Go Irish!

Friday night, July 30, 2010

We awoke to have breakfast with the extended family as all of us who are here for the wedding are staying at the same hotel. The guys had their final fitting for their tuxes, and they all had the rehearsal tonight, so Marc and the boys and I headed for the campus of Notre Dame.

I was so impressed by the school; they do not allow freshmen to declare a major, they do not allow sororities or fraternities, and more than 80% of all the students (including upperclassmen) stay in the dorms there on campus. They take so many precautions to make sure their students graduate - including the athletes - and the athletes stay in regular dorms with the rest of the student body. Such a good school! Yet, more than 13,000 students applied last year for only 2000 freshmen spots. Needless to say, it's tough to get in, and then, once a student is admitted, he or she has to figure out how to pay the $50,000 a year required to go there.

We visited Touchdown Jesus and 1st and 10 Moses and the Golden Dome. We saw inside the Golden Dome, too. The grotto, however, was under construction (I still took pictures). The Basilica was occupied by some couple getting married, so our tour guide thought it best not to interrupt their ceremony. Cha! How dare they interrupt my site-seeing with a wedding!??!?!? We might try again sometime this weekend to wander in and take a look around.

We also bought out the bookstore (which is the daddy of all book stores). Look for a "Play Like a Champion" sign in both my classroom and Marc's gym this year. Needless to say, the entire place is breathtaking and remarkable. I would love for either one of my boys to go to school there (like we could afford that). Tomorrow is the big wedding day and the reception at the vineyard on Lake Michigan. Excellent photo opps there!