A day* to honor and give thanks to all the men & women who sacrifice so much for our freedom!
(*although we should give thanks and honor to the troops EVERY day!)
This year my whole family (minus Christa who had to work) headed out to the site. The ceremony starts at 11 o'clock PROMPTLY and after arriving at 10 last year, we knew we wanted to get there early and 'try' to avoid the traffic and mad dash to get a great spot. So this year we arrived around 9:30a and decided to sit on the other side of the lake near Patrick's gravesite. The weather was perfect. Hot and a bit windy (think 20+ mph winds) but at least it wasn't like last year, when it was all hot and s-t-i-c-k-y! Since this IS our second year doing this, we knew what we needed to have for a great time.
- Blankets - check
- lawn chairs - check
- umbrella for shade -
check<-- yea, the poor thing was destroyed by the wind in a manner of minutes - Cooler full of cold water bottles - check!
- snacks - check
- CARS, airplanes, a nerf football, a baseball & baseball glove - check, check, check! (there WERE 3 kids present after all!)
- "Some sceen" aka: sunscreen - triple check!
Trista (3 1/2), Trevor (1 1/2), & Austin (3 1/2) at Patrick's gravesite
They love each other SO much!
They were in awe of all the flags.
Heading over to the other side of the pond. Scott & Dad stayed behind with our stuff :-)
Ammie, Austin & Trista near one of the 3 canons that were used during the 21 canon salute!
Travis' kids
(again, Christa wasn't present since she had to work)
"God Bless America!"
We are SO proud of our military!
our "camp" LOL near Patrick's gravesite
Our view near Patrick's site.
The Missing Man flyover!
WHAT A MOVING MOMENT!!!
Austin loved the airplanes and begged for them to "do it again". Afterwards, he played with the airplanes I brought and simulated being a plane flying
The kids did great the whole time! They were either playing nearby with the football or running up and down the small hill that was right behind us having a blast. We weren't able to hear everything that was spoken at the location of the ceremony across the pond, but we were able to hear the songs and other bits and pieces of the event. It was nice not having to worry about the kids making a peep and disturbing the people around us, although every once in a while they were a bit rowdy :-) and had to be reminded to keep it down.
After the Memorial Day ceremony was over, we headed over to my parents house for a yummy lunch of sandwiches, fruit, veggies and some relaxation! Some chatted about their upcoming Italy trip while others took naps. However, Austin, Trista and I (Travis joined us later on) headed to the pool as soon as we finished our lunches! I was so amazed at Austin's excitement at being in the pool and actually warmed up to trying things (aka: jumping off the ledge) pretty quickly. I remember last year it took him till July to do that! I guess having your older - by 2 months! - cousin around, who's a girl LOL helped boost Austin's confidence up!
"If SHE can do it, then by golly, so can I"
Austin, Trista and I spent a good portion of the afternoon jumping into the water, learning to dog paddle to the steps and repeat. Should I say, THEY were doing that, while I did the catching HaHa! Although I think *I* was the one doing all the work - we had a blast! Once Travis joined us in the water, the four of us had a blast jumping in and swimming.
"1, 2, 3, . . . JUMP!" then dog paddle to the steps.
repeat, repeat, repeat!
All together now!
1,
2,
3,
. . . . JUMP!!
Later on, we headed home for some Texas Rangers Baseball while enjoying a great meal of fajitas off of the grill. Overall, it was a perfect day! Honoring our Military and having the freedom to enjoy our family, some fun in the sun, & great food all because of their sacrifice!
THANK YOU!!!!
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