Memorial Day Picnic

We attended our annual Ward picnic at Miami Whitewater yesterday to honor our country’s servicemen and to have a little fun with friends.  We slathered on sunscreen and went donning hats in the typical blistering heat and humidity that tends to descend on this region in late spring.  It will stick with us for much too long, in my opinion but that’s just how it is.  Thankfully the trees shading the playground saved the day, the food was good, especially the beans and yummy hamburgers, and we got to visit with many wonderful friends.

Nathan didn’t leave his cup behind for a minute.  We must have gone back to the cooler for ice water at least 6 times after lunch.

Rick attracted a good number of kids (including some of his own) throughout the afternoon for a game of Ladder-ball and eventually got to play a game of it with his good buddy Luis, who with beginners luck, won Rick by a long shot.  Nathan was just happy wandering around the playground area climbing, sliding and swinging.  I dropped my visit with my good friend Carolina whose kids are now older to chase after Nathan but eventually she caught up with me over at the playground and we continued our chat.

Lindsay helped Nathan on the “big” swing for a few minutes.  Kaitlyn was mad I had the camera out again.  And Haley kept herself busy visiting with friends at the shelter, a bit upset that I wouldn’t let her go down to the creek after last year’s incident but she made the best of it.  Not all her friends were at the creek anyway.

Lindsay, Nathan and Kaitlyn enjoy swinging before Tristan and Emily came along with some new ideas.

Nathan touches ground once again; such a climber!  We had to go visit Kaitlyn’s friend Caitlin who was holding Debbie’s snake named Sid.  The kids all know this snake well since every year he visits the kids in Nursery with Debbie.  The kids love this snake who also attracted a whole bunch of boys from a nearby shelter.  Finally it was just so hot, my two boys were wandering around the tree checking out bugs and pinecones, we were all talked out, played out and ready for the modern convenience of air conditioning again.  We had a really fun afternoon at the park, our unofficial start to summertime.