My parents, sister, niece and nephew joined Emery, Bodie and me at Notre Dame this past weekend for the game against Vanderbilt.  My dad, sister and I are all alum.  Nothing makes us happier than spending time at our alma mater.  And it’s even better when the Irish are victorious (even though the game was way too close for comfort and the last two minutes of the fourth quarter probably took ten years off my life).

Alison, Hayes and Kelsey met up with the South Carolina contingency at the Atlanta airport as we were all on the same flight.  My sister and I were wearing the same shirt.  This is not the first time something like this has happened.  Thankfully, our shirts were slightly different colors, but it’s still embarrassing for people to think that 39 year old twins dress alike on purpose.  When are we going to learn that we need to discuss our outfits ahead of time.

These cousins are always excited to see each other.  Kelsey (7), Emery (9), Hayes (9) and Bodie (6).  Their bond is amazing.

We went straight to campus without even checking into our hotel so the kids could play football on the quad.  That is their favorite part of football weekends and plenty of other kids always have the same idea.  It’s so fun to see all of these little pickup games form and perfect strangers become instant teammates.  Most of the kids on campus are also the offspring of alumni and bleed blue and gold as well, so they have an immediate connection.  Bodie’s new football got lots of use.

This picture was taken at almost 11:00 PM.  The weather was unseasonably warm (which is just fine with us) and the dome looked stunning all lit up in the background.  The kids started crashing just after this picture was snapped, so we finally headed to our hotel.  We stayed at the Aloft South Bend and were extremely pleased.  It’s nice and close to campus and the lobby had a fun bar, games and decent breakfast options.  I have a feeling we’ll be back.

Game Day brought glorious weather.  The dome looks just as pretty shining in the sun as it does illuminated at night.

I did not take a single picture during the game, but we had a good (insanely hot) time cheering on our Irish until things got dicey.  Then I had a mini nervous breakdown.  But, we prevailed and celebrated after with drinks at The Morris Inn after a quick picture of Hayes and Bodie in front of Touchdown Jesus (the library).

The Morris Inn is the on-campus hotel at Notre Dame.  People watching in the lobby is always fun–you never know who you’ll see!  Last year we spied Lou Holtz.  Usually some ESPN and NBC peeps are also popping in and out.  Kelsey and Emery were ecstatic to see the cute cheerleader enjoying some time with her parents while we waited for our drinks.  She was kind enough to take a picture with them, which was probably the highlight of their trip.

I was worried that our flights home would be affected by Florence, but everything went smoothly and on time.  Now I’m home and still catching up on laundry and grocery shopping and monogramming…..”and our hearts forever love thee Notre Dame.”