A Humdinger of a Memorial Day Weekend!

Maliana ~

This week started with a nice date for you and I at Steak n Shake after your speech session on Monday. One of the many nice things about being a parent is slowing down and just enjoying being in the moment with your kid. On the way home we swung by Audrey Ayi’s and visited with her, hanging out in her backyard and taking her dog to the playground. You fell off the jungle gym while there, landing right on your butt (probably scaring you more than injuring you), but it was enough to extinguish your desire to climb any more. We walked back to her house to get you some water and ice. Not too much longer and you were feeling better.

it's amazing what watering flowers shirtless can do for
a hiney injury

You also ended up being Daddy’s motivator later in the week. When he did not want to go to the gym, you encouraged him and wanted to go too. That same night Daddy told me that you had cornered one of the really big guys as they were taking off their gear, curious about what he was doing and wanting to help, so he sat and talked with you for a long while, just you and him. Even big beastly men have no immunity to your charm.

We attempted a little gardening experiment this week too. I have wanted to do this for a while, but just haven’t gone through with it until now, basically because I have more of a black thumb than a green one. I figured you’ve gotten to a good age for a garden to be interesting to you, and if I can actually get this stuff to grow, it would be really fun to have some of our own homegrown food. We enlisted Lao Lao to help us with planting since she definitely knows a thing or two about gardening. She and Wai Gong used to have a HUGE garden in a field across the street from our house when I was growing up. We grew all sorts of things, and even rescued a baby bunny who had been abandoned. It’s probably this experience of having a garden when I was little, that has made me want to give you the same thing. We’ll see how it goes.

rehydrating with the neighbor kids before gardening

tasting the one (and only) strawberry this year

you are your father's daughter

I noticed that nearly all three of us squinch our eyes
tight when we smile...see the similarity in shape?
There's that read thread again I suppose.

"enough with the pictures, Mom!"

putting in the strawberry plants with Dad

With our new gardening project, we headed back to Menards for some extra supplies.

and we all had to wear our baseball caps backwards to the store
(per your request)

On the way home you began telling us some crazy and very animated stories. One was about a girl who was doing the hokey pokey while riding her bike and then got run over by a car; the next was about a girl who was chasing her dog who jumped over our house while chasing bad guys; and then even more stories later in the week included many comical variations of a “big big big monster” who had a “big big big cake” dropped on him. And of course, many of these stories began like this, “One day…and then…” and were told with grand hand gestures and very wide eyes. I love your developing imagination.

Holiday weekends are some of my favorite. Not just because we have an extra day off work and are all home together, but also because we get to spend time with people that we don’t normally get to see. We spent one day with the Wilkinson side of the family, (Daddy’s Uncle Mike and Aunt Carol and all of the cousins), at their cabin in the woods near Marietta, Oh. There are a TON of kids in this family and you jumped right in like you’d known them all forever, even though you’d just met a majority of them that day. Daddy and I got the biggest kick out of seeing you have so much fun all day long. We also loved getting to spend time with relatives that we hadn’t seen in a very long time, some of them nearly 10 years! There is an almost palpable, warm and welcoming feel with this side of the family so regardless of how much time had passed, Daddy and I (and obviously you) immediately felt comfortable and at home with everyone. I couldn’t have asked for a better kickoff to the Memorial Day festivities.

you insisted on wearing your explorer gear as soon
as you heard we were headed to the woods

celebrating Katie's 3rd birthday

and I thought the little kids were the ones we had
to worry about making a mess

shooting with Vincent

what a badass

the girls (L to R): Connie, Michelle, Christy, Memaw, Julie, me (Mama),
Aunt Carol, Wendy, and Beth

you pretending to take a picture of us girls with your toy
phone, yelling "Mom! Open your eyes!"

the guys (L to R): John, Larry, Pat, Papaw, Tony, Uncle Mike (holding
Katie), Daddy, Michael, Kevin, Brent, and Jake

heading down the lane for some water fun

soaking in the "cool tub" with Memaw

flirting with Christy while Abby fills your water balloon

ornery

racing Sammie down the hill

racing down the hill with Katie and Sammie

drivng the Kubota

you LOVED Sam!

reading books with Kate

Aunt Carol reading to you...must have been a
surprise ending

The Asian Festival was also this weekend and in spite of the stifling heat, we all attended. Memaw and Papaw met you, Daddy, Lao Lao and I down there and we strolled around and took it all in.

hiding behind Lao Lao's parasol

you picked out your very own hand-carved Buddha

arts and crafts

with a dragon boat

bubble tea!

We cooked out with Uncle Joe and Aunt Tina and since the pools all officially open on Memorial weekend here in Ohio, we hit the pools as well. That first swim of the season was hysterical. You were so excited, squealing and laughing as you got into the water. You are doing great in the water as long as you have your floaties, not nearly as freaked out if you go under, and are feeling so proud of yourself this year. I don’t think we could have wiped the smile off your face if we tried, the entire time you were in the water. You also have taken to saying, “Oh my gawwwsh!” repeatedly when you are excited, so needless to say this was a common phrase while you were splashing around the pool.

the pee pee dance

Audrey Ayi was dog-sitting Oliver for Mark and Jenny this weekend too, so she came over for a visit one morning and she and I surprised you with Timbits for breakfast. She’s been so busy with school lately so you were thrilled to get to see her and spend some bonus time together, playing “vampire” (your choice) and all of us walking Oliver.

And it was so hot...we just had to squeeze in a little more pool time this weekend.

there you are, the only kid at the pool with a snorkel mask

On Memorial Day, you began asking questions like, “Who died?” because you were noticing the plethora of pictures of cemeteries in the media. I was wondering exactly how to explain this holiday to you. So that gave us a good opportunity to talk about what Memorial Day is about, how thankful we are for all of the brave soldiers that have fought for and are still protecting our country, and also to share with you about your Great Grandpa Hart who was a Marine and pilot in World War II. Daddy and I also tried to take you over to the Field of Heroes in Westerville, a memorial with about 3500 American flags in a field, but unfortunately, it must have been taken down that morning. We’ll have to take you there earlier next year as it’s quite impressive.

It was also Papaw Rick’s birthday this weekend, so we met Lao Lao, Uncles Flint and Forge, Flint’s new girlfriend Monica, and of course Papaw Rick to celebrate. You insisted on bringing your new camera (I bought you a little digital camera recently since you are getting really good with mine), and you were cracking us up with your “documentation” of the party. Monica also got a huge stamp of approval from you too. You LOVED her. It was so cute to see you curl right up between her and Flint and get good and silly together.

with the birthday boy

posing them all kinds of different ways for your camera

no idea what was going on, but it was funny

you tried to take your own timer pictures of our group too...but
just couldn't quite get it to your liking and were hilarious. we
finally had to say enough is enough and put an end to
your crazed photographic shenanigans

Then finally, we stopped for frozen yogurt after dinner and you were in rare form. After a long and full of fun weekend, you were wound tight. As we left the yogurt shop, a shiny silver and black truck drove slowly by with a strong Latin beat blaring out of its speakers. You stopped dead in your tracks, scrunched up your face, stuck out your bootie, and started shaking your hips. Girlfriend shook it!. Daddy and I couldn’t help but bust out laughing, along with another couple who just happened to witness your little groove thang. You are awesome.

Cheers to a great weekend.

Love,
Mama