Back at Brown after 15 years - with the boys!

I took my three boys back to campus with me this past weekend to celebrate my 15th reunion. We had a very memorable time! We stayed in the dorms (something the majority of visitors do due to lack of hotels on or near campus) which was convenient but not all that, well, comfortable. Luckily the children didn't notice. Eric went to three science talks on Saturday and the kids and I explored campus and climbed on everything, and then we went to alumni field day where the children saw their first magic show put on by a real live magician. If you ask Emerson to tell you about it make sure you have 45 minutes or so because you will get a detailed play-by-play of the entire show. They watched the whole thing twice.

Sunday was one of my favorite traditions: the procession. For those who are unfamiliar, it starts with the faculty and administrators processing out of the Van Wickle gates, followed by alumni oldest to youngest, then followed by the new graduates. Those who have passed through the gates move off to either side, becoming the wildly cheering audience for those coming through after them. Once all of the graduates have gone through, the 'inversion' begins where the people who went through first then go through the middle, until the whole thing has happened again in reverse. Everyone gets to cheer for everyone else and the band gets to play continuously for about 3 and a half hours. My favorite part was walking through the tunnel of new graduates. I think this was the boys' favorite part too: they each took a side and got about 500 high fives on the way through. It is a lot of waiting around (especially from a 5 year old's perspective) but well worth it in my view. As a bonus, the boys also got to pose with Bruno, the Brown bear mascot.

(A funny moment: as we were in the staging area a friend of mine asked Ethan if he was excited to be in a parade. His reply: "I was in a parade before, all by myself, and I didn't like it.")

I didn't take as many photos as I might have but here are a few, including a cute moment at the airport on the way home (they are reading "Stuart Little"):