We arrived in record time to Gough's and spent a lovely, late night with M&M. Unfortunately we were ships passing in the night with Julie and Arnie as they headed to the cabin for a little fall break.
We woke early Saturday morning (some of us quicker than others) and packed up for a rainy game day in South Bend. When we arrived we met up with some beloved college friends, the Auffants! First time we'd had all 7 kids together and it was so much fun to see them become fast friends in a matter of minutes. (Note youngest to oldest in the photo - also notice the Auffant children are significantly taller then their Dougherty peer).
We also had the chance to hear Maddie perform live with her group. Spectacular! We all loved listening (there may have been some weeping). And it turns out the tailgate that she was singing at was hosted by friends of Gough's as well as some old college buddies my brothers. Weird.
The weather turned out to be exactly
as expected. Rain, hard rain and some more rain. Auffants had two
tickets for us and so it was decided (by group discussion) that Dad and
Finn would get to go to the game.
"Barrels of Fun" Mary Margaret, Seamus, MJ, Thomas and I spend the afternoon dodging rain in the library, the student center and the grotto. We got to watch most of the game and still have some adventuring fun. It might not have been exactly what we were hoping for - but it turned out to be fun none the less. I love when the kids can rise to the occasion and make the best of the situation. The hot chocolate probably helped - The Bloodly Mary we stole also probably helped MM.
I love this picture! Rob
was in our wedding (and James in his) 12 years ago. We've been college
friends that have never lived near each other and still have remained in
touch. Rachel helped me get TBPP up and running from a distance and our
kids seem to have so much in common. These opportunities are rare and
so we felt for lucky to have this brief chance to be together (if only
for a few hours).
And what a game it turned out to be! Notre Dame won in overtime. Manti Te'o and the ND defense stopped Stanford's last gasp for a touchdown and the students rushed the field. It was a great game for Finn to experience and I think watching football with Rob and his son's will forever hold a special place in James's heart. Precious moments.
Mary Margaret capped the weekend with homemade waffles (from scratch none the less) and the kids enjoyed hours of legos and American Girl Doll play. It was such a great, great weekend. M&M starts her nigh shifts at Northwestern tonight - I think this officially makes her a grown up now. Weird.
After letting the kids stay up "as late as they want" on Saturday only MJ and Thomas slept on the way home. We drove strait through again with only one stop for gas and in all 6 hours Thomas never cried. Ever. As we got in to bed last night I said to James that it felt ridiculous that after 1000 miles with 4 kids we could feel so rested. It was a great weekend. We are so lucky.
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