Trip to ND

Brian and I packed up the family and headed down to St. Charles, IL to stay with my Aunt and Uncle on Thursday night. It was a lot of fun. They have a little dog now, which the boys loved playing with. Whenever we visit them, we usually have our tradition of going to portillo's for yummy chicago dogs and french fries with melted cheese!! Sounds healthy, I know. After dinner we headed back for a bedtime snack of homemade peanut butter bars with hershey kisses on top....very tasty!

On Friday, we woke up to special animal pancakes! Then the boys were appropriately dressed for the ND atmosphere and we set off for the fun adventures that would await us. Once we arrived in South Bend, we ate lunch at King Gyro's...one of Brian's favorite places to eat in college. After lunch, we headed to campus.

We had talked up our trip to ND for weeks prior and the boys were thrilled when they could FINALLY see the Golden Dome!!

Brian had a lot of fun reminding the boys where all the important buildings were on campus. The stadium was open to the public so we took the boys down the tunnel and they got to see the football field and pose for a picture. Then we headed to the bookstore to, of course, buy some new ND clothes for T and J. After the bookstore, it was off to the golden dome to watch the marching band. Tom and Joe were naming all the instruments as they marched by....I must say they were pretty good at it.

After rehearsal, we ate dinner at an Italian restaurant with 6 adults and 6 kids (2 sets of twins) all 3 years and younger!! It was great to see Julia, Jason, and Eli again.

We lucked out on a hotel room Friday night. We had received a free night stay in a Holiday Inn and Brian was able to get us a room in Mishawaka.

On Saturday, we headed over to Angelo's tailgate. It was a lot of fun! I do have to admit, not as much fun in previous years because I was the ONLY female for at least the first hour. Of course, the food and drinks were spectacular and the boys had fun relaxing in their own size tailgating chairs eating their goods.

After watching the band march to the stadium, we headed back to chicago to watch the game with our friends Nick and Jess. Good times had by all there....good food, good drinks, good friends.

I'll post more pics on the next blog!

Favorite blankie for sale!

The inconcievable happened tonight. As you may (or may not) have surmised from previous pictures, Tom and Joe each have blankies that they are attached to. Ever since they were little they had these blankies, and they are mucho importante. Tom has a little 12" square tiger blankie, and a bigger 3 foot by 4 foot dark blue blankie. Joe has a 12" square soft blankie and a 3 x 4 foot light green soft blankie.

At bedtime, these blankies are of utmost importance. But tonight Joe did not have his larger blankie on his bed.

"Joe, here is your blankie" as I handed it to him.

"I don't want it!" he responded.

"What do you mean you don't want it, it's your favorite blankie?" I asked.

"Nope, I sold it to Tom" he firmly stated.

"What do you mean sold it?" I bemusedly asked.

"For five bucks (said in a tone of voice where he felt he got a really good deal)."

Then he proceeded to give Tom a hard time that he deserved one of his blankets. Tom was reluctant, but eventually surprised us by giving Joe his larger dark blue blankie. And all was happy.

Ridiculous, especially given the wars and tears we've witnessed in the past over these items.

In other news tonight, Joe informed Mamma that he didn't want to sit on her lap tonight because she smelled. And he also told me while I was bending over that I had a big butt. Very entertaining.

As far as Peter is concerned, the youngest is doing quite well. As he approaches 21 months old his vocab continues to expand crazilishisly. It is so fun to watch as every day something new is rattled off. My personal favorite, though, is one of the first words that Peter learned was the word goose. It started long ago when he was young and to this day, one of his nicknames is "Goose". But whenever he sees geese or a goose, he says "Goosies". But he doesn't say it that simple. It's as if he's half Peter, half Adam Sandler and it as follows: the "Goo" is said at a real high pitch, and then finishes it off sounding like "Goothsies". It is the most adorable thing ever. Everyday, I must ask him to say it a dozen times because it puts such a smileo on my face. Oh yeah, and unlike Tom and Joe, Peter is definitely our "Why?" child. I'll try to catch this on video.

Oh yeah, and in light of a stomach wrenching performance against MeatChicken this past Saturday, there was one bright moment, at the end of the fight song, Peter has learned to say, "Irish!". This video somewhat captures it. Enjoy.

For those of you who have followed this blog you are getting old and here is the proof. Tomorrow is Tom and Joe's first day of preschool. Doesn't it seem like yesterday that all we did was blog about getting up six times during the night and changing 30 diapers a day? Wasn't it special when Tom and Joe moved to big boy beds. And then Bam. They are 3 and a half and going to preschool. Two days a week for 2.5 hours a shot. It will be great for them. It's time to the unleash the pack.

Oh yeah, and we went to the State Fair. One of the highlights: lunch. When we go to the fair we usually buy one of an item and then all share and move on. But when it came to the Pronto Pups (Corn Dogs), that would not suffice. I bought one, Tom claimed it and refused to share, so I bought another and Joe wanted it, so then I bought another and Peter exclaimed, "Mine!". Anyway, here are the pics. Peter took it to the house.

Lounging at the pool today for one of our few 80 degree days this year:

Off to ND this weekend, boys are pumped and so is Daddy. Go IRISH! CRUSH MSU!