KU 10-Year Reunion - Part 3 - Banquet and Campus Drive

And my final post from our trip back to Kansas - the final activity as part of our reunion - the Formal Banquet.

My classmates and I got all snazzied up in our "nice clothes" and met for a tasty dinner in Lawrence. We invited our professors to join us, but unfortunately most have either retired, moved on, or were otherwise busy. We did get our Process Controls professor to join us, so we got some of the inside scoop about the chemical engineering department!

A few photos from the night - starting with the table, set so eloquently:
And THE CUTEST party favors - handmade by Tanja! Is that girl creative or what?!
The dinner (L-R: Eric, Denise, Doug, Kerrie, and Professor Carmarda):
More classmates (L-R: Tanja, Rich, Kimberly, Michael):
L-R: Eric, Denise, Doug, Kerrie, Professor Carmarda:
L-R around the table: Matt, Tanja, Rich, Kimberly, Michael, Eric, Denise, Doug, Kerrie, and Professor Carmarda:
And from the opposite end, L-R around the table: Eric, Denise, Doug, Kerrie, Professor Carmarda, Matt, Tanja, Rich, Kimberly, and Michael:And Sam (very left) joined us after working a shift at KU Medical Center:
The meal was AMAZING and the company was even better! Thank you to Denise for organizing such a fantastic event! And thank you to all of my classmates that joined us in Lawrence!

The following morning, after breakfast, Matt and I made a quick drive through campus. I'd been hearing a lot about the new hotel on campus, The Oread, so I had to see it for myself. Wow, snazzy and what a GREAT location to stay the night!!! I'm told from the upper floors you can see right onto Memorial Stadium! Check it out:
Where I spent MANY, MANY hours studying up for my chemical engineering degree - Learned Hall:
Where I WISHED I could have spent more time - Allen Field House, home of my beloved Jayhawk basketball team (might have seen a few photos of this in my living room...):
And to wrap up the posts from our travels to Kansas, I'll end with the best photo of them all! Of course, I had to snap a photo of the Jayhawk in front of Kansas Union (this one was part of the "Jayhawks on Parade" from a few years back):
Great memories, great times! It was so great to see everyone from KU, learn about their diverse careers, and most importantly, spend some time with my family! Until next time...Rock chalk Jayhawk, baby!
~kerrie

KU 10-Year Reunion - Part 2 - Family Picnic

For the second activity of the KU reunion, we had a Family Picnic in Lawrence. I tell ya, things have sure changed...starting with one fact: WE ALL HAVE KIDS NOW!!!

It was really great seeing everyone and meeting their little ones! My only request for next time is for better weather! It was C.H.I.L.L.Y.!!!!

We grilled at the park and let the kiddos run around (at least those that were able) and have fun. A few shots from the family fun, starting with Melissa (Jeff's wife) and their 2-week old daughter, Evaline:
Jeff (might remember him from the merry-go-round...) and his almost 1-year-old son, Miles:
Carter and I running around the park:
Carter and the turtle (he would NOT put down that giant water bottle...which Matt so desperately wanted after having a beer too many the night before...):
Andy and his son, Owen:
MyLoc and her daughter, MyTam:
Tanja (whom I owe another THANKS for helping get all the food/supplies for the picnic!):
Rich and the grill (such mastery, eh?):
The gang (that's Erin, Andy's wife, on the far left):
Ryan and Ashley, and their little boy, Luke (1 month old - might remember him from their crazy adoption story):
Classmates (L-R: MyTam, MyLoc, Ryan, Ashley, Luke, Kerrie):
And even more classmates (L-R: Ashley, Miles, Jeff, Erin, Owen, Andy, Kerrie, Eric, Denise, and Doug) - wanted to add another THANKS to Denise for helping with the reunion organization!
My, my are we all grown up now or what?! Can't wait to see us all 10 years from now!

Rock chalk Jayhawk!
~kerrie

KU 10-Year Reunion - Part 1 - Pub Crawl

For my 10-year reunion with my chemical-engineering-graduate classmates, we kicked off the festivities with a good 'ol fashioned Pub Crawl!

We made it to five bars (not bad for us "old folks"!) and started at my most favoritest bar in all of Lawrence - FreeState Brewery (L-R: Kerrie, Erin, Jeff, little Owen, and Andy):
My reunion organizer extraordinaire pal (Tanja - and to whom I owe a BIG THANKS!!!) and her husband, Rich:
My pals Jeff and Ashley started off the pub crawl with a little dinner (smart kids, eh?):

And Dan (L) and Eric (R) posed for the camera while watching them eat:
From FreeState, we trucked on down to The Sandbar. Matt and I posed for some cheesy photos:
And so did the boys (L-R: Andy, Jeff, Dan, Eric):
Pub number 3 - Henry's (a new place to me) - where we sat upstairs on the swanky couches while drinking a few brews. Here's Andy and Jeff:
From Henry's, we made it on down Mass Street, but not without a quick spin on the merry-go-round first (I'll spare you the video of this...):
On down to stop number 4 - Red Lyon. A pic of the gang with my favorite pub snack - popcorn and Tabasco:
(Maybe by this point we'd had one brew too many?):
And finally, pub number 5 - Louise's, home of the "Schooner"....yumm....Boulevard Wheat beer!
And a few parting shots of the gang (L-R: Eric, Matt, Kerrie, Andy, Dan, Jeff, Ashley):
All in all, a terrific, terrific time! I will always have such fond memories of Lawrence!
~kerrie

There's No Place Like Home

[You may have noticed a lack of photos from August and September...silly me accidentally deleted ALL of the photos from the memory card... whoopsie... So I'm blogging what I got here, ok folks?!]

The Greenies took a trip back to Kansas for a class reunion (10-years since I graduated at KU! - check out the following blogs for more photo fun!) and we spent some much-needed time with the family while we were there!

I'll now put up a few posts from our trip and this first one is about family. We left Carter with Grandma and Grandpa C while Matt and I stayed the weekend in Lawrence. Needless to say, Carter had a blast and so did the grandparents! On our final day in Kansas, we had a little fish-fry (my brother recently purchased a fishing boat and has spent every free waking minute fishing with my dad...) - anyway, it was a super fun time!

A few photos of the fun - starting with some piano time (yes, I played piano growing up - and secretly want to get a piano for MY house in Albuquerque...) - Carter and Mommy (yes, still in her PJs) jamming:
Carter was totally groovin' on the piano playing and hopefully he'll enjoy it just as much when I finally get one for our house (*hint, hint Matt*)!

Upon our return from Lawrence, we all decided to soak up some sun in the front yard. The weather was a tad chilly in the shade, so it felt absolutely wonderful to sit on the grass and soak up the rays. Here's the whole fam - my parents (GW and Paula), my brother (Jason), his wife (Katrina), their son (Daniel), and the Greenies:

From there, we moved to the back yard to sit in some comfy chairs:

And then we pigged out on fish (which was AMAZINGLY TASTY!) and then it was time to say goodbye. A few shots of the grandparents and the grandkids (no one wanted to sit still...) before Jason, Katrina, and Daniel had to leave:
Jason and Katrina even got in on the photo fun:
And the next morning, it was time to fly away... Carter donned his superhero PJs and we headed off to the airport (where we had a "great parenting" moment where Carter fell flat on his face and got a bloody nose for all to see...happy to report that he's just fine now...):
And the next time we'll see the fam is in sunny Orlando when we head off to the Bahamas!! WHOOO HOOO!!! (yes, I've been counting the minutes!)

Thanks Mom and Dad and Jason and Katrina (and Daniel too!) for a wonderful time! We love you all!
~kerrie