A Prom, a Graduation, and a New Address

Hi, "Teapots" readers,

It's been a week since I last wrote something; forgive me! So much family stuff has happened, I had to stop blogging and just...be present for it all.

In the last week,
1. Lovely Daughter #1 flew in from out of town...waaaaaaay out of town (Dubai).
2. Lovely Daughter #2 received two departmental honors for her senior thesis and graduated from college.
3. The Boy went to senior prom.
4. And LD #1 got her first glimpse of the little house she'll be renting, together with LD #2, starting this August.

Hokay.

So, here are some photos of all that has transpired:

First, The Prom. Well, actually, the Pre-Prom. Moms and dads, siblings, and prom-goers gathered at one family's home so the parents could take photos and annoy the heck out of their kids:

All the boys arrived on time. They waited around for the girls, who did not.

They waited...

...and waited.

Almost every boy had a corsage box in one hand and a water bottle in the other. It helped to have something to keep hands busy.

Fiddling, fiddling, waiting.

Wandering around the beautiful gardens. And waiting.

At last the girls began to arrive in ones and twos. This cutie was not The Boy's date:

She was tall, but not THAT tall. Some sort of optical illusion was taking place. And the cutie in red was not his date, either:

Here's his date! (Isn't she pretty?!) And finally he could give her the corsage he'd been holding.

I love the silly expression on his face as she pinned on his boutonniere.

With everyone there, mass amounts of posing for photos began:

Proud parents posed with kids...

...and snapped endless pictures...

...gazed on their offspring with wonder...

...and made them squirm:

Proud big sisters got into the act, too. This is Lovely Daughter #1:

And so, totally annoyed by his family, The Boy went off to Prom in a huge party bus with 43 other beautifully attired youngsters.

Next, Lovely Daughter #2 was inducted into a national honorary society for her major. There was lots of standing and saying "I do" at various moments:

There was posing with each other and beloved professors:

And, of course, showing off fancy certificates:

We had time to duck into Lovely Daughter #2's favorite little bakery, which has sustained her with sandwiches, gladdened her with pastries, and kept her awake with coffee for four years:

One last round of yummy things to eat:

How she'll miss this place!

The next day was graduation day. It was the 118th year this college has graduated a class of youngsters. And it was the first time, EVER, that it rained:

The college handed out blue plastic ponchos to everybody:

We sat, steaming in our ponchos, like a sea of blue-wrapped burritos:

While overhead, blue-and-white flags, artfully hung, artfully dropped rain water on us:

But it was worth it to see this moment:

As the ceremony reached its conclusion, the sun beat back the rain, and the flags seemed to be glad of it:

We were all happy for the sun:

And for LD #2:

After the ceremony was over, we joined her friends and their families in a celebration BBQ. Then we changed into jeans, packed up all her things, and stuffed them into the U-Haul to take them home.

But not for long. Come August, we'll drag her stuff all out, stuff it in another U-Haul, and drive it 15 minutes down the freeway. She will live with her big sister in a funny little house while Big Sis attends medical school and she works for a nonprofit for one year.

Ah, that first place after college! Long on independence and freedom, short on style and amenities. The kitchen is cramped:

And the closets--what few of them there are--have no doors:

A few walls need to be painted over:

But LD's #1 and #2 are tickled to have a place of their own to share. They are taking notes and taking photos, trolling the second-hand shops and stealing ideas from IKEA.

A prom, a graduation, and a new home in the very near future:

It was an exciting, exhausting weekend!