Great weekend!

Memorial Day Weekend, 2013

Usually I have some sort of story in my head when I begin a blog post, but today I have none.  Yet, I am going to press on and at least post a quick weekend wrap up.....  After all, it was Ella's first trip to Grandma's house!

It was a wonderful weekend with the kids- I think we had a great few days overall.  The weather was decent- not too warm, not too cold and no rain!  SHOCKER.  Too bad that no rain trend is not going to continue during this week.  We all enjoyed our visit with little Ella and we had a few guests who came over to meet the little one, so it was an active few days.  Grandma Debi and Grandpa Fred held Ella a LOT, which was wonderful for everyone involved.  Grandma Debi had her enough that she was treated to several of Ella's first smiles!  Never was able to catch those still fleeting moments on "film", but that is just a matter of time.

We got a few little chores done around the house, got part of the garden planted, the clock got fixed and  a couple other things tidied up.  I was fortunate to get 2 delightful Mother's Day gifts- one was a really cool photo mug of Ella and the other the long awaited garden gate- Greg did some blacksmithing and created a beautiful garden gate that he installed on the garden fence this weekend.  So cool!

Installed Garden Gate with Ruger photo-bomb

Mother's Day cup!  :)

We managed to get in a fire in the fire ring on Sunday night (complete with S'mores), a little trap shooting one afternoon and while Jon, Sarah and Ella visited some friends for a few hours, the rest of us went for a hiking/fishing excursion to Patterson Lake near here.  So, it was a nice, mostly relaxing, long weekend of family time.  AND one of the best things is the family pic we got- thanks to Bob the Barber, who was willing to run the camera for me.

Not sure where the tennis ball is, but that is what she is looking at!

Sarah Jane fishing

The MA with our dear lil Manny

And so Greg just went on in....  

Patterson Lake

Mr. Mannington chilling out

Carrots brought them all running in!

It was really very sad when they all left- but fortunately it will only be a few weeks before I see them all again.  But, I was really tired!  I did some weeding as long as there was no mosquitos buzzing in my ear, so that felt great.  If it is not raining, weeding will be on the agenda for the evening tonight as well.

Manny was determined not to be left behind

See you soon, baby girl!

So, I hope you had a lovely Holiday weekend, as these are the best days of the summer!  And summer is so short and we have to pickup all the joy that we can!

Memorial Day photos

A fitting end to the Memorial Day weekend is to visit the grave sites of our loved ones.  I am rarely able to visit my own family's sites, but do a lot of thinking while at the 2 cemeteries up here.  Fred and I always get to both the Park Falls and Butternut cemeteries- for the Oswald and the Bruch family burial sites.  Hard to imagine that Grandpa Oswald has been gone for 20 years.  My own dad died, what, 8 years ago??  I can hardly believe it.

The hard one to see this year is Aunt Doris- even though it has been over a year, she was part of my day to day life.  Though I miss my dad, the truth is that I only saw him a few times a year.  His death affected me deeply, but it comes at irregular and frequently surprising times.  Aunt Doris was someone I saw certainly weekly and sometimes- daily.  I remember Doris every time I drive by the house she shared with her son, every time I visit the library.  Every time I see her Bobby.  I treasure her spirit, her intelligence, her humor, her ability to converse for hours- and her love for me.

I hope your Memorial Day was filled with the joys of having friends and family near you, and also with the poignant memory of the people you loved the most.

Clouds- Nola Cemetery 

Flags for vets in the old part of the cemetery- Park Falls

Guardian tree

St. Cecelia Cemetery- Butternut