Memorial Day

The unofficial start of summer. Saturday was a wash out due to rain storms. Sunday was spent in the yard and running errands. Today we set up the tent to introduce the kids to "camping." They were interested for a solid ten minutes and then ran off to play on the slip 'n slide.

Happy Memorial Day.

Commencement Day

Welcome Home, Doctor Donna!

We are home, after a weekend trip to Cleveland to attend Donna's DNP graduation from the Case Western Reserve University. The culmination of many years' hard work came yesterday during the University's commencement and doctoral hooding ceremonies. We are all proud of Donna's achievement.

The morning started at the School of Nursing, where graduates lined up and processed to a staging area.

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From the staging area, the graduates processed into the commencement hall following the university bagpiper. If you look closely in the top middle third of the photo, you will see Donna among her classmates.

The hall was packed with people; standing room only. Luckily the kids and I scored aisle seats and were able to see Donna walk in.

The kids didn't tolerating very much of the convocation. Too much talking and no sight of mom, so we walked around the campus.

It is a splendid campus, mammoth sized and surrounded by some beautiful neighborhoods. The only problem is it's in Cleveland, 8 hours away by car!

Here is Donna following the convocation, on the way to a luncheon reception.

Lunch was held in a retirement home. No kidding. It was a nice retirement home, at least, though it reminded Bob of the hotel from the movie The Shining. In retrospect, we should have gone to lunch on our own, as there was more than ample time between the commencement convocation and the hooding ceremony.

The hooding ceremony was the highlight of the day. Held in a majestic church, the ceremony is the point where the doctoral degree is conferred and the academic hood placed on the graduate. The students were led into the church by the bagpiper. This guy works hard on graduation day.

Donna on line to be hooded

Donna and her classmates are wearing the traditional academic regalia of a Doctor. She is holding her hood. A moment after this picture was taken, her name was announced and she stepped forward to be hooded.

Hooding is a significant event. It is meaningful both to the graduate and the person who performs the hooding. Donna was hooded by her doctoral committee chair, Dr. Hickman.

The kids barely got to this point of the ceremony without melting down because they could not see their mother. Luckily Bob was able to find the neat vantage point to take these pictures and that kept Robert and Samantha occupied for a few minutes. Bob and the kids then retreated outside to wait for the ceremony to end.

Hello Kitty is in every picture from the weekend!

Graduates and faculty congregate outside of the church following the ceremony

It's official: Doctor Donna

Donna and Dr. Hickman

It was a splendid afternoon and a nice beginning to a new chapter in Donna's life.

From the church, we retreated to our hotel for some pool time for the kids. We had dinner in Little Italy, at an understated bistro named Maxis, where we had the best calamari ever. The perfect ending to a perfect day.

Congratulations, Donna.

Carnival

We took the kids to a carnival at a local school today.