Graduation

We knew the day would come when Newel would graduate...I just didn't know it would be like this. I expected after two years of being on "vacation" at Stanford, I would be crying my head off. We arrived to the amphitheatre just in time for the ceremony to start. We rushed to find a place to sit. On my way to find our seats, I lost G-ma and Paka. Our friend Xiao Jing and her kids were with me.

It all started great. We set up our blanket, toys, and snacks. However, being the outdoors, Arden and his friends didn't want to sit and watch their daddies walk across the stage. They wanted to run around, play, run around, argue, run around, yell, play, eat snacks, more snacks, run around, argue with each other...etc. After a while, I finally said it out loud..."I'm not having any fun...this isn't what I expected to be...I haven't been able to sit and just enjoy the ceremony...when is this going to end?" Yes, I was whining. I finally went to look for G-ma and handed Mayita over to her...that gave me a little break.

Then, it was time. A GSB tradition...to walk across the stage with the kids. That was really neat. Arden liked doing that. They looked so cute.

The ceremony was over, we took some photos and went to the Deans's Reception. We congratulated our friends and took more photos.

While Newel and family were finishing up at the reception I went to pick up our babysitter. After we got the children ready for bed, we went out to dinner, just the adults. We had a really great time.

Even though we were pretty tired from all of the day's events, after dinner, Newel and I went to a small gathering with some of our friends. It was really nice to hang out with them in such a relaxed environment after such a hectic afternoon.

Looking back, it was good to be busy during the ceremony. I was so busy dealing with the kids at the ceremony and tired the rest of the day, I didn't have time to get sad.