a memorable memorial weekend

With our Memorial Weekend slowly coming to an end, I thought I'd take a moment and reflect on why our weekend was so memorable for our family.

It all began Friday afternoon. I had timed it perfectly...so I thought. If I left town with Chloe at exactly 2:45pm, I should be picking up my friend, Kristine, from work at precisely 3:45pm. Kristine is a good friend from high school and we were heading back to our hometown to finalize some last details for our 10-year Class Reunion. In the midst of packing and getting ready for a busy holiday weekend, I forgot to take a few things into consideration.

First, 2:45pm is the start of rush hour traffic. As a stay at home mom, I rarely drive through rush hour and had forgotten how ridiculously congested our freeway system becomes at that time of day. Second, it was Friday, and everyone leaves work early on Friday to head home. Third, and most important, it was a HOLIDAY WEEKEND and everyone and their mother were leaving town, heading north to a cabin or to visit relatives. I should have remembered those small, but very important details, when I agreed to pick Kristine up at 3:45pm. What should have taken 45 minutes to an hour at most to pick her up, took me almost 2 hours. Traffic never let up, even after picking her up, and the trip that should have lasted 3 hours ended up taking 5 1/2 hours.

Oh wait, you're probably wondering how Chloe managed through the stop-and-go traffic. She was an angel for the first 3 hours or so, until she woke up, that is. Once she was awake, I knew we were done for. I pulled over and fed her, but she wanted out of her car seat. She let me know this by proceeding to scream non-stop for the last 2 1/2 hours of the trip. I guess I can look on the bright side, though. The moment Chloe started screaming, traffic let up and we were able to breeze the rest of the way home. Kristine and I managed to have good conversation over Chloe's screaming and I'm grateful for that. It kept me sane, so thanks, Kristine!

It was a rough start to a good trip. Chloe and I stayed overnight with my parents and we spent some quality time together by eating pizza and watching a movie. I had my reunion committee the Saturday morning at 9:00am, followed by a quick visit to Great-Grandma's house, and then we were off again Saturday afternoon, heading back home. The trip home was much, much better, with Chloe sleeping all but 20 minutes of the 3 hour trip.

I made such a quick trip home because I had very special plans for Sunday. Plans I couldn't miss. Those plans included this little bundle...

Her name is Lillian Catherine and she is my goddaughter. She is the daughter of a dear friend, born just a few weeks ago. Lily was baptized on Sunday and I was honored to stand up with my friend and her beautiful family and take part in Lily's baptism. We enjoyed lunch at their home afterwards and I had so much snuggling her little 7 pound body. It made me almost want another one...Almost being the key word in that sentence. I'm mighty content with my little 17 pounder!

Monday was the day of anticipation for my older girls. We had BIG plans for today. It started early, at 9:45, by meeting my sister and her family in their hometown to watch the "big" Memorial parade. "Big" is an overstatement. A HUGE overstatement, actually. I can count on 1 hand the number of minutes the parade lasted. We were expecting floats, clowns, and most important of all, candy, but got none of the above. My girls were a little bummed...and really cold to boot.

I dressed them thinking it was going to be 75 degrees and sunny by the time the parade started, but on the drive over, the sky became cloudy and the temperature dropped 7 degrees (we have a temperature gauge in our car, hence the reason I knew this). I wasn't prepared for the cooler weather, so I didn't bring coats or sweatshirts or anything warm to wear. We were left with one fleece blanket to share among the family.

The moment the girls stepped out of the van, Ella asked, "Mommy, is it warmer where the parade is?!?"

"Not exactly, honey. This IS where the parade is."

I tried to cheer them up, I really did. It sort of worked, for Ella. Britten wasn't having it.

Chloe's always the easy one. Stick her in the warm, fleece carrier, give her her toes to play with, and she was good to go. She enjoyed every second of the 5 minute parade!

Ella had much more fun once the parade actually began. She stood tall and proud, covering her right hand over her heart, as the veterans with their American flags marched by. The picture above was Ella and her cousin, Evie, watching on as the boyscout troops made their way by us.

We continued our Memorial Day celebration by heading over to my sister's house for a BBQ after the "big" parade...

The girls are working hard to put together a Strawberry Shortcake puzzle before lunch. While the older girls are busy doing "older girl" stuff...

...The baby girl is busy doing "baby girl" stuff!

After lunch, while Owen and Chloe napped and the Mommy's relaxed on the deck, the Daddy's took the older three girls to the local Arboretum to wear off some energy.

Their wonderful afternoon abruptly ended when Britten took a nosedive onto a gravel walkway and scraped up both of her knees. In fact, the entire day came to an abrupt end after their trip to the arboretum as our entire family was deliriously tired from such a busy weekend. We headed home from my sister's house early this evening, with the intent to eat dinner and put our crabby EBC's to bed early. It was a good thought, if nothing else. I'm not sure if it was the busy day, the large consumption of sugar, or both (it was both, I'm sure of it), that wouldn't allow the girls to settle down. The bedtime routine lasted well over an hour tonight, with screams from every direction. They finally settled and fell asleep, after much coaxing and creative discipline. It's a wonder I have the energy to write this long post.

One thing's for sure. It was a memorable ending to a very memorable weekend.