppose.
When Julia was a baby and we would go out of town I would have insanely high expectations for the trips thinking that Julia would happily go with the flow and that the change of pace would be a breath of fresh air from my new day to day grind. And I would always be devastated when she seemed to ruin any and all fun and wish we'd never left our abode at all.
But now! Simon and I have learned to have SUPER low expectations when we travel and we are usually always pleasantly surprised with how nice it is to step away from the grind at home. And this weekend was no exception.
That is definitely NOT to say the drive home wasn't a bowl full of purgatory ...
Pretty. But painful.
There was a LONG detour and wailing and gnashing of tantrums by children and parents alike. You know the drill, I'm sure.
We pulled in the driveway at 7:11pm and the kids were all tucked in by 7:20 which almost made up for the odyssey across Illinois in its entirety and the fact that three days later, our suitcases are still sitting fat and happy and untouched in Theo's room.
Anyway. That's that.
No more trip recaps for several weeks. At the very least. I hope you can see my wink and I know I can feel your palpable excitement.
GO IRISH.
Just call us lucky charms because como se dice, "slaughter" in sportmanship speak?
Also, I see you handbomb + Julia's jovial temperament.
I'll just give you the weekend highlights although I do love a good detailed timeline ... as you know all TOO well by now.
The drive up!
Murphy and his law would have Simon stuck at work every single Friday we want to leave town (fact) and by the time we hit the road the sky looked threatening and ominous and very end-of-the-worldy. And then we drove through what felt like the longest ice bucket challenge of them all by way of torrential rains ...
Also, Simon and I had this nice conversation:
Grace: it looks like tornado weather
Simon: have you ever been in a tornado?
Grace: no, but I've seen Twister
Simon: heartiest laugh of our entire marriage
Grace: not laughing, still serious
So I took a gander at the weather on the old phone and would you look at that ...
... our entire route dotted with red and red means: tornado warning + vindication.
Totally over it!
Moving on.
So Katrina had generously offered to host us for the weekend but at the last minute one of Simon's college buddies offered us his parents empty condo near campus and before he could retract the offer we snatched it up and camped out there ... much to the excitement and delight of the condo dwellers below us.
We got in around 12:30 on Friday night/Saturday morning and Sebastian marched right up to the door directly underneath ours and rang the doorbell.
A gentleman formerly known as asleep answered in a stupor and looked a little something like this ...
... and I don't blame him one bit.
Game day!
With the time change the kids were up right before the crickety crack of dawn. So we dined on grapes and waited and waited and waited until the local Super Target opened so that we could grab food and drink.
Sebastian knows he's on familiar territory. And we don't have any ND gear for the older three kids so I had to improvise ... and they looked exactly like leprachauns dressed for an event where the dress code was: business casual. Sue me.
We had the great pleasure of meeting up with Katrina, Ana, and Alexandra for a playground date complete with coffee and many donuts c/o Ana and Mike. It was definitely a huge highlight of the weekend ...
The husbands were SO excited when we asked them to grab an easy snap of us moms and our cooperative broods.
Since the older kids are at the age where they can get away without naps (and we can cash in on super early bedtimes that way!) but Theo still very much needs a lengthy afternoon not-on-the-go nap we went back to the condo and let him and Phoebe sleep. This is suddenly feeling very timeliney. I'm terrible. And predictable.
Shock of all shocks - Sebastian also crashed. And shock of not shocks Simon did too while Julia kept me wide awake company slyly trying to wake Sebastian, "I just wanted to tell him I loved him!" and asking exactly how many toys she could buy with the penny she found in the parking lot.
Phoebe sounded the alarm and woke Simon so we enjoyed a private tailgate on the balcony while Julia serenaded us with her made up song, "Notre Dame" (those are the only lyrics) and Phoebe eyed Simon's adult beverage ...
... very suspiciously.
A couple of Simon's college friends were in town so after the boys woke up we loaded up the triple, cooler y todo and were on our merry way to catch the tail end of the tailgating on campus ...
In front of his old dorm trying to figure out where his friends were. Times haven't changed one bit.
I was totally caught using those doors as a mirror to fix my windwrecked hair by a kind lady who came out and asked if we wanted in and .... happened to be a blog reader! Small world. And from now on I shall start carrying a compact a la 7th grade back pocket for hair fixing emergencies lest I'm caught like that again.
In front of the library where Simon and I met aaaaalmost seven years ago.
After garnering exactly no stares while navigating through the crowds on campus with the triple wide we finally found the compadres and set up camp ...
with mimosas minus the fun for the kids (aka orange juice, in case you didn't pick up what I was throwing down)
We had low hopes for the kids on campus and fully expected to have to pack up after 20 or 30 minutes but they made themselves right at home ...
... the old "run around an empty beer can" game.
Fun times seeing Katie and meeting her husband, Brian (Simon is worried he may have thought his name was Mike ... his apologies, Brian!!!)
Phoebe calmly communicating that we needed to leave.
So we did.
We were fortunate enough to get the name of a great (and available on game night!) sitter during the game but I am a total nut and didn't want to be too far away from Phoebe because she is a really great baby until the hour of 8-9pm when she puts the fear of God into me nightly with her screams. But! Of course she was perfect for the sitter (we watched the VICTORY across the street at a restaurant/bar situation) but you know that if we'd gone into the game she would've pulled the terror card and Sebastian would've done something wild that required multiple stitches. Live and learn, I suppose.
When Julia was a baby and we would go out of town I would have insanely high expectations for the trips thinking that Julia would happily go with the flow and that the change of pace would be a breath of fresh air from my new day to day grind. And I would always be devastated when she seemed to ruin any and all fun and wish we'd never left our abode at all.
But now! Simon and I have learned to have SUPER low expectations when we travel and we are usually always pleasantly surprised with how nice it is to step away from the grind at home. And this weekend was no exception.
That is definitely NOT to say the drive home wasn't a bowl full of purgatory ...
Pretty. But painful.
There was a LONG detour and wailing and gnashing of tantrums by children and parents alike. You know the drill, I'm sure.
We pulled in the driveway at 7:11pm and the kids were all tucked in by 7:20 which almost made up for the odyssey across Illinois in its entirety and the fact that three days later, our suitcases are still sitting fat and happy and untouched in Theo's room.
Anyway. That's that.
No more trip recaps for several weeks. At the very least. I hope you can see my wink and I know I can feel your palpable excitement.
GO IRISH.
I didn't know you knew a Laird girl!!! Small world! Family friends from waaaaaaaay back (before she --and you!!-- was born!)!!
ReplyDeleteNothing like an ND game and tailgater! So fun!! If I had known you were going, you could have stayed at our lake house that's 40 min away, but a condo rightthere was prob a much better choice!
So fun you met a blog reader in such an impromptu way!
ReplyDeleteI know!! What are the odds? So fun
DeleteAh! I was the blog reader behind the door! SO fun to meet you - and SO lucky that my baby acted up at just the right moment during Mass to put me outside that door at just the right moment. My husband just shook his head when I told him that was the most memorable part of my weekend (I think the right answer for him would have been the shut out - oh well!)
DeleteDang, it almost could've been me! So weird to see you hanging out at my SuperTarget and strolling around our campus -- the one game weekend we weren't at home (and therefore not at the tailgates to run into you.). I'm sure, if I had, though, I would have been suave and cool, and shouted something like, "Holy friggin' heck, it's the Pattons!"
Delete1. Phoebe is my spirit baby.
ReplyDelete2. Can you just get a web cam in the mini?? I would love to spy on that!
Umm best looking family of tailgaters I ever did see! And that lady came out of the building to get a glimpse of that mermaid hair up close and personal, I totally would have too! ha!
ReplyDeleteAs a Michigan alum (born of Notre Dame parents, no less) who was at the game, I can tell you that a bar was probably the best place to watch the game.
ReplyDeleteI know that I could have used a beer or 6.
Awesome!, my husbNd always bitterly reminfs me they killef his dorm and made it into offices
ReplyDeleteAnd auto correct makes it appear as if I am a drunk toddler. My husband was in Flanner. He once received a letter from an office that was his old room.
DeleteHe is still upset about it 20 yrs later. His dad's dorm was converted to girl's dorm. I still dont know what one he was in...
How many marriages were arranged during that playdate? If there is ever a NC gathering of mamas I want in
ReplyDeleteYou're much braver than me–I hate doing trips that require more driving than time there, esp with kids. Also, totally jealous of all of you on that mom/playground date. Why is everyone so far away from me??
ReplyDeleteI need Phoebe's jeggings. They are rockin those porky thighs. I think they could do the same for my porky thighs. LOL! Glad you are home safe and sound. Go Irish!! (unless they are playing Navy then I say Go Navy!!)
ReplyDeleteI love these kind of memory making trips. Some kids will remember nothing and some will remember snippets but the main thing is having adventures together! You guys give me hope for the future... as long as sweet Catholic families keep raising sweet Catholic babies and have the courage to actually venture into to world and demonstrate that yes, mommy + daddy + babies = secure future. *hugs*
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness...so many gushing moments for me in this post (albeit silent, because of the sleeping babe in my arms). Cliche alumni right here? Maybe.
ReplyDeleteOmg! I'm so bummed! I would have loved to run into you all. I was pushing a single and that was hard enough to navigate. I can't imagine a triple! Glad you guys had fun!
ReplyDeleteHow fun! We were there this weekend too, sans kids this time though. Our kiddos always have a blast going to campus for game day and then talk about it for MONTHS afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering when you would mention the stares on campus. I'm sure all the college kids went running in the other direction when they saw you with four littles!! I love the pic in front of the library, definitely a framer!!
ReplyDeleteOkay so. Once upon a time you linked to someone's blog or maybe they joined a link up on one of your how we met posts I think? And i stayed up all night reading it once and then lost it and now it's just killing me. She and her husband met at notre dame, I think he played rugby, they were married in the campus chapel annnnd I'm hoping you know who I am talking about. Help.
ReplyDeleteTry Katrina at http://www.cedarsandtinyflowers.com/. She's one of the best ;)
DeleteDo you have a post on road trippin with littles
ReplyDeletehaha well I do but not advice or anything!!
Deletehttp://www.camppatton.com/2014/02/anatomy-of-roadtrip-with-children.html#.VBEG10QRaks
and
http://www.camppatton.com/2012/07/traveling-with-children.html#.VBEHf0QRaks
We were there, too. Well, my husband, two of our sons, and one of our daughters-in-law were there--I was back at the rented house babysitting my three granddaughters. I would have been excited to run into you, too. My daughter-in-law and I joke that we've become blogger-stalkers. (She is now actually living near Dwija and going on playdates to her house.)
ReplyDeleteYou probably didn't want to hear all of that! Anyway, you guys sure picked a great game! :)
shoot!! It would've been SO fun to meet you, Laura!!
DeleteThis was hilarious and made me happy. :)
ReplyDelete"bowl of Purgatory" BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
ReplyDeleteI know, I laughed out loud at that!
Deletethat picture in front of the library with all of your adorable children. DOUBLE QUADRUPLE BARF
ReplyDelete;) but ya know, totally freaking adorable. 7 years makes quiet the difference!
Now when are you and your cooperative brood coming to a KU game?!?! Lawrence... Mass St... come on, you know it calls your name! But yes, GO IRISH, in deed. :)
ReplyDeleteMegan from Chasing Davies
This literally made me laugh out loud several times. Well done! Also I'd be thrilled to join your blog following list: www.wordsbecomeone.com. But have mercy, because I have twins so sometimes posting is a leeeeeetle light.
ReplyDeleteOkay your photo of the date to play is much better than any of mine! Stealing - even though I just told Ryan stealing is bad.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite photo is the one of you guys in front of the library! What an icebreaker that would have been ... hey want to have four babies with me and come back here with a cooler of mimosa goodies in seven years?
I know I was thinking of how much has changed in the last seven years for you guys. That's awesome!
Delete"Sebastian knows he's on familiar territory. And we don't have any ND gear for the older three kids so I had to improvise ... and they looked exactly like leprachauns dressed for an event where the dress code was: business casual. Sue me." Bahahaha loved this! We don't have kids yet, but road trips like this sound so fun and chaotic. I have a feeling I'll be singing a different tune when our time comes.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the laughs this morning!! I had a rough morning getting one of mine off to school and I sorely needed it.
ReplyDeleteLove this! Wish we lived closer to make donut+park play dates an every week thing:)
ReplyDeleteWe went to our first ND game a couple years ago (pre-baby), and loved the whole experience! This weekend we're headed down to Columbia, where my husband and I met, for our first Mizzou tailgate and football game with our 5 month old baby. I'm going to try really hard to keep looooow expectations, so maybe I'll end up pleasantly surprised! :)
ReplyDeleteLove this post! We were on campus with our little lady (rocking the same Love Irish onesie as Phoebe) and so wish I had seen your sweet family around. I'm confident based on your pictures that we were probably within ten feet of one another at least once. While you were fixing your hair I was likely busy taking selfies in the ladies room of my hubby's old dorm since I graduated before camera phones were invented. Thanks for the laughs!
ReplyDeleteWith the link, I couldn't resist going back and reading the Simace love story all over again. Love it!
ReplyDeleteWowza - sounds fun, but very exhausting. :) Also. how cool/random is bumping into a blog reader?!?!? LOVE it!
ReplyDeletexox
giedre
So fun!! And so jealous that you got to go to South Bend - I love it there! Nice that you could get away and awesome game!! Watched the VICTORY from here and then snark-texted my best friend who is, sadly, a Michigan fan. But I overlook that tiny bad thing about her except on game day.
ReplyDeleteSo cute!! Glad you guys had a good trip! And thanks for bringing the Irish such good luck against Michigan!
ReplyDeleteSo much fun! My husband has been dying to visit ND and catch a game at some point in his life. Looks gorgeous and like a blast! They played a hell of a game - fun time to be there (even if you weren't in the stadium)! :)
ReplyDeletebasically looks like me and my friends when we tailgate, so... awesome. and please tell me where you got your jeans from - love!
ReplyDeleteOh my god you KILL ME. "Bowl of Purgatory" will go into daily use at my house. It pretty much describes the ride to and from school, and work, because work.
ReplyDelete