Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day down in Pasco with my family.  We did lots of fun things and also got to spend some time just relaxing - playing games and watching movies with lots of popcorn.  Life doesn't get much better.  Here are some pictures from our adventures.

Everyone took turns making some of the huge bubbles from Will's cool bubble contraption.  I think Conner likes it as much as Will.  Whitney is holding a fly swatter with extra holes cut into it that can be waved around and make bubbles.  So that was a hit for her.  I think everyone got a little bubble soap on themselves Friday evening.

We spent a lot of Saturday at the Playground of Dreams.  It is this really huge park that was built when I was about twelve by people living in the Tri-Cities.  I remember going to help out for mutual one evening.  Here are a couple of pictures from the park.

Whitney starts climbing.  It was really hard getting good pictures because she didn't want to sit still.

One of Whitney's favorite parts of the park was the slides; there were quite a few slides and Whitney had to try all of them - many times.  She has gotten a lot less nervous about going down all by herself and not always wanting to be caught by me or Will.

Rachel sat in the swing for about ten minutes and she wasn't too sure about it the whole time.  She never cried, but she also never smiled.  So I guess we will have to try again in a couple of months to see if she likes swings any better.  Whitney didn't want to get out of her one.

   
Next to the park was a church gathering.  It offered free jumps on the bounce house and free face painting.  There were a lot of kids in the bounce house, so Whitney was a little nervous, but she did a good job.  Some of the kids were very nice and helped her jump and avoid falling down.

Whitney got a purple glittery star painted on her face.  We just had the lady do something really small because I didn't think Whitney would sit still for very long.  Whitney really liked her star and kept touching her face later that day to make sure it was still there.

Memorial Day was fun.  We went on a hike in Sintel Canyon in Kennewick.  It was a nice easy one, more like a nature walk, so it was perfect for a family with little kids.

We saw this sign outside of the trail which seemed really appropriate considering it was Memorial Day.  We do want to remember all those who sacrificed to make America great.

Here the troops get started on their journey.  My mom was nice enough to carry the bag with some food and water and extra diapers (just in case).

It was so cute and so nice seeing how well Conner took care of Whitney along the trail.  He held her hand during the more rocky hills and ran with her when she wanted to run.  Thank you Conner for being a great uncle and a good role model for Whitney.

We pose on a fallen tree for a family picture. 

Brave Kylee and Kaitlin got on a tree that was fallen and was over a small stream.  It was about six or seven feet in the air. 

After the hike, we went to a program to remember all the members of the armed forces who had fought and are currently fighting to maintain our freedoms.  It wa a beautiful program.  Here is just some of the crowd.

Everyone got a yellow balloon to write names of loved ones on.

Whitney clung to her balloon pretty fiercely. 

After the program, everyone released their balloons at the same time.  It was touching to remember all of our soldiers for Memorial Day and to be part of something to remember their sacrifices.

Anyway, we had a great weekend.  Thank you my family for letting us come stay for a couple of days and for the fun times.