Memorial Weekend 2015

As I mentioned, we had a fairly busy (but still laid back) Memorial Weekend this year.  I, of course, love the holiday because it's the unofficial start of my most favorite season there is.  The weather apparently didn't get the memo, though, because we had very March/April-like temperatures and rain.  Lots of rain.  This was the first year in awhile that I don't remember spending all or part of the weekend at the pool. 

Anyway, our friends Mark and Hollyn flew in on Friday.  They were in KC for a wedding, but planned to spend a day and night with us first!  I was so excited for a night out with friends!  We got a babysitter and headed to dinner around 6:30.  We had reservations at a new restaurant in Lenexa called Grant Street Cafe.  It's about a million times nicer than our usual Friday night dinner at Chipotle and it was fun to go out fancy for once.  I tried my first ever Moscow Mule (well, sorta...I tried one in San Fran a few years ago, but it was not good) and it was so delish that I made a special trip to Price Chopper a few days later for all of the ingredients.  If only I had some nice copper mugs... *hint hint hubby* ;)

After dinner, we walked across the street to Saints (a local bar & grill) for some drinks.  Wanna know something cool about Saints?  They give free shuttle rides home after 8pm if you live within a 10-mile radius!  The place was crazy busy...perhaps that's why!  We didn't end up needing the shuttle, but I'd definitely like to take advantage of that someday!  


On Saturday morning, I made my specialty breakfast burritos and we laid low until we had to say good-bye to Mark and Hollyn.  It was so great to see them and we had so much fun reminiscing about old times.  We would be excited, thrilled, and over the moon if you guys ever decide to move back!! :)

After being cooped up due to rain most of Saturday, I was beginning to get cabin fever.  After all, I wanted nothing more than to be outside celebrating summer!!  We decided to do what we do about once every year and a half - go to the mall.  I'm pretty sure I can count on one hand the number of times Craig and I have been to the mall together.  Craig and I both upped our cool factor while at the mall.  He got his first-ever pair of Sperrys and I got my first-ever pair of Toms.  We also let the boys ride the carousel. #whenatthemall



Oh, and this deserves a mention - while I was paying for my new shoes, Brantley freakin' ran away.  He took off and I told him to come back.  Which, of course, prompted him to start laughing and run faster.  He got all the way to the men's department at Nordstrom, so I had no choice but to take off sprinting after him.  I had one shoe off, wallet in my hand, and I was sprinting through Nordstom.  Perhaps one of the most humiliating and embarrassing moments in my most recent years.  I was almost in tears by the time I caught him (a mix of angry and scared), and his laughs quickly faded once he realized how upset I was.  To him, it was all fun and games, but to me, it was the exact opposite.  And that marked the end of our trip to the mall.

We woke to another dreary, rainy day on Sunday.  We decided to make the most of it and go bowling!  Craig and I had never been bowling together.  Like ever...in our almost seven years of togetherness!  So to go bowling for the first time ever with our two kids was pretty crazy!  We were pleasantly surprised at how much has changed since we were kids!  For instance, the bumpers are no longer rubber bumpers that either everyone or no one uses; they are bars that raise for the kids and lower for the adults.  Pretty cool (and at one point, Brantley was beating both of us)!  They also have ramps to help kids roll the ball down the lane so the kids don't have to granny roll it.  Brantley loved bowling and caught on very quickly.  About halfway through our first game, I went to help him during his turn and he said, "You stay back there!"  I really wish I would have taken my real camera.  We only had our phones, so needless to say, the photos are pretty sub-par.  Brantley also would not stand still enough for me to take a photo!!





I had no idea they made bowling shoes so little!  How cute are these things!!
 

Later on Sunday, we enjoyed some homemade Bloody Marys while we finished out the Royal's game on our deck.  And then our neighbor came over, so I forced a Bloody on her.  :)  We socialized for awhile, while our boys played.  Then, dinner and bedtime for the boys.  Craig and I finished out the day by renting American Sniper - a perfect movie on Memorial Weekend!  Great movie, but I fell asleep for about the last 30 minutes.  Good thing because I'm sure I would have cried hysterically at the end.


The weather finally decided to cooperate on Monday.  The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and the temperature was hot...it finally felt like summer!  I took the boys to Deanna Rose while Craig worked in our yard for a few hours.  We just had a sprinkler system installed; pair that with an excessive amount of rain and our yard was in dire need of a little TLC.


These pictures are hilarious.  Brantley did not want to ride.  He wanted to pull Baby Holden, of course.  Made my job pretty easy!


Later in the afternoon, I had the urge to take the boys to a field of flags not too far from our house and attempt some photos.  They're not amazing photos - the sun was bright, the boys were uninterested, and I was trying to do it alone.  But it was also a good reminder of what the holiday is all about.  If getting two kids to pose for a photo is my biggest challenge on Memorial Day, well, then I'd say I'm pretty lucky.  I'm super grateful for all of those men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we could enjoy dinners with friends and trips to the mall and bowling outings and visits to Deanna Rose and all of those everyday things we enjoy doing.






I think it's safe to say we had a pretty fab Memorial Weekend.  And now, here's to a great summer 2015!

 

3 comments:

  1. What are these specialty breakfast burritos you speak of? Clearly the food you talk about in your posts speak to me since I just asked about pizza yesterday lol.
    Also, your weekend sounds super eventful and fun! Minus the whole Brantley running away thing. I think I would be super mad and super scared too! Glad you were able to catch him.

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  2. Yep, that's Wyatt...running away in a public place. While laughing. Sounds like a fun weekend though! And I'm with Elizabeth, what are the breakfast burritos? YUM!

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  3. So sad we missed you guys! Next year!

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