Graduation Weekend!

How has this girl finished 4 years of college already!

She graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Biology, emphasis in Ecology. 

She's worked hard, possibly played even harder, and learned so much. It's been fun seeing her grow more and more independent these past years. 

We might miss the days of having toddlers and everyone living under one roof, but getting to see these kids figure out what they love and how to make their own way in the world is pretty incredible. We've loved getting a glimpse into her world in San Diego.

Quick Trip to SD

Bean was only home for a day before we had to get her down to San Diego for the spring semester which had already started the week before. She and I drove down Sunday, and hit pretty terrible weather on the Grapevine.

It snowed!

But we made it down to Bean's new house for the semester--a house about 1/2 a mile down the hill from campus where she has her own room and lives with 3 other water polo friends. We got her sort of unpacked and went grocery shopping so she would be ready for the class the next day.

Monday morning, I met up with a friend at Torrey Pines State Park for a hike.

And once again, we hit crazy weather, with wind and rain, in a place that is usually so nice.

And right after we finished the 3 mile hike, the sun came out and the beach was lovely.

As I drove back down the coast, I stopped at La Jolla Shores.

I wanted to check out the tidepools.

Found a few snails.

And then made a quick stop at The Bahia to visit the seals.

And found this California Aglaja (a predatory sea slug) on the sand.

I helped him back into the water and then I had to run a few errands for Bean and join a virtual meeting before I met up with her to see her for a bit before she had to head to water polo practice.

And the next morning, I said goodbye to this girl as she headed out to her second day of classes. We walked to campus together where I could take the trolley/shuttle combo to the airport for my flight home, and she could try to get back into US college life.

The Husky is Home

We've got another college student! Bug moved into the dorms at the University of Washington Wednesday afternoon and began a new chapter in his life. We helped him get his room set up and everything unpacked (and started the shopping list of everything we hadn't thought about yet.)

Even though it seemed like a lot of stuff when we were loading and unloading the car, his room looks much more sparse than Bean's did, although some of that might be that she had so little space in her triple, and he has half of a room. 

We walked around campus a little, and were surprised that it was clear enough to see the top of Mt. Ranier above the clouds.

More brother time (and once again, this was actually Peanut insisting that the mountain was just clouds, and the rest of us were delusional thinking it was a mountain top, haha.)

We went with Bug to dinner to make sure his dining card had been activated, and then he headed over to the church institute where they were having dessert and a beginning of the year kick off of some sort. 

It was kind of weird going to our hotel without him, knowing that we'd see him the next day, but only briefly because he had orientation and welcome activities and roommates to get to know.

We ended up taking him to Trader Joes the next day for a food stock-up, and then to get dinner at a really good Thai place near campus. And then we saw him the next morning for a quick breakfast before we had to take off.

Goodbyes aren't fun, but it's a lot easier when you're leaving a kid who seems to be in a good place and is already excited about the friends he's starting to make. He had plans for the day with some of his roommates and seems to be looking forward to everything coming up in the next week as they get ready to start classes.

Love this boy--and we're so excited for what he has coming up.

She's Off On an Adventure!

Just dropped this girl off at SFO for her flight to Switzerland--with too much stuff to fit in her suitcases, haha. She had to wear a couple extra things to make the weight limits, but I think she fit everything essential (and we keep reminding her that she can probably buy pretty much anything she needs or wants over there.)

She's off for a semester abroad at the University of Lausanne on Lake Geneva. We can't wait to hear all the stories (and will feel relieved when she actually makes it to her student housing on the 11th--she's got about 20 hours of travel and a night at an AirBnB before that, all on her own, and I'm a little nervous for her. But I'm sure she'll handle it all just fine.)

We're sure going to miss her while she's gone--it's weird thinking how far away she'll be, and this will be the longest we've gone without seeing her (we're not sure if we'll see her at Christmas, or not until January, but either way, we've never gone much more than 2 months.) 

College Tour: Seattle Edition

4 years ago, we were supposed to plan a 13-year-old trip with Bug. Bean had gotten a weekend of backpacking when she was 13, and we had every intention of doing something similar with Bug that next spring when the weather was better. And then, Covid happened and we didn't do anything for a long time. When we finally felt like we could plan a trip, we had decided on some desert hiking in AZ, and then. . . I broke my ankle. 

So here we are, only 4 years late, but spending a jam-packed weekend with our Bug exploring Seattle and the University of Washington. He was accepted here, and waitlisted at all the UCs, so it's looking more and more likely that this will be his choice if he wants to both go away to school next year and play water polo.

We took a tour of the campus and fell in love. 

One of the reading rooms in the main library is straight out of Harry Potter.

I love how much water is every where around Seattle.

Campus is right on Lake Washington.

And is home to the famous boat house from Boys in the Boat. We LOVE that book and have listened to it twice as a family, so we had to go peak in the room where it happened.

By the time we had spent a day walking around campus, I think he was ready to be a Husky.

We also explored downtown--went to Pike's Market,

found a gum wall,

and wandered around near the waterfront.

I really love this city.

Water views everywhere!

And we had to visit the Space Needle!

I'd been to Seattle once before back in college, but was too broke to go up.

We timed it perfectly so we got up there a little before sunset.

It's hard to see, but we got views into the Chihuly Garden,

and got the thrill of leaning back on the glass over the city.

It's steeper than it looks in the photos.

Little nerve-racking to watch.

But so fun being up there.

Lots of views of the city.

Such a cool structure.

We hung out up there as the sun set,

and the lights came on.

So pretty!

This was such a fun stop.

We also went to church in the singles ward and visited the institute, and walked around the area just off campus, checking out the neighborhoods that would be most accessible if Bug lived up here. And we had a lot of great time to talk with our middle child who was so patient with us as we, in typical middle child fashion, totally bumbled his special trip, haha.