We had a wonderful Memorial Day. We spent Sunday night at my mom's, so we didn't have to get up so early to be at the parade by 9:30am. We met some family there, and watched the parade with them. A typical small town America parade, with fire trucks, boy scouts, little kid church groups, and one high school marching band. Then to the cemetery to hear some short speeches. Unfortunately, I was not thinking, and we did not get close enough to hear well, so my boys were distracted; there were lots of people just talking/chatting around us, so that made it even more difficult to hear. Next year I will remember that we need to get really close to the speaker so we can hear them. I want them to understand how important Memorial Day is, and how we as a family celebrate it.
After that we headed out to one of Mom & Dad's favorite spots: Hunt's Pond. They used to go there quite a lot when they lived in New Berlin, which is not far from there. It's beautiful, and I took some pictures, but I've not had any luck posting them here (drat!) We were much farther away (I didn't realize just how far it was) but it was worth it to go. Mom had not been there since Dad died, and it brought back a lot of good memories for her. We packed a picnic lunch---everything we needed . . . except something to make a fire with: no matches, no lighter, no charcoal, no nothing. Well, Mom and DS2 went "next door" to the next camp site to borrow matches, and then I had the boys gather small sticks to start a fire. We used dried leaves instead of paper, and used just one paper napkin to get it started. It was quite windy, so it took several matches before we got it started. But what memories we made! The boys each roasted a hot dog on a stick. Thank goodness my mom brought a roll of aluminum foil: she made a tray out of it to cook the burgers on, as the grill part in the fire pit was far from clean. We kept the fire going for a while after we were done cooking, just for the warmth. I haven't had so much smoke in my face in years.
We brought the fishing poles, so Kenny and the boys fished. DS1 caught 3 fish---he was so proud! They were no bigger than the palm of your hand. When he caught the first one Kenny said it was too small and he should throw it back. Well, his face just fell. My mom said she'd be happy to eat it, so we kept it. We left all 3 with her, and I talked to her today and she said she'd cleaned them and they were very good---all 6 bites. She's such a good sport!
Even though it was 70* and sunny, there was a stiff breeze coming off the water, and Mom and I got real chilly. We finally left the fellas to their fishing and we went and sat in the truck. Much better! It was nice to have a chance to chat without interruption, too.
By the time we got home I'd discovered I had a nasty sun burn on my forearms and my thighs just above the knee. My arms are the worst. Very, very sore! But it was such a good day, it was worth it. The thing is, I remembered to bring the sun screen---had it right in my purse the whole time---I just didn't remember to put any on anyone. It was so chilly, I didn't think about sunburn. I think it must have been while we were watching the parade, as once we got to Hunt's Pond we were not in direct sun much.
So we came home tired, but happy, with lots of good memories.
Sounds like you all had a really great day! We've been having lots of rain so we've not had much outdoor time, but it's really too hot to enjoy being outside anyway. Soothe your skin with some cooling and refreshing aloe. Ds1 loves that we have an aloe plant.
• May. 27, 2009 - Untitled Comment
http://a-skip-in-my-step.blogspot.com/