What Are Your Memorial Day Plans?

2 back to back bbqs on Sunday (first with family then with friends). Hubby will work Fri-Sunday days but will be home at night. Will tell my father and friends who have served in the military THANK YOU for serving!! And will explain to my daughter why we celebrate the day!! Monday is all about relaxing, sleeping and getting ready to start the work week on Tues!

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2 back to back bbqs on Sunday (first with family then with friends). Hubby will work Fri-Sunday days but will be home at night. Will tell my father and friends who have served in the military THANK YOU for serving!! And will explain to my daughter why we celebrate the day!! Monday is all about relaxing, sleeping and getting ready to start the work week on Tues!

We are flying form Ohio to Iowa to see my parents this weekend. I am so excited. My dad did 25 years in the military and usually is in his town's parade. I think all the grandkids are going to be in the parade with him. It should be fun. We talk about how our country is free and all that is means for us.

My in-laws are coming to stay with us this weekend, and my mom and brother are joining us. My brother is a vet, and it's also my father in law's birthday, so we are celebrating with a Lowcountry Boil on the patio and my very special berry cobbler! It's gonna be a blast!

We are headed to San Diego to see my brother!! We haven't seen him since Thanksgiving. He is in the Marines and is shipping out to Afghanistan in the next six months. My mom was also in the service (Navy) and stationed in San Diego. So we're basically going to do whatever they want to :) My daughter just turned two, but we do talk about her uncle and why he isn't here. He still have three years left, and will probably renew, so I think talking about it from the get-go just makes it easier to understand.

First of all, YES, we stress the importance of Memorial Day. My step-father is 78 yrs old and spent many years in different wars. My brother was in the first wave of Desert Storm. So YES, we say thank you and we fly our flag.

On Saturday or Sunday, not sure yet, we are going to the Byron Nelson golf tournament in Los Colinas. Hubby is a great golfer and we work tournaments as well. Just this past Monday we worked the IFQ at our club which was the only quaifier in the US for the British Open. We've had the opportunity to meet some wonderful professional golfers in our 25 yrs together. I don't golf but I enjoy the atmosphere.

On Monday, we will attend a cookout celebration at our country club.

Thanks to your family who served in the military as well... I hope you have a good weekend!

Added: Jennifer, if I were in your area, I would join you in the road block.

well Hubs is at the firehouse Friday AM till Monday AM :-( So me and the little guy ( oh cant forget the dog LOL) are home alone! We'll be going to my parents Saturday for a BBQ. Sunday were going to see daddy at the fire station and play w/ the Big Trucks! HAHA Mikey Adores the fire trucks.... and Fingers crossed he comes home Monday morning and doesn't get stuck for a detail.......... not that I'm complaining about the $$ ...BUT its also nice to have hubs home safe w/ us!
I think were going to hit the parade too :-) just dont know if all the noise will bother the little guy!

STRANGE that there's no Memorial Day parade here, as close as we are to a base. Hmm. Go figure.
We will put our flag up in the morning, talk about "soldiers" and what they do for us (we've been doing this for a week now) with our little boys---my 4 year old slept with his GI Joe last night because in his words "soldiers are good guys who protect us", and call my grandparents and great uncle to thank them for our service and chat a bit. We will leave about 9am and go to the beach and play awhile, then come home for light lunch and naptime for the boys. After the boys get up, we're going to buy a new entertainment center for the new house, do a little unpacking, cook some ribs, baked beans, potato salad, and a nice garden salad for dinner and apple crisp for dessert, take a walk and purposely enjoy our lives. When the boys go to bed, we have a movie we want to watch. Expecting a really great day!

My kids are in school making up a snow day, and my husband has to work, so I'm going to enjoy a quiet morning and sleep in. Then I am having lunch with my mom. Before I pick up my kids from school, I will visit my step-dad who is in an assisted living home and is a veteran. I'm really looking forward to the day! :)

A few cemetery stops (son loves to do rubbings of OLD markers) and a family BBQ...and relaxing...and baseball...and a little outside yard stuff. Your typical Memorial Day smorgasbord.

Every year we go to our small town's Memorial Day Parade wearing our flag T-shirts and waving our little flags. We have always talked to our children about all that our Veteran's have sacrificed so we can have the freedoms that we enjoy.
We do the BBQ thing too, but we make sure to show our gratitude to our military (and our firefighters and police officers, who also march) by going to the parade.

My children are in the parade and subsequent service in the morning. We will be at school at 8am to dress, and prepare. We will load buses and arrive at the parade staging by 9. We will stand in the hot sun until it is our turn to step off -- and we will hope and pray none of the kids pass out -- their uniforms are wool... (and yes, they do stink by the end of the day.)
We will go to the service where there will not be enough chairs and our kids will have to stand in the sun for another hour because those who plan the event every year forget about the 150 musicians who participate and don't place them in the shade. We will spend our time worrying about them and watching for "the wobble" that indicates that they will be crumpling momentarily. We will water them and be respectful and then two of the trumpeters will play taps.
We will worry and we will water and we will pray that we have no heat related issues and while we do all of that we will be thankful for those who served and for those who have chosen to serve.
One of those 150 musicians is an AROTC scholarship recipient - he is my boy. He is off to college and then to serve...
LBC