MEMORIAL WEEKEND

This is my Grandpa. That’s me on my wedding day. My Grandpa and I are a lot alike. Not so much in looks. I have hair. But in personalities… stubborn, hard headed, funny, and probably both a pain in the neck to live with. But I love him, and he loves me. Did I mention I’m his ONLY granddaughter? That makes me special. My Grandpa had a heart attack and had to have quadruple bypass surgery. Scary stuff. He is recovering well and that makes me happy. I love my Grandpa.My Grandpa also is the one who taught me to appreciate Memorial Day and Veterans Day. He served our country in the Air Force and has a deep love for those who have served before and after him.

This Memorial weekend we were so busy. We took advantage of the 3 day weekend to spend it with our children. The girls did a slow and steady job of filling the behavior jar with marbles. They chose to celebrate by inviting their cousin, Mackenzie, over for a sleep over, over. (is that too many overs?) So Kalea called the Truelove’s home and this is how the conversation went:

Eric: Hello
Kalea: I need to talk to Mackenzie
Eric: Is this Kalea?
Kalea: Is Mackenzie there?
Eric: Sure, hold on.
Mackenzie: hello
Kalea: you get to sleep over our house cause we filled our marbles
Mackenzie: ok
the end.

 

So we invited the Truelove family with us to a Mudcat’s baseball game and had a grand old time. The girls were in heaven with their cousins. The night was gorgeous. Very little humidity, great company, and my favorite part was watching Landen’s little face light up over everything. There’s nothing better then watching Christian and Landen enjoy a father and son experience like that.  
We all made it home safely, with Mackenzie in tow. After quickly getting ready for bed the girls laid down to sleep. At one point it was after 10pm (we had church the next morning) I peeked in and they were all 3 laying there with their eyes wide open. Great. I knew Sunday was going to be melt down central. The older girls did ok but Mia didn’t disappoint. She still has a hard time adjusting to Primary and so she was our Primary President’s “special helper” all Sunday.

On Monday, Memorial Day, we thought it would be fun to take the kids to the Zoo. It sounded good in words, but after Saturday and Sunday passed, Monday was looking pretty tiring. But we bucked up and did it. We got the kids up and moving and out the door by 8:15am or so. Landen screamed (almost) the whole way there. And we arrived around 10am. We got started and Landen was cranky, Mia didn’t want to walk a step, and Kalea was a trooper. We enjoyed the Africa side of the Zoo and then headed for the car around 12:30 for lunch. While we were eating… we noticed some really dark clouds… really dark. And lots of them. It poured, naturally. So instead of doing the other half of the Zoo we decided to get milkshakes and head home. It was still a good little trip, but maybe we’ll rethink it next time we want to act like lack of sleep in 2-4 year olds is a good idea. Here are some pictures:

   
Little did I know that it was Orchid fest at the Zoo. I love Orchids. We had a bunch of them at our wedding, loose purple lovely little things. (You’ll notice my Grandpa is wearing one in my wedding picture above.) So I took a bunch of pictures of them cause they were so different and exotic looking.

   

Maybe I’ll frame them. We’ll see.