Memorial Day

Well, the four-day work week is over, and, from what Seth says, crunch time begins on Monday, where the full force of the quarter will hit everyone and which may require overtime, but we'll have to wait and see.

Memorial Day was fun this year, as it always is. The ultimate frisbee game began early, so Seth and Mandy left earlier than we did. The day proved to be cloudy with a few scattered showers, which kept the temperature from being an absolute scorcher like it was a few years ago. We arrived around noon or so, and lunch began shortly afterwards. After lunch, the canoe races began; this was a new addition to the picnic and a definite keeper, as we attracted quite a crowd. I wasn't planning on participating other than taking pictures but paired up with Evie for one of the first races. Seth also raced, as did Noah and Gabe, but sadly none of the Cunninghams made it past the first round. It was humorous that Seth made the same mistake that I did: we both went too far to the left and thus hit the bank later than the other team, but Noah and Gabe had different issues, one including how to maneuver the canoe meant for rivers than small lakes. The races were entertaining, especially when one of the leaky boats, being used by one of the boy teams, capsized in the middle of the lake, but no one was hurt. Racing was fun, and I'll definitely participate again next year.

Because of the heat at times, this meant water balloons and the like. The younger kids were running all over the place with water guns and balloons, all of them looking soaked for most of the afternoon. The older kids had another approach: the lake or bottles of water. Caroline decided to hit Joseph with water but ended up getting it all over me (I was already a little wet from the race, so it didn't matter much except for giving me a bit of a shock). Later, one of the other boys pushed Joseph into the lake... twice, another humorous incident.

The rest of the afternoon was enjoyable between conversation, learning bochi ball (thanks, Brittny!), and, of course, taking plenty of pictures. Around 5 PM, people, who had been trickling out for about an hour, began picking up the pace when the dark gray clouds rolled in and thunder began booming. Soon there was a downpour, and everyone was soaked. There was some confusion as we couldn't find Mandy, Sunny, or the Bowman girls, but we eventually found them. A quick stop at Checkers for dinner, and we returned home. We all got some nice sun, and I felt burned for the next two days, but now it's faded to a lovely brown. I'm hoping this summer to get more sun so I don't look so pasty.

And that was how we enjoyed Memorial Day. Oh, I nearly forgot. On Saturday, we enjoyed a clan gathering at Uncle Jason's, where we celebrated Grandma Linda's birthday. We had a blast hanging out together, cleaning up the mess Ainsley made with a sharpie marker (it came off, thankfully) and watching videos from Uncle Jason and family's trip to Disneyworld back in January as well as from his visit to Haiti in February. We haven't had as many clan gatherings because of everyone's busy schedules, but we're hoping to be able to meet more often like we've done in the past.

Now, I got pictures from both events, but facebook is being weird and not letting me upload them. And there's far too many to post here, so I'm not sure what I'll do about that yet.

Well, I'm going to get myself some lunch and straighten up some more. Mom and Dad spent the last few days in Asheville, leaving Seth and I to manage the house while Mandy hangs out at Uncle Josh's, and they should be here soon.