Unfortunately, the trip got off to a really rough start. In fact, it ranks as one of the worst moments of stupidity I've had in a long time. We got to the airport only to find no one at the counter to check us in. And as I stood there, staring at the tickets that I had looked at 5 times that day, I noticed that the time I had scheduled the day around getting to the airport for was not our take-off time. It was when we were scheduled to land in Denver. The plane was taking off at that exact moment, elsewhere in the airport.
I hate that sinking feeling when you realize you have done something THAT stupid! Ugh. So an hour of arguing, scheduling, and forking out fees later, we headed home. I got to fly out with Jasmine the next day, and Daddy flew with the other kids the day after that. I just had to keep reminding myself that it could have been worse. They did fit us in on other flights in time to make the games we were flying out to see. No one was hurt or injured. But . . . oh, it just stunk. And of course my flights the next day were delayed for hours. If only that had happened on the day we were too late!
Anyway, on to happier topics. Football time!
One of the reasons that Christopher wanted to see a game in South Bend is because they are known for having epic game day events. In fact, it is known as game day weekend, in many ways. Originally we had a hotel room lined up so we could catch more of it, but missing our flight killed that. Thankfully we were able to wake up early and still catch everything we really wanted to see. And thankfully my parents were willing to keep my kids for the day, because it was really cold! (Kaitlyn called it "freakingly cold".) At the game, the announcer told us that the wind chill was 7 degrees, with wind about 20 mph and snow falling almost all day.
But you know what, even with all of that, the entire campus was full of people wandering about all day long. I loved seeing all of the tailgating!
"Touchdown Jesus" might have a rather odd name, but the mosaic on the library really was a beautiful and impressive sight.
We went to the "player walk", where everyone lines up to see the players walk to the stadium. I think BYU is starting that as well, so hopefully we'll see our own team do that one of these times!
Waking up early and shivering all day did take its toll, however. We were going to see the marching band play, but that was outdoors and the wind had really kicked up fierce. So we got our steak sandwich and sought refuge inside to found a quiet spot to wait for the trumpets.
Their main building has a rotunda, and the entire trumpet section (40 or so) lined all of the railings to play a few songs. The acoustics in there were fun - and impressive.
Then it was on to the stadium!
I'll admit, we splurged on the tickets. We were going to buy the tickets through BYU, but they were $70 for nosebleeds. So we paid twice as much and got tickets that were on bleachers literally set up on the field itself. Totally worth it! My husband said that since this was his one Notre Dame experience, we were just going to go for it. Sitting low in the end zone means that you don't see the game as well, but see it more from a player's perspective.
We were fascinated by the Irish Guard. I'm not sure what their purpose is, other than leading the band out, but they were amazingly tall - with huge hats to make them even taller! Do they double as the basketball team?
One of the great things about visiting Notre Dame is that they are like us in many ways- a respectful, God-fearing group, you might say. We have an opening prayer before kickoff at home games, and their players make a prayer of their own toward the mural of Jesus. I saw a few of our players head over to pay their respects as well.
And their fans are just as awesome. This group was on the front row near us, and they were hilarious. They were there to have a good time (and by the Irish jigs we saw them dance, some fun drinks beforehand might have been involved.) At one point before the game started, one of them stood up and turned around to the stands, trying to rally the crowd to stand up and cheer. When no one responded, my husband jumped up and started cheering as loud as he could for him. I wish we had a video of the guy's response, because his face lit up as he saw someone joining him- and he saw my husband's hat. "NO! Not you! You sit down!" But he couldn't even keep a straight face with it, and just busted up laughing. So they decided that Chris was cool with them.
At one point they tried to have a "B - Y - boo!" chant going (no one else joined in on that one, either) but stopped short as our cheerleaders ran through the guys to their places. After making a show of ogling the girls from behind, one of them turned around and changed it to "B - Y - yes! B - Y - yes!"
At half time, we noticed that everyone in our little bleacher section was just hanging out on the field during the band's show. How cool is that?
And then we noticed that the ushers didn't care if we went back up to our seats or not. So we watched the rest of the game from the actual grass, right next to our own cheerleaders and mascot Cosmo (who was also having a lot of fun with the group in the gold construction hats). We kept expecting an usher go come along and shoo us off, but they would come over and chat with us instead. "Welcome to Notre Dame! Are you having a fun day?"
The game didn't go our way, but it was at least good that our team played well and made it a relatively close game. We didn't expect to win, to be honest, so that was fine with us.
And towards the end of the game, I looked over and saw Cosmo eating some lucky charms and offering them to other fans. Classic.
Being down on the field meant good photo ops, at least!
Christopher held out his hands for some cereal, but Cosmo made him catch it in his mouth.
I wish I had taken more pictures, but seeing the stadium was one of my favorite parts. They added onto the stadium a decade or two ago, but left the original walls intact and just added another layer around the outside. Which makes sense- the brick walls were too awesome to tear down. But apparently they left the bleachers intact as well.
The next day Christopher went with my brother to the opposite extreme. "I've kinda always wanted to see one NFL game in my life, too," he told me. "Is there one that weekend?" It was Browns vs Steelers, which is the rivalry game. Chris said that he went from the classiest fans one day to the most classless ones the next. He went tailgating with them at 7am, and that tailgating group spends their day drinking and chanting curses at any Steelers fans that walk their gauntlet on the way into the stadium. My husband said he did have fun, but wasn't quite as eager to go back.
Meanwhile, we had a great day at church in the ward I grew up in. Complete with new Christmas dresses from my mom.
The next morning, we went to see the house from one of Christopher's favorite movies.
They were in high gear getting things ready for the big celebration that weekend. 30th anniversary of A Christmas Story! They didn't have the backyard ready yet, but the inside was perfect. And the story behind the house tours was funny, too. A guy was living in California without a job when he saw this house go up for sale on ebay. So he bought it for $150,000 sight unseen, and got to Cleveland to find out that it was worth $29,000 because it was going to be condemned in two weeks. So he did the only thing he could to get his money out- sunk in an amazing amount of money to make it look like the indoor sets that were shot in Toronto (only the outdoor was shot in Cleveland, along with Higbee's downtown), and now he sells tours. He bought a few other houses on the street to sell leg lamps and showcase all of the clothes and details from the movie, and thankfully his business venture is working out for him.
He made the house to be explored- try on all of the their hats, climb under the sink, and even try out the soap in the bathroom if you really want to. Did you know that the movie only played in theaters for a few days? And that the leg lamp was a "major award" the Old Man won from Nehi soda because it was their logo in lamp form?
Seriously, my kids are awful at smiling for pictures.
After that, we headed to one of the highlights for the frigid trip. Waterpark time!
I LOVE these "indoor waterparks in a hotel" places. Last year we went to Kalahari, and this year we tried their competitor Great Wolf Lodge. Great Wolf is certainly aimed at a different market. It was much smaller, and my seven-year-old could ride the biggest rides by himself. But my kid did love all of the cute cartoony touches around the hotel. When the kids are older we'll go to Kalahari, which had a lot of really big rides, but at this age they are thrilled to play in any pool for an entire day. Oddly, Kalahari was also much more concerned with safety. Within minutes of entering we were gently reminded to put life jackets on all kids 48" and under. Which was fine, in our book. They can't swim, so it's a good idea, even if baby Jasmine didn't care for the gigantic thing. But at Great Wolf lodge our kids were in the distinct minority wearing them.
Jasmine was in love with this floating acorn- I would sit her up on it, and help her slide off in a fit of giggles. We must have done that a hundred times.
And Kaitlyn loved jumping into the water, and trying out the "hot tub". There was one hot tub for adults only, and was "really warm" tub that kids could come in. (Well, like the life jackets, the sign said they couldn't, but it was filled with kids, so apparently rules are nonsense.)
At night, all the kids come down in their jammies to see the characters in the cabin sing and tell you a story.
This was one instance where I wished I had my nice camera. In fact, this is the first vacation I have taken without using my nice camera once! I really put the waterproof, weatherproof one to use in the snow, cold weather and waterpark, so I just never took the big one along with me. But I forget how much on-camera flash stinks until I have to use it. At least Tyler looks normally lit and happy.
And I debated about including the next picture, but this is real life. It was our turn to meet their character, and so I set down Jasmine to pose with her siblings. But she wanted none of that. And Tyler and Kaitlyn were already scooting out of the way. Oh well.
Back to the park the next day.
And this next picture sums up most of Jasmine's life. "EAT!" The other kids would come in and snuggle in our bed every morning at her age. But this one wakes up demanding food NOW. And again an hour or so later. She is addicted to fruit snacks, and gangs up on anyone who says the word "snack". "Nack? Nack?" She will then follow you around making the sign for eat, like she is in the picture, until you cave and give her some.
All better.
Daddy dragged the kids into the bucket fall a few times- but only Tyler stuck with him every time.
He's a good sport like that.
And his favorite was the slides.
Especially the tube slides! He was so proud he could go down all by himself.
The next day we took a trip out to Kirtland. We hadn't been there since Kaitlyn was Jasmine's age, so we were excited to go when the kids could get something out of it.
As you can tell by the enthusiasm shown above, I was worried it still wouldn't mean anything to them. But Kaitlyn has talked a few times about seeing Joseph Smith's home last year at Palmyra, so we did what we could. And my mom reported that when we got back to her house, Kaitlyn rattled her ear off with all sorts of details. I guess it didn't click in until we saw all of the movies at the visitor centers about it . . .and then she "got to go INSIDE the temple, Grandma! And guess what! The movies were REAL!"
We had great tour guides, and for the most part we were the only people even on our tours at all that day. Hooray for cold weather that scares everyone else off!
Last time we saw their nativity exhibit we waited in line with a hundred other people. But this time our kids could take their time, finding the snowmen dressed up in nativity costume, or deciding which one they liked the most.
And of course they loved the room designed for them to play in, with dress ups, stuffed animals for the stable, puzzles and board books.
I just love seeing all of the range in the nativities. This one in the brass is my favorite- it is made out of shell casings from a civil war. From strife, people find peace in forming their trials into their strength in Christ.
I'd add more pictures of the nativities, but this is already the longest blog post ever. And I'm not even to Thanksgiving yet.
My kids loved my brother's cat Socks, and helping to set up the "Village" under my parents' tree.
And of course, Thanksgiving dinner itself was delicious!
I'm so glad we get to see my parents as often as we do. Even Jasmine, my non-hugger, gets to know them and love spending time with them.
But then we had to head back to the airports to get back home. We did get to see my brother and his family on a layover, amazingly, but now it is back to reality! Right now, that includes a torn up house. We are re-carpeting the upper floor of our house, so nothing is in the right place at the moment. But it will be awesome when it is done!
