Days with the Dorans

  We had to eat at Panera so that we could see Joe and get a group pic (minus Z) We realized that we hadn't gotten to a WMU hockey game and it was time we did so we got tickets and headed out to see our Broncos! It was a short visit but we take what we can get. We dropped the dogs (and Rizzo) off at my folks' (thanks mom and dad) and then were on our way. I don't think they wanted us to leave! Unfortunately, Joey had to work so couldn't go to the game. Ali and Hannah were able to go though so they took Sean and he sat in the student section with them. I thought I had scored some really great ticket (price wise) and then I realized that I got us STANDING ROOM ONLY! Sigh- no wonder they were such a great deal! We laughed about it though and had fun. The Broncos (and hockey in general) is such a fast paced game, we didn't mind it really. Though Jeff told me to make sure I got us actual seats next time. It is always nice to get back to Lawson. They are building a new ar...

  We were married on April 7th. Who knew that 21 years later we'd be driving our son to where WE met! He has officially decided to become a Bronco so we were off to orientation to get all the things done and open our wallets too of course! I got flowers and since we were going to be spending the next couple days in a hotel, I brought them with us! HERE is a video I put together for Jeff of our first 21 years together! Joe rarely gets excited but it was fun to see him thinking about this next chapter! He could hardly wipe the smile off his face! I loved that we knew where to go since we had spent so much time on campus (obviously). First stop was to sign in and sign up for housing and other things. He's decided he wants to live in the valley (where I lived my freshman year). He finished all his computer work in the computer lab where I used to go (because back then, I didn't have my own computer and you went to labs- this one was in the Bronco Mall). We listened to a bunch ...

So I had gone out with Jen Hart the last day of school and had dinner and she let me know that Christmas Day she tested positive for Covid. I was a bit nervous all of Christmas... Thankfully I took a test and it came back negative. Danny was finally out of quarantine which meant that we could go the the WMU Bowl Game! Danny was able to get two four packs of tickets free so we took the Bigs and the Drapals all went too. It was general admission and funny that as we were walking to the game we ran into them! There were a lot of people with masks on which made us feel more comfortable and we were spaced out from others too. WMU won and to celebrate we hit the Detroit Brewing Co for dinner and Drinks. My phone made a movie of my pictures and I uploaded it  HERE .

  He did it! We are so proud of our Bronco!  He was accepted to all the colleges he applied to but this was the one he really wanted!

  We left in the 4s, as in 4:00 in the morning to drive to Kalamazoo for Band Day! We took Victor and there were a handful of other Knights there. Dumb me didn't realize that it was for ALL HS kids- We should have taken Zach... Next year! When we got there it was still early so we went to the library thinking we could get some work done. No luck! The library was even closed. So we went to Maggie's and had some yummy breakfast while Joe and the band played on! Jeff and I did a bit of tailgating and driving more down memory lane! We went and got Big Apple Bagels (the ONLY place that seems to have my beloved tomato basil and cheddar herb bagels) even though we were stuffed- and we also drove by Chime Elementary where I did my student teaching. It is still there but no longer Chime or a part of KPS which made me sad. After our walk (or drive) down memory lane we headed back to campus and ran into the kids for a bit. We did make it to the library and worked for an hour or so until g...

So for the last couple years we've been going to the WMU Night in the D for the fun and of course the cool hats! Jeffy and I met at WMU and of course Danny went there too! We met at the Drapals house and took an Uber (our first!!!) into the D. The Tigers aren't so great so after getting our hat, we were able to go to our old season tix section (didn't go to our seats but we were close) and took in some of the game. I do miss being a season ticket holder sometimes- I loved getting the $2 peanuts (from the church) with my dad and our $1 scorecard which makes watching the game so much more fun! Memories. After the game, we had fun walking around the D and grabbing some drinks. We had to get our Bells (since the Brewery is in K-Zoo). It was  such a fun night. We ended up at Coney (ewwww- I didn't eat it) because that's what Danny wanted. It is a cool place to people watch. Can't wait to get our hats next year!

Jeff and I were saying we wanted to get to more WMU games (at least one a year) and since they were coming to EMU, this choice was easy. We did have to miss one soccer game but figured it was worth it for the family experience! Danny actually has neighbors (a lot) who went to WMU, so one went and looked into getting big packaged deals and it was cheaper for him to get like 30 tickets! We got our six and paid a little over $3 for each which was cheaper than what it cost us to get into the high school game! We got there early to tailgate and it was fun chatting with their friends, eating food and having some drinks. The little girls were all excited to see Ali and they had fun doing her hair! Love her face in this pic! As game time drew near, we were off! I had never seen a game at EMU before but was looking forward to it. WMU had a good turn out from what I could see from the tailgate. We sat on the visitor side (of course) and there was lots of room. We even saw Buste...