Memorial Day Weekend 2011

It's been an excellent three days for Memorial Day this year.

The fun started with the clan gathering together on Saturday to celebrate Grandma Linda's birthday. We grilled out, and then afterwards we just chilled in the house. Ainsley was a hoot. She had fun playing with the tape measure and treated it as if it was a magic trick, bowing every time it went back into the metal container. Then she wanted Mandy to chase her around the yard, and she kept denying that she was crazy (which is a sure sign that she's a Cunningham through and through).

Today, we went to the Howlands for the annual Memorial Day picnic. This year marks the tenth picnic we've attended since we first started attending Covenant eleven years ago (they didn't hold it one year for a few reasons). It proved to be a very hot year, but thankfully there wasn't much humidity. Nonetheless, most people stayed outside, seeking shade under the pavilion or wherever they could find it. There were boat races this year, and Christie and I raced once (we failed miserably, but then neither of us really knew what we were doing). There were other games like ultimate frisbee, kickball, wiffle ball, and volleyball all throughout the day. After the boat races were done, the teenagers decided that they couldn't take the heat anymore. So, not caring if big snapping turtles lived in the pond, began jumping in the pond. They dragged the floatable dock out towards the center of the water, and there was a game of "king of the raft" that went on for a while. Some people took great delight in pushing others off the raft or into the water, and Mandy would have gotten thrown in had not one of the adults intervened (Cliff later dunked her to get her fully wet, though). Dad even took dip in the pond to cool off, which made several of the kids cheer to see an adult join them for a few minutes. Because of the heat, a lot of people got sunburned. Right now, I'm looking as red as a beet, but I'm expecting to be nice and dark in a day or two.

Next stop: camping with the clan in north Georgia later this week. It promises to be a pretty hot week, but we're all looking forward to it.

Oh, and Seth officially starts his new position at Radiant tomorrow, where he'll be working in staging, which is a step up from peripherals. We're very proud of him and the fact that he's quickly advancing at Radiant based on his own hard work and not because of Dad's position in the company.