Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a great holiday, for a lot of reasons. Of course, the most important thing about it is the remembrance of those who have served and are still serving so that we may live as free individuals. I always think about my great-grandfather (WWII), who is no longer with us. I appreciate the willingness of those who go and do things that most of us would not want to do.

I love this holiday, because it's almost always beautiful outside at this time of year. That means we can enjoy a couple of really awesome things: outdoor activities, such as swimming, and my dad's brisket!

Ahh...doesn't it look inviting?

Beef. You know you want it.

I decided it would be a nice day to wash my Suburban, and I thought the boys might like to help me out. I knew they really wouldn't be much help, but they would have fun playing in the water. This turned out to be a massive project. The fun thing about all this road contruction/repaving around town is you get tar, rocks and dirt stuck all over your car. Yeah, that stuff is like concrete; almost impossible to remove without dynamite and a jackhammer. My dad had the spray tar remover stuff, and it helped some, but I still bent back two fingernails and worked my right arm into a horrific state of soreness trying to restore my paint job. Ouch. My dad did take some cute pictures of my assistants!

Check out the matching Spiderman swim trunks.

Thanks, Grammy!

And it begins...

Look at that grin. He's having a blast.

Look at cute little Nick-Nick!

Oh, and there's Mommy, doing all the work.

No one cares about her, though. :)

After all the car-washing "fun" (ha!), we went and jumped in the pool. Much better. The boys love to swim, and it turns out that Zoe is quite the little waterbug herself!

 Splash, splash, splash!

I thought I was going to drown.

After lunch and nap time, we went over to the neighbor's house. They have peach trees, and they're so full of fruit that the branches are on the ground and breaking. The boys had been over there before to pick some, and they had a great time. My parents' neighbors let them know that they were more than welcome to come and get some more whenever they liked.

I think Nicholas was still a little sleepy.

He looks confused.

Ethan knew what to do.

Bringing home the haul with Granddad.

Our peck of picked peaches!

I don't know what we're going to do with all these. 

Peach pie, anyone?

It was fun, and now we have lots of fruit! We had a really good day, overall. The best part of it was getting to eat brisket for dinner. Yum!

Hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend with family, friends and fun!

Adventures at the car wash

My mother and I took the boys to get haircuts today (I know, I know...finally!), and decided afterward to head to the car wash. My poor Suburban gets so neglected. We prefer to hand wash our vehicles because they get cleaner that way, but that requires time, which is not something I have to spare. Also, last time I hand-washed a vehicle at my house, I ended up covered in 300 fire ant bites. Fun. I thought it would be fun to wash the car on Monday when we were over at my parents' for Memorial Day, because I figured the kids would enjoy "helping" me. So, this washing was just in preparation for the real washing later.

Anyway, we got to the car wash. At this particular place, there is a person sitting at the entrance to help you. They'll get the scrubby things and try to help get off all the encrusted bugs or whatever happens to be cemented onto your vehicle, and they'll help you with the machine that you use to buy the car wash, if you're too dumb to figure it out. Isn't that nice? So, as I'm driving up and I see this leathery-skinned-way-too-may-hours-in-the-sun individual, I'm asking my mother, "Oh, Lord. Am I going to have to tip her?" My mother's response: "Sometimes I don't." Important information coming from a car wash veteran.

So, this nice person (although a little scary-looking) starts scrubbing up my vehicle. Meanwhile, I'm arguing with the credit card machine. When everything is finally done and we are able to go into the car wash, I politely smile at the attendant and wait for her to move out of my way so she doesn't end up under my tires, then pull in. Guilt, guilt, guilt.

I figured it was over at that point. Wash my car, go home, and try not to think about my lack of tip. I was very wrong. Once the undercarriage wash stopped spraying, the woman actually followed us into the car wash and kept scrubbing! I looked over at my mom with my mouth hanging open, and said something like, "This only happens in bad horror movies." I can see it now..."Two stupid women were brutally hacked to pieces while visiting a local car wash today..."

So, what was I supposed to do? I was sitting there, having extreme amounts of guilt, and my mother is laughing hysterically. We're keeping our eyes on the woman as she circles the vehicle, and I'm checking to make sure the doors are locked. The boys are fascinated by the sprayers that keep passing by their windows, and Zoe is snoring. Good to know I was the only one freaking out. I was trying to remember how much cash I had in my wallet, because I was tempted to throw it out the window just to make her go away. My mother keeps laughing. Why, oh why did the other car wash have to be closed?

Once the high-pressure water started to rinse the car, she finally left. At that point, I was trying to decide if I wanted to go give her a tip or not. I had to give her some credit. After all, she was working really hard on an insanely hot day on a total stranger's car to try to make some cash. Also, she didn't kill us. That alone made me feel like giving her a couple of bucks.

Okay, so the end result of this adventure: once the car wash was done, I pulled around to the front and gave her a tip. She seemed surprised, and thanked me with a huge smile. It made me feel better. I hope everyone else that visited that day appreciated her hard work and friendliness as much as I did. 

It doesn't matter what we're doing, my mother and I manage to turn the most insignificant activities into adventures or hilarious stories. We're like magnets for odd happenings. It's fun though, because you never know what's coming. :)