Labor Day Fun 2014

We headed up to South Bend for Labor Day weekend, which was a little strange because one, it was August still; and two, our anniversary normally falls on Labor Day weekend so we are normally doing something for that. 

This year, we brought along our friends from Cali...the Vandivers. We wanted to show them a little taste of Michiana and although the weather was gloomy and rainy some of the time, we were still able to fit in everything we had planned on doing. 

Friday, we caravanned up to North Liberty. Once we arrived, we just hung out and got adjusted. Adding TEN people plus THREE dogs (Matt and Amanda came up too), I'm sure was quite hectic for my parents, but we made it work and three of us slept in the camper the first night. The original plan was to campout in my parents yard anyway, but Bobby said that wasn't 'real' camping, but we still utilized the camper all but one night. We ate, hung out, and played card games.

Saturday, we headed to Notre Dame for tailgating, tour of campus, and Nate and Melissa were able to experience a ND home game. All four of the kids definitely had their moments throughout the day since there was a lot of walking, but overall they did good and hung in there. We were able to grab something to eat at my Dad's friends' tailgate party, followed with seeing the band play at Bond Hall, then tour of the Basillica and the Grotto, of course no tour was complete without seeing touchdown Jesus. I haven't really taken time to tour the campus ever from what I remember, so it was fun to be able to experience game day on campus with friends and family. Nate and Melissa enjoyed the game, while we took all the kids back to feed them, swim, and bathe. Luckily it only rained a little while on Nate and Melissa at the game, otherwise our weather couldn't have been any better for our plans.

poor Grandma :)

Sunday, we headed up to New Buffalo to eat at Redamaks, followed with a beach day at Silver Beach. It was crowded, but not too bad and we all got a lot of sun and had lots of fun. In fact, we spent about 5 hours at the beach and could have stayed longer. There was not a cloud in the sky. When we got back to my parents' house, Kyle and Cadence were able to go on motorcycle rides and we were able to have a campfire with s'mores. It was such a clear night with a great view of the starts. Bobby and my dad were playing with an app on Bobby's phone that would tell you the different constellations in the sky just by pointing the phone toward the sky. You could clearly see Mars (reddish tint by the moon) and Saturn, which was neat.  Nate, Kyle, Bobby and I all slept in the camper and it was a perfect night for that. 

We all headed out on Monday, but first we stopped by Bobby's parents' house for a little bit. Once we got back to Terre Haute, we had to make a trip to the Convenience Care Clinic. Surprisingly, it was for Bobby and I and not the girls this time. Bobby somehow got pink eye and gave it to me I'm sure because I wore his sunglasses at the beach for a little bit. We are both now on eye drops for 5-7 days. Yippee!!!

It was a great weekend, and we are still friends for the Vandivers...haha! I joked with Melissa on the way up that we would either hate each other or remain friends and since we are still friends, it must have been a good trip. We all very much appreciate my parents' hospitality and willingness to house so many additional people. I know we wore them out, but I think the rest of us are all wore out from all the fun we had. I know I can't wait to make another trip up in the winter to go snowmobiling with everyone. Hopefully my parents still welcome us :)