John's Graduation Party

"Happy Father's Day" to all those wonderful dads in our lives!!

The father of my kids, Jon Hurlburt, had to work on Father's Day:(. We called, but of course that's not the same as having Daddy right there.

Jon did not plan to work this weekend. He came home (exhausted) Thursday afternoon. Our plans were to have Jonathan over for dinner Friday night (so we could meet his girlfriend of the past five months, Lindsey). Then me and the kids would head over to Madison for my brother John's graduation party. Jon would come along if it rained, but otherwise planned to stay here in Colfax to cut hay, mow the lawn, and catch up on the work he gets behind on when he's gone all week.

We would have rejoined him on Father's Day and maybe gone out to eat. We also would have run up to Cornell to see his dad.

But, as it was, Jon got a phone call at 3:30 in the morning: "Come back to work."

Tornadoes had passed through Albert Lea, Minnesota, which is near Jon's work site in Iowa. Power lines were knocked down, some local farms had been devastated, and several people had died.

Jon's crew was needed for power line repair.


I was glad I'd baked cookies the night before; at least Jon was able to bring something home-made back with him. We scrambled to find him clean clothes; there wasn't even time to do his laundry. By 4 in the morning he was on the road again.

So Jon missed out on meeting Lindsey Friday night. Jonathan introduced her to the rest of us, though (sorry, no pictures of that; I thought I'd give her time to get acquainted with us before hauling out the camera).

I think she'll be coming along with Jonathan to David's graduation party on July 4th.

By 7:30 am Saturday the kids and I were on the road to Madison. We arrived at my sister's house by around 11. Mom and Dad were there as well.

Since John's graduation party didn't begin till 5 pm, we had time to sneak in a fun trip to the zoo.

There is no admission charge for the Vilas Zoo-- it's donation only. And it really is quite a nice public zoo. The recently restored carousel, at left, is one of many attractions. It cost only $1 to ride (there was no charge for John or Leila, so that was $1 for the three of them!).

Leila had a BLAST. This was her first zoo ever. We had the stroller along but mostly she just ran ahead and we followed. She was very interested in the animals-- probably the perfect age for a trip like this.

Dad opted to rest in the cool comfort of Laurie's house until it was time for the party, but Mom came along. Laurie, Mark, and John were also there, so I had plenty of help hauling the kids around to the different exhibits. The zoo was busy and hot, and there was lots of walking.

But the kids enjoyed melty ice cream treats along the way, and we found Mom a shady park bench to rest every now and then, as needed. Of course, Mom had to spoil her kids and grandkids by indulging their interest in goofy animal masks...

The shark at right is a PhD-??


Of course, Michael wouldn't be Michael if he could simply go the zoo and enjoy himself. No, Michael doesn't like being in big crowds. He also doesn't like being hot. And he has moral qualms about the the whole concept of animals being in cages.
To him the animals looked unhappy and cooped up.

I tried to change his perspective by saying, "At least those are nice cages" and "When people get to see these animals up close they care about them more and are more willing to donate money to save them. So it helps other animals".

Of course wild animals would be better off if we left them and their habitats alone. Freedom and fresh air and nature are always preferable to zoo enclosures and crowds of gaping people. Sigh.

Where did I get such a worried, reflective, politically correct child?

Yes, I know. It's gotta be the Jon Hurlburt genes.

Hee hee.


Well. At least the REST of us experienced the trip in the intended spirit. I can assure you there are no deep thoughts going on at left!


After the zoo we headed over to Burrows Park for John's graduation party.

John's partner, Jim, did most of the work putting the party together. But my sister Laurie also did a lot, making a picture board of John over the years and organizing a family gift to John (we got him a nice briefcase for his laptop and papers, as well as a business card organizer and other little accouterments for his future professional life.

The picture above right is Laurie and Mark with Mark's parents, Van and Judy.


Also present at the party were our brothers Bill and Bob. Bob (far left) is so busy with his lawncare business these days we don't get to see him much. Bill (center) is living in Minneapolis this summer but will start a job in Spain this fall.

Besides our family, John's party was attended by Jim's family (the Houzners), friends, fellow students, and several of the faculty who oversaw John's studies.

It was nice hearing from one of Jim's brothers that John's professors had praised him to other guests at the party. They were very impressed with how thorough and meticulous his research was, and how he was able to "bring to life" what could have been very dry historical data.







John spent 11 years studying and student teaching at UW-Madison, and his partner Jim was a big help and support along the way.

Here's Leila playing with Jim's niece and another niece's daughter. These "big" 5 year-olds were very friendly to Leila, and I caught her bear-hugging them at least once.







My brother Bob had brought along an old motor boat he recently purchased. Since we were right by water, he offered to take the kids and I out for a ride.

Bob loves boats. He's restored a wooden Chris Craft boat, but that boat is actually too large to take out on Lake Mendota.

On Sunday we stopped by Bob's place in Sun Prairie (near Madison), and Bob showed us a wooden rowboat he's building from scratch.

This "new" boat Bob bought cost him only $500-- and that includes the boat trailer, a large inner tube and tow rope, and other accessories.

You can see the boat at left, as Bob backs it into the water.

The water was kind of choppy, but it was sunny out and we had beautiful views of Madison (by water!). Can you spot the capital building?

The next day Bob took us out to lunch at a nice family-style Greek restaurant. Then he took us to the Columbus Antique Mall Museum, which advertises itself as "Wisconsin's Largest Antique Mall".



With Leila along we had to do our shopping fast, but each kid was able to pick out a small toy they wanted. Michael chose two packs of cards, one (he says is) over 100 years old. Emma picked a Beanie Baby and Leila "picked" a music box and a small Raggedy Andy. The music box is actually a wind-up box from 1972 that plays "Raindrops are Falling on My Head". I actually had an identical one when I was a child.

Pretty cool.

This last picture is a small lock that helps little boats like Bob's go from one lake to the next. The difference in water level between Lake Mendota (and Lake Minona?) is about 4 feet. Boats float inside the lock, the water level inside the lock rises or drops as needed, and then the boat moves on to the next lake.

I'm out of pictures so that's all for now, folks!!