The Weber Family: Connecticut

Wednesday 05-21-08
Daniel, Lucy, and I flew from Orange County to Hartford, CT with a 2 hour layover in St. Louis, Missouri. Lucy slept the entire first flight and was awake for most of the second. She did so well, it's nice to have such a good baby!

Joe met us at the airport and he had a GIANT SUV with him, a Lincoln Navigator. Oh my goodness, that's the biggest vehicle I have ever seen. The seats are nice leather, but they are so wide that I slide around and I don't feel very secure. Kinda floppy, like Lucy! Haha. It was about 9pm by the time we landed and when we went to put Lucy in the rented car seat we discovered it was broken. Joe and Daniel took it back to the rental place and got a new one. It was pretty late by then so we went straight to Travis' for some sleep.

Thursday 05-22-08
Today we got up and went to Bruegger's Bagels for breakfast. We had planned on walking but as soon as we stepped outside it started to sprinkle so we ended up driving. After breakfast we went back to Travis' and relaxed for a bit.

When he came home we went downtown and walked around. Daniel and I stopped in the Yale Bookstore and looked at all the cute baby stuff!! It was tempting to not buy Lucy anything, but it was all so pricey $$$.

We went to the area where the main graduation ceremony would be held to scope out the seating arrangement. It was a sea of white chairs!! Oh my, more than I have ever seen in my life.

This first picture is of the chairs in

front of where I was standing. The second are the chairs behind me.

After walking around there we went to the campus museum and walked around there for about an hour. They had a great collection, Warhol, Cezanne, and lots of other really famous artists that I cannot remember at the moment.

Here is Travis at the museum.

That night Margaret, Harmony, Marianne, and Hilda all flew in; Joe picked them up at the airport and they went to the house they rented in Branford for the week. Travis had something to do as well so that left Daniel and I o

n our own for dinner.

We got some food at the grocery store and ate and played Phase 10. Lucy was surprised that I played that game.

Friday 05-23-08

On Friday, Margaret picked us up from Travis'. We spent the morning and early afternoon running errands. After we finished that we went back to the house in Branford and relaxed there for a while.

The house was in a beautiful neighborhood. The "backyard" was a slate rock that came right up to the deck. The trees above are the view from the main deck.

We had a late lunch at a seafood joint near the house. Here is the group- Margaret, Joe, Marianne, Hilda, Travis, Harmony, Daniel. Lucy and I were on the end (I took the pict). Harmony was clearly not a seafood lover and was quite disgusted by Joe's steamed clams

and Daniel and my steamed lobster.

The food was

delicious and we all had a blast. Oh, and some of Joe's steamers were accidentally flung into Hilda's hair. Travis is trying to remove the food particles.

After a looooong day, Joe and Daniel just couldn't stay awake.

Saturday 05-24-08
Today we all got up and went to Essex. We drove around the downtown area, many of the buildings are from the 1700's and are still in use! It was beautiful.

Then we all boarded one of the last running coal/steam run

trains and a enjoyed a nice scenic trip.

The conductor was telling us that the train was used in many movies including Amistad, Leatherheads, and most recently the new Indiana Jones movie. It ran along the Connecticut River and had some beautiful views!

The train dropped us off and we took a boat, the Becky Thatcher,

and went

up the CT river.

We saw a beautiful castle, the Gillette Castle.

The boat then dropped us back off at the train depot and we took that back to Essex.

The conductor said that everytime the lady who lives in this house is home she will stand on the porch and wave to the train.

After the lovely tour we went to a vineyard for Travis' graduation reception. It was so lovely there and had wonderful views from all angles. The wine was excellent, too!!

Then we went back to the house and had pizza for Daniel's birthday dinner. We had cake and sang to him. Marianne had a candle on the cake that play the music to "Happy Birthday".

It was nearly 10pm by the time we got

going. was using Harmony's computer and we were not staying with her but at Travis' (about 10ish minutes away).

Sunday 05-25-08

Today we went to church with Travis. Daniel, Lucy, and I had to go pick up everyone at the Branford house (after hitting Dunkin Donuts of course).

It was a nice service. Lucy & I stayed in the nursery and I tried to get her to eat. All she wanted to do was cry. ;) After the service we went back to the house. The three of us stayed at the house and rested while the others went to a potluck at the home of one of the church members.

Monday 05-26-08

Graduation Day! There were two graduation ceremony's. One was the main graduation with all the classes and it was at the main campus. The other was the one where Travis actually walked, it was just for the Divinity school and his classmates.

For the main ceremony Travis' class met at the Divinity school, had a special meeting, and then they entire class (it was so cool!) walked to the main campus. They were led by a neat, ethnic band that sounded amazing. Harmony walked with him to the main campus.

Here is the graduation at the main campus. Thousands of graduates, families, and friends. It was full of Pomp and Circumstance. We were right on the main aisle and Lucy and I were on the very end that bordered the aisle. We had a great view!!! All the classes marched in together, they were all led by someone holding their "school" flag (ie, the Divinity school had a red flag with religous/Hebrew symbols on it). We saw Sir Paul McCartney walk in, he was there to get an honorary degree in music. He walked right next to me!!! The only thing inbetween Sir Paul and I was Lucy and her stroller!!! OMG, it was totally awesome!!!!

Here we are at the Divinity school ceremony where Travis walked.

After the ceremony we went back to the Branford house and relaxed. Then we went out to dinner at a Japanese resataurant in downtown Branford. It was across the street from Branford City Hall, an old church, and a big grassy area. We walked around after we ate.

After we left the town center we went back to the Branford house to celebrate Travis' graduation.

Tuesday 05-27-08

Moving Day!! Margaret had originally wanted us to get up at the butt-crack of dawn (haha!) and go get her, drop off Lucy and I, and they could all go pack up Travis. Daniel soooooo wasn't having that. He wanted to get some rest before having to pack. ((It's a good thing, too, otherwise I wouldn't have got this cute picture of Daddy and Lucy napping together.))

Instead Travis went over there at the butt-crack of dawn, picked up Harmony to take her to the airport, and Margaret came and picked Lucy and I up so we could have a nice relaxing day at the Branford house. So while everyone packed, Lucy, Hilda, and I all lounged around being lazy and enjoying ourselves.