Memorial Day 2015

What a good day! Matt got up early and worked in the garden and made breakfast. I joined him at a more reasonable hour (tough time sleeping last night, so I actually slept till 9!) and then Shelly brought her kids over shortly after that. Dave is out of town, and since I'm her vt'er and Matt is her ht'er, (not to mention friend) we wanted to help. Matt cleaned the kiddie pool and filled it, we sunscreend 6 kids, and they played for 5 hours. They had so much fun! Sadly, I didn't take a single picture of them, because Matt and I were busy with this:

We finally cleaned out the shed and built a shelf! We pulled everything out, went through lots, got rid of some, sold a few things, put some back where it belongs, and then Matt built a shelf for it. I was a helper, since I was also supervising the 6 kids, keeping them sunscreened (addie is the only burn victim and there's just a little redness on her shoulders. I call that a good job), keeping them hydrated and fed, etc. 

We ran out of time, so that's why we only have the one shelf, but our shed looks so much better!!! This was a project several years in the making, so it feels good to have finally gotten to it, even if it's not finished. It's muuuuch closer to being done. (:

At 2, I came in to get kids ready for the annual Memorial Day picnic at dorsey park. It was such a perfect day for a celebration of our country and to honor those who gave all. Beautiful weather, definitely the best we've had on a memorial day picnic, ever. 

Miss delaney, despite my best efforts, didn't actually get a nap because she had a messy diaper, and since we were outside, I didn't hear her calling, so then she decided to take her diaper off. She got a quick shower before the picnic, but then she was also tired. And maybe a little grumpy.

After about 2 hours of eating and playing, she came to me crying because she had fallen. I picked her up, rubbed her for a few minutes, and off to sleep she fell. 

I realized towards the last few minutes of the picnic that I hadn't taken but the 2 pictures of delaney, so we got Pete to snap this one. 

Then when we went to collect kids from the playground we took one of the kids that were still there. 

We had wanted one of just the 6-year-olds, but the other girls heard and wanted in on the action. These girls have been friends since before they were 1. Probably before they were even walking. Sweet girls. 

Frankie had patiently waited up in the slide while I snapped the 3 girls, so then after they left, she popped out and posed. Adorbs. (:

Christian had his first day at Crabknockers, under the watchful eye of Crabknocker mike. We all got to smell his stinky shirt and he told us all about how he "cut over 400 soft shell crab, first their faces, then their lungs, then their underparts, all while they're still moving!" Sounds like a horrible day to me, but he enjoyed it, and although he was tired from working 10 hours, had a great day.

All day I thought about the true meaning of the day. We had a fun time, but it's not just about a day to clean out sheds and spend time with friends. Alexis' friend Sydney, the one that came to disneyworld with us a few years ago, her dad died in a helicopter crash in Iraq in 2004. I thought about her a lot all weekend. I've seen firsthand what she's gone through as she's had to navigate her life without her dad, and it's not been easy. What a huge price she's paid, her family, and especially her daddy paid to keep our country the amazing, safe, helpful country that it is. Gratitude doesn't begin to describe it.