Brian Graduates from The George Washington University Law School

 We had a wonderful whirlwind weekend last week.  We flew to Washington DC to witness (Whoa!  That's a lot of W's!) Brian's graduation from George Washington Law School.  What a privilege it was to be there!  We flew there on Thursday and went to Brian and Michelle's on Friday morning.  Gabbi was happy to see us.

 She even danced a jig!

 Ken helped Jaron dance with her.

 Jaron warmed up to us pretty fast.

 That evening, we met up with the Hinton cousins in the area for a barbecue at the park.  Two other cousins live in the DC area: Dustin and Nicki- Dustin works there, and Jana and Strider : Strider is in medical school there.  Before the others arrived, Gabbi was sliding queen.  She would climb up, slide, and almost before her feet hit the ground, she'd be running to climb up and do it again . . . and again . . .and again.  You get the picture.

Soon the cousins arrived.  This is Gabbi and Jana's Tolman.

Conner (Dustin's) and Jaron bonding.

J

 Delicious food and delightful company. (Where was Nicki?)

 The bedtime routine.  

Saturday:  We started the day Saturday by taking the kids to Gabbi's dance class.  Michelle and Brian are called as Stake Dance specialists for their upcoming Youth Spectacular, and they had a rehearsal that morning.  So Ken and I got to go to the Mom and Me Dance class.  It was so fun to be there.  The class is designed for Moms and girls so that moms can keep the little ones on task.  But Gabbi didn't need me at all. She did exactly what Miss Kady told her and loved every minute of it.  I wonder where she got those genes???  It so reminded me of taking Michelle to her first classes.  

 The support team.

 I'm pretty proud of this picture as I caught her in the air.  It was pure luck, as my camera doesn't actually go off when I click it.  

Here, they lined up with wands and walked on their tippy toes sprinkling fairy dust with their wands.  Pretty soon, Gabbi was leading the group- leaving the others in her dust!

 At the end, Miss Kady had them each do a solo.  This was Gabbi's.

 After lunch at Michelle's, we headed for the Metro to take us to town for the Law School's award ceremony.

 Students from the graduating class were informed by letter that they would be receiving an award, but didn't know what award.  Brian and his partner had won the Moot Court Competition, so they knew they were getting that award, but it was a fun surprise that Brian also won an award for being an Outstanding Student in Intellectual Property Law!  He's pretty awesome!

 The supporters

Outstanding Student Award: 

 This is my favorite picture of the whole weekend.  After the awards ceremony, we attended a reception over at the law school.  Ken snapped this on the walk over there.  

 Gabbi was so cute eating the cheese and crackers.  Just her kind of dinner!

 We took the metro home.  Then Brian and Michelle got all gussied up to head back to the Law School Graduation Reception.  They were so excited for an evening out.  And we were excited to spend the evening with our grandkids.  

 The reception was held at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  The Law School had rented it for the evening.  After the reception, Michelle and Brian walked along the National Mall, enjoying some kid -free time.  

 Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we had a great time.  . . until bedtime when Gabbi felt sad that her Mama wasn't there.  She finally fell asleep in the rocking chair.

 That evening, Brian's parents arrived.  Early the next morning, we headed back to the National Mall on the metro.

 I think awesome was the only word for it.  Thousands of chairs were set up down the center of the National Mall for the commencement ceremonies.  Thousands!  The stage was so far away, you couldn't even see it.  But there were several huge screens.  The Washington Monument was the backdrop, with the Capital building behind.    What a privilege it was to be there.  Brian Williams of NBC News was the speaker.  He was very good- very funny.

 We moved our chairs over into the shade.  It was such a pleasant day.

 Here's one of the huge screens.

 After the ceremony, we met up with Brian and took pictures.  

 And Gabbi danced under the monument.

 Brian and Michelle packed us a picnic for lunch.  So we headed back to the law school for our picnic, then  to the Law School Commencement.  

Brian receiving his diploma. 

 Then more pictures.

We went back to the apartment and had a delicious meal that they had put in the crockpot that morning.  They honored Cynthia and Me as a belated Mother's Day. 

We had an early flight on Monday.  Thank you for a wonderful weekend, Princes, and hearty congratulations to Brian Gary Prince, Juris Doctorate!!!