Blessed Memorial Day to you.

I've been reminded of late that Memorial Day is intended to be about honoring those who have died serving our country (not to be confused with Veterans Day which is to honor all those who have served and are serving in our country's military).

So. I took some time this morning to explain this to my boys and to recall our recent visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I also, though, took the opportunity to remind them (since I've told them before) about my own Memorial Day memories growing up. I won't repeat myself, so will simply direct you here. I can't be in Prosser this weekend but have some peonies in a mason jar on my kitchen table. :)

Thank you, supremely, to all those who have given their lives for our country, and hugs to all those missing loved ones today and always!

For the record...

...we're having a hard time getting back to "normal." ;) 

Yes, we've done the laundry and restocked the fridge and cleaned out the van and mostly caught up on karate and all that. But. We can't seem to focus, lol. We're truly going to work on that today. Honest. But, yesterday, we were apparently still on vacation. 

After morning karate classes, we somehow ended up buying Noah a new bike. 

Yes, it's mostly black...with only hints of red and white accents. ;) It's definitely more spendy than any other bike we've purchased. But, it was on a great sale (almost 40% off because it was last year's model and because it was part of their Memorial Day weekend sale...which is what prompted this shopping in the first place, lol) and we figure this bike will be the last we need to buy him. And. He desperately needed a new bike, as he's grown about a foot since the last time we got him a bike. And he's aware that this covers his fall birthday and possibly part of Christmas. :)

After getting that all taken care of, we headed down to Boulder on our promise to Micah. He didn't buy a kite in North Carolina like his brothers but decided shortly after leaving the east coast that he definitely wanted one, lol. To stop him trying to get us to shop online for kites the entire rest of our vacation, we promised we'd hit Into the Wind when we got home. We had a lovely time just playing in the store then soaked up the Pearl Street atmosphere and outdoor performers while enjoying ice cream in freshly made waffle cones...

And Asher and Micah were in such happy moods that they posed with this bear (of their own accord and everything...I didn't ask them to...they asked me to take the picture):

And then we drove back to Fort Collins to attempt to fly the kites:

This is Micah. He and his brothers were all able to get their kites up in the air a few times but the winds just weren't suitable for any sustained flight. Still. They were delighted to have the chance to practice and are looking forward to a windier day. :)

Yup. Good day. Not overly productive in terms of preparing for the coming week, lol, but good. :)

Days 13 & 14

We're home!!! Spent the last two days of Project Pre-Thirteen pretty much just driving from Knoxville, TN to Kansas City, KS to home. Lots of time in the van...witnessed a truck tire blowout from just a car away...and got home with just enough light left in the day to spot our beloved mountains and for the boys to run off some steam in the front yard for a bit while I caught up on things with our lovely neighbor, who'd heard our arrival (thanks to Micah literally shouting his thanks at being home to the neighborhood at large, lol) and who'd been keeping an eye on everything for us.

Whew.

More stories and follow-ups to come but give me a few days to tackle this laundry and catch up on stuff and sort out next month's schoolwork (yes, we still have schoolwork, lol)...

Day 12 (part 2)

(Before I forget again...I meant to say that Nathan and I loved visiting Biltmore when we used to live in Durham. It was a lovely way to spend a weekend away from school...)

After Biltmore, we headed to the Great Smoky Mountains. Because they're there and were somewhat on our way. ;) We made the short (but steep) hike to Clingmans Dome...a somewhat ugly dealio marking the highest point in Tennessee and the third highest point east of the Mississippi.

Being the Coloradoans that we are, we laughed in the face of such a measly elevation (6643 ft), lol, but enjoyed it all the same. Micah made me take a picture of this cloud that looks, to him, like a moose head. Then we took some pictures of us. ;)

Along the path, we were treated to a rather up close visit from a mama black bear and three of her adorable cubs. They were hanging out right there...the mama grazing and the cubs climbing a tree. (Truly, it was a little crazy...they shouldn't have been so close (15-20 feet) and it really seemed like the mama wasn't big enough to be a mama.)

And, on our way out of the park, we saw one more bear and some wild turkeys...all just to the side of the road. All in all, a pretty good...though short...national park visit. And that was Day 12.

Day 12

Continuing our walk down memory lane, Nathan and I made the boys go to Biltmore Estate for the day. :) We started with the house tour (and boys decided they could deal with living there and having an indoor bowling alley and heated pool and gym...though they agreed that there would definitely need to be some technology upgrades, lol). (Photography isn't allowed inside, sorry.)

Then we wandered the gardens and greenhouses some. (We know some folks who would LOVE spending time there.) Before we headed back to the car, we finally remembered to get a full group photo. Sadly, I think this may be our first of the trip. ;)

After that, we drove round the estate to a newly opened area to do a late lunch, have some ice cream, and see the Biltmore Legacy exhibit. Asher & Micah enjoyed the farm exhibits, too.

(Stay tuned for the rest of Day 12...)