Meaningful Memorial Day

I had the opportunity to join Bennett and his scout troop yesterday at the Golden Gate National Cemetery as they decorated the graves of the 116,000 veterans buried there.  Many other scouts from the peninsula joined in, of course, and to be honest I'd never seen so many boys in uniform in one place.  We happened to stand next to a large troop of teenage boy scouts from Palo Alto and another large troop of very young tiger scouts from San Mateo.

The foggy, misty weather made donuts and hot chocolate a welcome sight at 7:30am Saturday morning.  While I started to wonder if gathering this many boys in one place was such a good idea--as they impatiently waited for things to get going--the ceremony proved me wrong. 

They started with the color guard, just like our boys do at pack meetings, consisting of bag pipes and flags, after which they honored the "Blue Star" families who have a family member currently serving in one of the armed forces.  Then a "Gold Star" couple came up, one of eighteen families, who have buried a son in the cemetery.  This couple lost their son in Iraq in 2006 and graciously thanked all the scouts for being there to serve their son's memory. 

Congresswoman Jackie Speier spoke next, honoring veterans and making special mention of the Vietnam POWs and MIAs.  A bugler dressed in sailor whites stood atop the hill where the flag flew half-mast and played "Taps."  Talk about moving.  The boys may have maintained dry eyes, but I certainly didn't. 

Then came the flag decorating.  Heavy, metal pokers make small holes directly in front of the headstones, after which the flags go in.  Such an impressive sight once all the flags had been placed!  It was truly inspiring and humbling to read the stories those headstones tell.  Some lived long lives, others short.  Some fought in one war, others fought in three.  Some came from California, others didn't.  Different names, different religions, different hometowns, one cause.  I hope the boys felt the same grateful patriotism I did.

After the ceremony, before heading off to place flags

First comes the poker

Then comes the flag

Wacky Walkathon

 Eli sent an email out to family a few weeks ago:

 

Julianne Geddes julgeddes@gmail.com	Apr 23
to Stephen, Kristi, Robert, Elisabeth, dadconhome, Paula

 

I need some money for my school walkathon. any amount of money. :) :)           from Eli

You gotta love the way kids communicate.

Straight to the point, huh?

 

Stephen took the packet to his office,

and many kind coworkers donated.

Eli loved calling his dad at work for updates on totals.

"Wow, I can't believe I have that much money!!"

You've never seen a kid so proud

to turn in walkathon $.

 

Onto the main event, however.

 

Wait, these are from last year's walkathon...

I don't think I ever posted these, so let's look at 2013 first, shall we?

That's what I get for unoriginal photo labels ("walkathon"), ha ha

Eli and his buddy Leo

 

Icee-chomping cheerleader

 

Now I give you the 2014 Wacky Walkathon.

Promise.

 

Benito with his buddies

Eli and Noah

Eli, Noah, and Beka

Eli rounding a turn

Millie pulling Bennett off the path

Getting lap loopy

Back in action

B did eighteen laps and Eli did sixteen,
or 4.5 miles and 4.

 

Thankfully the weather cooled down a bit for the day,

so the kids weren't melting like they have in years past.

Oh, speaking of heat, Millie and I helped

by spraying walkathoners with water bottles.

Best job.

What kid doesn't love water in the face?

The Little Girl Who Couldn't Remember the Zoo

Kids' short-term memories make me sad.  Our children frequently forget some of our best trips and family experiences.

A few months back, Millie claimed she'd never been to the zoo before.  Both Stephen and I guffawed as we quickly told her yes she had.  We had a Happy Hollow membership one year, two annual San Francisco Zoo passes, and of course a handful of visits to the Oakland Zoo, for heaven's sake!  How could she not remember that? 

Oh, wait, that was the boys who went to Happy Hollow . . .  And that was the year I was pregnant with her that we first had our SF membership . . .  Now that I think about it, she was a baby the second year . . .  Okay, okay, maybe she had never been to the zoo, although I could swear I'd seen a picture of her there.

Aha!  Digging through the archives, I found a shot of toddler-age Millie at the SF Zoo.  "June 2012" the photo said.  Yeah, I guess that is long enough for a kid to completely forget about it.

Oh man, I miss those curls!

Kids change a lot in almost two years

Did I say kids change?  I take that back.  Once a goofball, always a goofball.

Mr. Serious

Always a sucker for the hippos

Flash forward to today: Eli's fieldtrip, with all the other first graders, to Oakland Zoo.  We decided to tag along for the fun and Millie's "first" zoo trip.  Needless to say, she loved it, even if today did end up being another scorcher.

My very own souvenir penny!!

Joining up with Eli and the giraffes

Millie did not want to leave this view

Or this one

Right when all the heat and walking were taking their toll...

we stumbled upon the goats.  Phew!

 

Double phew for the goat shower

which someone thoroughly enjoyed.

Maybe a little too thoroughly.

Cool Meal for a Hot Day

This is one of my favorite no-cooking-required dinners 
for unseasonably warm days.

 

Even the pickiest, and not coincidentally youngest,

eater in our house declared it "awesome!" last night.
 

A mid-May miracle indeed.

 

Bean, Corn, and Tortilla Salad

 

True Joy

I love this video, and it seems like a good way to kick off the month of May.

Spring Break Withdrawals

Rough week with the kiddos so far.

A ridiculous amount of whining.

Double the defiance.

A whole lot of crying.

Way too much fighting.

An appalling number of privileges lost.

 

Yes, the week after Spring Break has been hard.

On all of us.
 

I imagine we all wish we were still here:

or here:

 

 

Why We Celebrate Easter