Notre Dame

Our family took a trip down memory lane this week. GO IRISH!!Dave was doing recruiting interviews at Notre Dame Law School, so the girls and I tagged along for the last getaway of the summer. We just stayed one night, but we looked up all our old hang outs and even dropped in on some old friends.

We got to Notre Dame on Monday evening and checked in at the Morris Inn, the only hotel on campus. It is a fancy, upscale hotel, but in a very old building. The rooms are very small, we slept in a room with two twin beds and two rollaways. The girls thought it was pretty fun for each of us to have our own beds. Once we settled into our room, of course we hit the bookstore to stock-up on our Notre Dame gear and drop a small fortune!

The next day Dave was busy interviewing all day so the girls and I roamed the campus alone. We started at the Law Library. A completely new law school has been built and it is pretty amazing. Dave and I were blown away. In fact, Dave said, "this is so nice I feel a little ripped off." The Law Library is not finished yet, but I did take the girls to meet some of the people I used to work with. As expected, they were amazed by how much Ashley has grown, as the last time they saw her she was only three. We had a good visit and I was glad there were people there who still remember me and have offered to take care of Ashley when she comes to campus as a freshman :)

Then we went to St. Mary's Lake, one of two lakes on campus, so we could feed the ducks. Of course, the ducks, geese and swans are so used to people they are very tame and fearless. This was much too scary for the girls, at first I couldn't even get Ashley to go near the lake. I then suggested they stand on the picnic tables to feed the ducks so they wouldn't have to deal with ducks right at their feet. This worked for a while until the tall swans came over. This pretty much did the girls in, especially Ashley. Let's just say "feeding the ducks" ended with everyone in tears. Ashley and Paige because they were scared and me because I was laughing so hard. They were totally mad at me for laughing, "mom, it is not funny!" I couldn't help it though, you should have seen Ashley throw down the bread bag and run for her life.

So far so good in this picture

This is went things started to go awry


After the trauma at the lake, the girls and I visited all the campus tourist sites---the grotto, the Golden Dome, touchdown Jesus, and the basilica.

the Grotto

outside the Golden Dome (aka adminstration building)

looking up inside the Golden Dome

cooling off in front of the Memorial to War Veterans

Touchdown Jesus at Hesburgh Library

Inside the Basilica of the Sacred Heart

A true reminder of old times...storytime at the campus bookstore.

Ashley still knew all the songs.

In the late afternoon, the girls and I drove around South Bend and then hit the mall for some last minute school shopping and a meal at Chick-fil-A, which we do not have near our home.

At the end of the day, we picked up Dave and drove home, just in time to get ready for school which started the following day.