Memorable Memorial Day

I hope you all (well, all of my U.S. friends, anyway!) had a nice Memorial Day weekend!

All in all, we had a truly enjoyable day.
But, as seems to be the pattern in our recent family Doin's excursions, it did start off with a few snags.

Our promise of a warm, gorgeous holiday started off overcast and freezing.
We met Hubby's brother (Uncle C) along with our sis in law, J, and new little adorable adopted niece at the family cemetery to spruce up their parents' grave sights and adorn them with flags and flowers. (J's husband- another brother- wasn't feeling that well and decided to have some alone time. With the new baby on the way, he better enjoy it while he can...)

Hubby's father served in WWII, so he received the biggest flag...


We certainly shivered, though...I felt like I was back at the wedding a few weeks ago! Look at my oldest, huddled and cold...poor thing!
(After I snapped this picture, I handed her a jacket, so don't worry too much!)

Our new little niece didn't seem to be bothered too much by the chilly morning. Instead, she seemed to be feeling quite patriotic!

After visiting and paying respects to Hubby's side of the family...most of us went over to a new state park we were hoping to try.
Uncle C had to be on his way to help one of the sisters move. See? First he drives us back to my mom's the night before the wedding...yesterday, gives up his Memorial Day and to help family in need once again. And he's single, ladies! (He's one of my lurkers...and I'm in big trouble...heehee)

The rest of us drove out quite a ways...waaaay out in the country...and finally turned in at the sigh. Hmmm...all this seemed to be was a tiny area with two picnic tables and a long bike trail. Not what website said at all! Oh, it said it had a great bike trail, alright...along with many other wonderful features...such as public bathrooms.
Of which I needed really bad.

Everyone was starving so we went ahead and picnicked there...and since someone told us that there was another state park just up ahead, I decided to tough it out and wait for restroom.
Sorry to be crude here...but I'm just not an "in the bushes" kind of gal.

Finally, we were on our way...only to see a search and rescue official blocking the gate, who explained that due to vandelism, it was closed. Sigh.
But he explained that there was another trail entrance to the park "just down the road..."
Again, we forged on....turned in at the little park sign...and saw a gravel parking lot, a port-a-potty, and...a trail.
I'll spare you the description of how that port-a-potty was...let's just say I was, indeed, desparate.

Our sister in law had to go find gas, which was 12 miles down the road...so we waited. Hubby decided to take littlest girl for a walk on the trail...sister in law came back...so she and I we waited some more. My oldest got a tummy ache.
But...there was hope. The sun was coming out!

Oh, and did I mention we brought our wild pup, Mandy with us? She did pretty well, actually...except for slipping out of her collar twice!

Anyway...finally, we decided to go into the charming little town where she got gas, and find one of their little parks for the kids to play at. And so our day began to turn around and things became fun at last.
This little town was so Mayberryish and adorable! We found a little park where the kids could play, which was right next to small river. Probably not the kind of park you could let your little ones loose without supervision, but for us, on Memorial Day, it was perfect!



Another unexpected perk was that met a really nice Christian family there...with one little girl, who became fast friends with ours. In fact, they were going to leave much earlier, but decided to stay nearly an hour longer to talk and let the children all play. It turned out that they knew someone we did, and visited the same church I use to attend as a teen during that time! They own an antique shop, so she gave us their card. So who knows... we may have all made some new friends out of strangers.

We all said good-bye...including to our sister in law and niece, who had to be on their way by this time.
So our little family drove to the other side of the town to find an incredible beautiful man-made lake with a bike trail and fishing spots around the perimeter. I thought it was breath-taking!


See the ducks in the forefront? They were everywhere...so calm and tame, in spite of all of the people and dogs strolling by.
You could take a row boat out onto the serene water for some real fishin'....


Or simply gaze at the water...

But of course, we all took turns riding our bikes around the lake...some of us, several times!


Amazingly, the day turned out wonderful after all...as well as beautiful and warm!
Everyone seemed to have a great time, when all was said and done.

Even Mandy.


So, now if you'll excuse me...it's back to the old grind this morning...dishes and school work are calling...as well as my over-tired children!
I hope to visit as many of you as I can later today...

Blessings!