Memorial Day

Memorial Day in my hometown is always special because a lot of my ancestors are buried here. So Memorial Day always involves walking all around two different cemeteries to pay respects to my deceased family members, several of whom were veterans or war casualties. A few weeks ago, I arrived in town ten minutes earlier for an appointment than I had planned, so I swung by the cemetery for a quick drive-through, and let the kids peek at it out the windows and get their interest piqued. So they were pretty excited to actually get to walk it yesterday! We didn't bring any flowers because I didn't have the foresight to buy some... whoops... My parents were discussing how it's hard for them to bring cut flowers anymore because everything is blooming a full month earlier than they used to. My folks used to bring lilacs, irises, and a whole assortment of other blooms, but this year the lilacs came and went weeks ago. Crazy stuff.


Yesterday afternoon, we had a hot dog picnic with my parents, which was delicious! The crowning item, I think, was a gooseberry pie Mom made on the fly, using fresh berries from the gooseberry bush out back. I had actually been planning on making a gooseberry pie myself today, so I'm glad she went ahead and did it. :-) We also had root beer floats, and Oscar, who rarely ever has pop, was enthralled. I think he has a new favorite dessert!