Memorial Day in Indiana

Every year on Memorial Day weekend my Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Roger host a huge gathering at their house in Indiana.  This year was no different.  My aunt and uncle own a little slice of paradise with lots of land, animals and solitude.  This year many family and friends gathered despite the heat to spend time together in recreation.

Morgan went to her grandma and grandpa right away.  She was a good little eater for Grandma Brenda and good company, too.


Morgan spent most of the day playing with making her rounds amongst family members and basking in the one on one attention.





I love how she's sticking her tongue out like she's concentrating on her Daddy's task.


No one could resist the cute kid in pig tails.


The big kids beat the heat in the kiddie pools although I quickly found it necessary to segregate them.  Taylor share the boys love of splashing and rough housing.


Later, Taylor talked me into hunting for butterflies to photograph.  This was not an easy task.  Nor was it a successful one.




My cousin, Andrew, was home after completing basic training with the marines.


It was great to see him and his pictures documenting his time there.  We are all so proud of him and my heart swells just thinking about it.


I'm so glad the kids have cousins so close in age to them (although you'd never guess from this photo that the girls are only 10 months apart).






I look forward to the day when Addison and Morgan are playing together.  That day is coming very soon.


My aunt Cheryl gave the girls dolls that had belonged to their great-grandma.  I thought this was so special that they'll have something that she treasured to love.




This was my first big family gathering without my grandmother.  It felt strange not seeing her, and yet, in many ways she was present.  In the hearts of all her children and grandchildren who love her and will never forget her, in the dolls the girls now lovingly cherish, and even in the scarecrow that my aunt made out of her sewing bust and gardening tools.







And whenever you find yourself sad about the end of a life, all you need is two energetic little boys to remind you of life's greatness.

Our week in pictures

MONDAY
Morgan discovered her love of oranges.


TUESDAY
I chaperoned Taylor's Kindergaren field trip to the butterfly exhibit in Eden Park.


I was not planning on volunteering, but Taylor's tears at the thought of a whole school year without having her mom chaperone any of their field trips (this was their third) spurred me into at least trying to make arrangements for Charlie and Morgan.  Luckily, Taylor's Grandpa rose to the challenge.
On the bus ride I got philosophical.  Reflecting on how their view from the window represents their view as children (stay with me on this).  The seat in front is too high to see where you are going, and you can't look back to see where you've been.  All you see is what's happening outside your window at that moment.  Not a bad way to view the world, really.  Unless you are like me and get car sick when you can't see where you are going!


I think my favorite part was listening to the children's endless list of questions for the butterfly expert.  "How can you tell if it's a boy butterfly or a girl butterfly."  "What if a butterfly and a bee meet up?"  "Can a poisonous butterfly go after you?"


I was in charge of these four cuties.


It took a while before any of us 'caught' any butterflies.  But once they started landing on us, they didn't stop!

I enjoyed the flowers as much as the butterflies.

Later, we enjoyed lunch overlooking the Ohio river.


Not only did my sweet sister agree to pick Charlie up from preschool in an effort to help his grandpa out, she also packed my lunch that day and included a note which made my heart smile.  Everyone should have a big sister.  They never stop watching out for you.


Another highlight occurred after watching Taylor attempt to go down the pole on the playground only to turn around and walk away every time.  After several attempts, she finally summoned the courage and did it.


Her smile says it all.




I love to watch her interacting with her classmates.  I have many friends that I still see from my grade school class (including Taylor's dad!)  I sit and wonder which ones will become her life long friends.


On the way home we played "I spy with my little eye...."  on the bus.  If you look closely in Taylor's eye, you'll see me!


WEDNESDAY
We enjoyed our monthly McDonald's fix.  Morgan ate almost an entire cheeseburger!


The real excitement occurred afterward when we met Aunt Julie at Grace's softball game!







Together we made up nine very loud, very active fans cheering for Grace.








Aunt Julie decided to help us out with our stir crazy kids by taking them exploring.  Unfortunately, Jacob explored his way straight into a muddy ditch!




He was not happy about it.


Afterwards, we enjoyed ice cream at the local coffee shop.








Next the kids surprised Aunt Julie with a joke book that the girls had made for her.  Aunt Julie is a sucker for corny jokes.


Aunt Julie's visit was short.  She was really just passing through town, but we will see her again soon for a longer visit next month!


THURSDAY
Thursday was Charlie's last day of school.  I brought Morgan and Cousin Addison with me to join in the festivities.  Morgan thinks she's a big kid whenever she goes to preschool.


She likes to integrate herself into his class.






I'm helping Jessica by watching Addison during her last week of work.  Addison was lucky to have the shade of the stroller. It was HOT.


FRIDAY
To use the word that Charlie has just added to his vocabulary, we "chillaxed".


I noticed that Charlie felt warm in the afternoon and had a small fever.  (I knew something was wrong when I found him lying in a bean bag to play wii.)  I gave him some medicine and he seemed fine.  I gave him a bit more before bed only to find him hysterically crying an hour later with a temp of 103.5.  This went on for hours.  I finally got scared when he started complaining of severe stomach pain.  Which led us here:


Of course, as soon as we got checked in he started feeling better and said his tummy didn't hurt anymore.  We then waited two more hours (until 2:30am) to see the doctor who gave him some ibuprofen.  That ibuprofen ended up costing me fifty bucks!  But I guess it's better safe than sorry.  




Now I just find myself regretting this little act of brotherly love.


SATURDAY
Charlie's fever continued all day on Saturday, but it was low and did not slow him down much.  It certainly didn't hinder him from playing with Grandmama who is back in town from her vacation!  We'll see what tomorrow brings...