Graduation Vacation

The Cramers headed off to Oregon the first weekend in May for Michelle's graduation. Although she received her degree in December, she wanted to walk at the ceremony. So, we made a vacation of it. We left Spokane on Thursday and arrived in Salem in the afternoon. This was Benjamin's first trip out of Washington. After picking up Michelle's cap and gown and checking into our hotel, we enjoyed dinner at Caruso's and then a relaxing evening in our room.

Friday morning started with a trip to Corban University to see our Camp Gilead friend Kiel who is a pitching coach at Corban. After a short visit we headed off to the coast. We arrived in Lincoln City and were happy to see beautiful blue skies. We walked on the beach, and Jon wrote Ben's name in the sand. Then we headed off to the outlet mall to do a little shopping. After enjoying a delicious lunch at Mo's, we headed back to Salem where we met up with Michelle's parents. We went to visit Michelle's grandparents in Monmouth. After dinner out with Michelle's parents and her grandma, we headed back to the hotel to get some rest.

Saturday was an action packed day. After breakfast we took Benjamin to the hotel pool for his first swimming experience. Ben swam with a PFD (personal floatation device) and without one. He didn't mind it either way. He seemed to really enjoy swimming; he was even trying to kick his feet. Michelle also dunked him under water a couple of times (doing the blow on the face thing so he holds his breath). He didn't cry and it didn't seem to bother him at all. It's looking like he may end up being a water baby. We then headed back to the room for nap time for the boys, yes that's plural. Jon and Ben napped while Michelle relaxed.

Then Jon dropped Michelle off at the Salem Armory so she could get graduation "practice" and instructions. A couple minutes after 2 pm the ceremony began. Michelle made quite the entrance as she started cheering and jumping when she walked in and saw her family. After all the undergrads were announced it was finally time for the graduate students. Michelle walked on stage sans shoes like she did when she received her bachelor's degree and high school diploma. After the ceremony we headed to Monmouth for a graduation party thrown by Michelle's aunt Kathy. It was just family at the party with the exception of Michelle's long time friend Ashley. Then it was back to the hotel to put Ben down for bed.

Sunday arrived with blue skies and warm weather. After a long weekend we decided to head home that morning. We stopped at Multnomah Falls and snapped a few pictures. Finally we arrived home in Spokane. It was so nice to be home again. Even Benjamin seemed happy to be home. He started looking around and smiling recognizing he was home again.