Weekending - Ian Graduated!

This was one of those magical weekends you hate to see end and will remember always.  Our son, Ian, graduated from law school on Thursday night and it gave us the opportunity to gather our families together and celebrate his accomplishment.  Love when opportunities like this come around!

My parents arrived at our house on Thursday and we headed over to Ian's hooding ceremony.  I have to say, I was pretty much busting with pride that my baby boy had fulfilled his dream of graduating from law school.  The ceremony ran like a well oiled machine with not a single hiccup as Ian's wife (Kayla), my parents (Linda and Don), Ian's father-in-law (Mark), Eric and I watched him walk across the stage.  

After graduation we went to one of Ian's favorite restaurants, Coopers Hawk Winery for a late dinner.  The food was fabulous like always!  

Friday I got to spend the day with my parents and we had a blast.  We started the day at Eckert's picking strawberries.  The vines were LOADED!  It only took a few minutes for us to have three baskets full.

Then it was on to Hidden Lake Winery for a meeting I had with the wedding coordinator there.  The wedding I'm helping with is only two weeks away and we had some details to get finalized.  This location is beautiful and I can't wait to see how the wedding all comes together.  You know you will be seeing pictures here so stay tuned!

Our next stop of the day was Marcoot Jersey Creamery.  I had heard about this little farm that made cheeses and wanted to check it out.  On Monday, Wednesday and Fridays they offer a tour at 1:00 pm.  The tour guide, Laura, could not have been more delightful!  She did a magnificent job teaching us about making cheese and bottling milk.  Kind of made me want to move to a farm myself!  

We got to sample their milk, cheese and ice cream -- all were delicious!  So glad we had the opportunity to visit this location.  

Friday night Kayla and Ian joined us for dinner and we finished up the some of the table decorations for Ian's graduation party on Saturday.  Kayla had found some really cute ideas and I was lucky enough to be able to help her put it all together.  

Our family gathering to celebrate Ian's graduation was being held at Maggiano's.  Their banquet room was the perfect size for our group and didn't require major decorations to be nice.  

We had three tables, one for each year of law school.  There is a common saying in law school that year one (1L) will scare you to death, year two (2L) will work you to death and year three (3L) will bore you to death.  We made signs for each table with those sayings, added painted year numbers and accented it all with a couple law books and baby's breath.  Simple, easy and adorable!  

Each guest received a candy "bar" with thoughts for Ian to do well taking his "bar" as a favor. 

Add the family and we had a perfect little party!  Great way to end Ian's law school experience and a great send off into his future.  We are so proud of you Ian!  Special thanks, too, to all the family that traveled in from out of town to help us celebrate.  

On Sunday, my friend Linda and I went to church together then headed to Eckert's for another round of strawberry picking.  While we were there, we couldn't resist their all-you-can-eat fried chicken dinner.  I mean, it was Sunday and isn't that what you're supposed to have for dinner on Sundays?!?  It was so, so good!

Later in the afternoon my friend Tracy popped in and we whipped up her niece's graduation announcements.  Congratulations Kaitlyn on your bachelor's degree from University of Illinois!

In the evening I hunkered down on the couch for some serious hockey watching.  The St. Louis Blues had advanced to Round 3 of the NHL playoffs and their first game was Sunday night.  Win for us!!  Game 2 is tomorrow and we sure are hoping for another successful win!!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.  We are experiencing some frigid temps for a few days, but it should warm up as the week goes on.  I'm headed to the baseball game on Tuesday night and have a fundraiser event on Thursday.  What a fun week!  Hope to see you back again soon!

Check out what others were up to this weekend.

Champagne and Suburbs

B Loved Boston

More Pieces of Me

Bella and the City
The Quinntessential Mommy
How To Get Organized At Home
Over the Moon

Let's Be Friends Blog Hop with The Dwelling Tree

The Diary of a Real Housewife My Own Home While I'm Waiting Tuesday Talk Pennies into Pearls Simply Sweet Home Life is Lovely This post contained affiliate links.  I may receive a small commission if you click on the link and purchase.  Thanks!