Hail the Blue and Gray!

Last weekend we ventured back to our beloved alma mater for my (gasp) 15th reunion.  Although we attended Ben's 10-year a few years back, I hadn't been on campus with my class since 2003.  In 2003, I was 27, single (albeit almost engaged), childless, and in such a very different place in my life.  Even our last trip to Colby three years ago feels a bit like another lifetime - we stayed off campus with some friends, all of whom had tiny kids who were so much trouble to take anywhere or do anything with that we pretty much just stayed put and tried to catch up while playing defense.  This 15th reunion of mine was different.  The boys are old enough now to at least kind of understand the word "college".  They think it's amazingly cool to sleep in a dorm room and eat in a dining hall.  They find it funny to visit where Mommy and Daddy first met.  So it was a really fun family adventure to spend the weekend at Colby, to show the boys around, to see old friends with whom I'd completely lost touch, to meet some new ones, and to pretend we were 20 again for a weekend.  At the risk of sounding incredibly cheesy, Colby is where our family began, so it will always hold a special place in our hearts.  Bringing the boys back there to experience some of that magic...well, it feels a bit like coming full circle.

Future Echo editor?

The boys took right to dorm life, each claiming their own desk/Lego station. 

The class of 1998 took over Averill for the weekend, which was kind of ironic because I don't think I set foot in Averill once over the four years I was at Colby.  It was, however, where my Mom spent her freshman year.  Ethan and Adam loved staying where Noni once lived!

We took the boys over to West Quad to show them Daddy and Mommy's old rooms, right across the hall from one another.

Friday night dancing at the bicentennial bash

Mmmm...lobster!

Doing our very best lion impersonations in the library. 

Seeing how many Stockwells fit in a dorm twin.

The boys enjoyed kids' activities galore.  When asked what their favorite part of the weekend was, they both chose the babysitting Saturday night, where they were allowed to run wild, watch movies, eat cookies, and stay up until we picked them up at midnight.  We sure weren't winning any parent-of-the-year awards walking two pint-sized zombies across campus at midnight, but hey, at least we got a night off.

Bounce house + tattoos = happy boys

A small but mighty showing for our 15th reunion.

Both boys hated to leave on Sunday morning, asking when we could go back to Colby.  I remember feeling the same exact way at my parents' 15th reunion eons ago.  Full circle.