I have a distinct memory of coming home from the cemetery one year on Memorial Day in trouble. Mom smacked Cindy's and my legs with the fly swatter. Hope there weren't any fly guts on it! It was before our house got remodeled because the kitchen was on the back of the house.
Don't know why that particular memory stuck with me all these years. I'm sure there were lots of other instances of getting in trouble with 3 sisters!
This year, I plan to head over to the Atlantic Cemetery for the first time in a couple years. It's been hard for me to go there now that our family has no base, no home. I do want to take photos of each stone for my genealogy stuff. I'd also like to stop in Anita at that cemetery to see if I can find the fam plot there.
On to more cheery Memorial Day topics. Before we had kids, our college buddies and we used to try to camp for the three day holiday. It usually ended up being the coldest freakin' holiday of the year! We only had tents in our post college days, and a mish mash of camping stuff.
Pine Lake, up by Iowa Falls is a beautiful Lake and campground. The usual culprits were Moose and Kay, Vic and Fred, and Tom and Allison. Jane and Bob may have been around too. The usual routine was the guys played golf and we girls hung out. One year was freezing cold and rainy, so we sat in a tent eating oreos and drinking bad wine.
Then, when the guys came back from golf they would say "we need ice!" and set off for the nearest town. Of course they were then gone for hours, hanging in dumpy bars drinking beer. We would drink and wait for "our men". It was so dang wet and cold one year that after attending a movie, and going to a bar, it was still raining so we packed up and drove with all our wet stuff to Ames to sleep in Behr's duplex.
When we moved to Creston, we tried to continue hosting an annual get-together and one year we put the hot tub outside for the weekend (it wasn't properly grounded to you could get a tingly feeling when sitting on the edge). All the college buddies came - even Schneid, Paul's college buddy who spent a year or two back in Iowa during this time. Our Creston friends came to the party to0 and I recall everyone being clustered around the grill for warmth.
We haven't really had a set routine since the kids were in school/activities. If they were playing softball/baseball there were usually tournies. Even though they no longer do that stuff we haven't come up with a new holiday activity. I think we need to come up with something madcap, crazy and fun. No tents allowed.
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