Yesterday was Ryan’s official graduation day. He finished classes back in March so we kind of celebrated then. In March we really expected we would have moved on by now, so we didn’t plan on doing graduation until a few weeks ago when it became apparent that we wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon. Consequently, Nathan and I were the only ones there to support Ryan in person. I know a lot of other people were there supporting him in spirit.
The ceremony for the whole school was in the morning and the ceremony for Economics was in the afternoon so we decided to stay on campus all day rather than come and go all day.
The day started off not so good when we missed our bus and had to run to catch a different one. It was all my fault and I was so afraid Ryan would be late. We made it on time and Nathan and I tried to find a seat. I was alone with Nathan and I had the stroller and enough stuff to get us through the day with a grumpy toddler (in other words- a whole lot of junk!) and there was no where for me to sit with the stroller. I had to rely on a few good Samaritans to help me maneuver. The first part of the ceremony was the “Duck Walk”. All the graduates came onto the field and walked around the track. Is it lame that I totally started to cry? Anyway . . . we were sitting really close so we ate snacks and waited for Daddy to walk by. I thought I got a really cute video of Ryan as he passed. Nathan was so excited to see him and didn’t understand why he didn’t get to come sit with us. Unfortunately I never turned the camera on. Yea, one of the those moments.
Nathan only lasted through the first half hour of the ceremony so we spent the next hour running around (he ran, I chased).
We did get a few good pictures of Ryan afterwards, though. Can you see him? He’s the tall one with the burnt orange hood. He complained about the color but at least he wasn’t one of the guys wearing a pink tassel!
Also, check out the weird-o arm things on his robe. We joked about all the things he could hide inside (snacks, an umbrella, etc.) His friend chose to use his arm pockets for his flask. How that man managed to finish his Masters degree I don’t know.
Between ceremonies we wandered around campus and got lunch.
There was a little kids booth with play dough and coloring pages and puzzles. Nathan had a lot of fun playing.
Mostly, we spent our time taking turns chasing after Nathan. I really don’t know how the kid had so much energy! He woke up at 5 that morning and only slept for about an hour in his stroller, but the whole time he was awake it was go go go!!!
The afternoon ceremony was a lot more personal since it was just the Economics department. Only a few people graduated with a doctorate and only 3 graduated with a Masters. When Ryan’s name was called, his advisor said a few nice things about him. I had coached Nathan to yell “Yay Daddy!” when it was Ryan’s turn. Ryan says he couldn’t hear him but you can hear him in the video.
Untitled from Ryan Bartron on Vimeo.
After we cheered for Ryan we had to get out of the sun and move around a little bit. Guess who we found?
We followed the duck around for a while, then stayed in the shade and tried to cool down. After a while I thought about trying to sit back down again, but guess who was in my seat!
We found some really fun construction in the back instead.
Yay Graduates!
Can you tell we are all hot , tired, and ready to go home?
One last picture!
We hopped on the bus and headed home to a yummy dinner in the crockpot- and, of course, cheesecake!
Nathan did a really good job holding on in the bus just like mom and dad. What a day!
