Solo to Cali

I can't remember traveling alone for a vacation since I got married.  Twenty five years later, I did just that and had a fabulous time (no offense to my beloved family, of course).  It was a trip meant to be, as I arrived at the very moment Bennett and Tiffany's family were hosting their going-away party at a nearby park.  So Mary and I showed up and were able to see all of them as well as meet many of their friends, who were so smart, interesting, and likable.  Such a fun party!  I was so glad the timing worked out.

I spent most of my days at Mary's, where I got to spend lots of time with Kate and Aaron.  Fun activities included tennis, biking, swimming (Mary and I were the lifeguards), race car driving (Mary and I were the observers), and a Stanford tour, which included an awesome same-sex statues display.  Aaron has a very cool hover board/go-cart thingy that the majority of people we passed either blatantly stared at it or asked questions about it.  I can't believe I didn't take a photo!  It was good to see Mark, and Father's Day dinner was spent at a nearby seafood restaurant.

Kate and I took some very long walks, during which we created a picture dictionary.  For example, these were our photos for Hydrant and Mailbox.  Impressive, right?

Even more impressive ... Bennett arranged for a tour of the Tesla plant in Fremont.  Wow.  (Sorry I made his family look into the sun when I took the photo outside the plant.) I can't wait for Steven to go on the tour - he would have the most insightful comments about what he saw and heard, given his 25+years at Toyota.
I got to spend the night at B&T's home.  They were so gracious to stay up until midnight talking with me, giving me much appreciated and thoughtful suggestions for a work situation, even though they had approximately 5820 tasks to complete before leaving for Amsterdam a few days later.  Mary and her kids came down the next day and I was struck by the synergy of the five children playing together.  Such beautiful, funny, engaging children.  No arguments, no bickering, no disagreements.  How does that happen?  Everyone in Bennett's family is so excited about their overseas adventure, and I am so excited to visit them next summer!

Can you find Kate in the tree?

Can you even begin to imagine how much fun I had?  SOO much laughing.

Thank you, amazing California relatives, for all you did so I could have a most incredible solo vacation!  I'll be back for sure.  If I knew how to insert heart emojis into this post, I would add about 1000 of them.

A beautiful girl and 12 years of very hard work

Elizabeth's graduation was more fun, emotional, and exciting than any graduation I have attended (and I've attended 22 at Georgetown College alone!).  The lead-up to the actual event was also fun, emotional, and exciting.

For example, this is Elizabeth going graduation dress shopping with me in Lexington.  She did not choose the dress in the photo even though I was convinced she would love it.  I laughed when she told me the only reason she even tried it on was because I asked her to.  At least she was polite about it.

This is Elizabeth getting her ears pierced many times because she is 18 and graduating and that is the deal I made with her. 

This is Elizabeth driving to graduation.  Magical fairies apparently gifted her with a heart crown.

The Kentucky Horse Park Arena easily fit the Class of 2018 graduates.  More than 500 of them!

Elizabeth graduated summa cum laude, awarded to those with GPAs over 4.0.

Then it was all over but the celebrating and staying up all night with friends.

Elizabeth and Rain, her best friend. 

Elizabeth and Emily, her pretty much lifelong friend (see previous blog entry).








Elizabeth and more friends.












Rosemary, Terry, and Angie came to Elizabeth's graduation.  Angie recognized several names from the program due to hearing stories attending various events of E and M's over the years.  







Not a day has passed since May 04, 2000 that we have not known how fortunate we are to be Elizabeth's parents, and we forever welcome any opportunity to spend time with her.  But it was especially nice to have a formal occasion to reflect on how hard she has worked the past 18 years.  We could not be more proud ... elated ... joyous ... teary ... excited ... awestruck ... wistful ... delighted.