Memorial Day Improvised
Sometimes the best days happen when your original plans fall to pieces.
This was true for my little family yesterday, Memorial Day 2011. We had grand plans all weekend to go to friends’ houses for parties and host a BBQ at our place on Monday. But Friday was Anna’s joint 6th birthday party that had as it’s pinnacle her first sleepover. It is speculated that the girls stayed up to at least 10:30 and then were up at the crack of dawn. As this was immediately following “Open House” another late night at her school needless to say, on Saturday she was whipped.
I made the parenting move of the year mistake of allowing her to go to a friend’s house on Saturday after she professed her stamina. On Sunday morning she awoke with a headache and a fever. She slept most the day and her fever came and went throughout the day. She was feeling better and then puked around 4pm. My next move was to call everyone expected for lunch the next day and cancel.
So on Memorial Day my husband and I looked at each other and said so.. what should we do today?
The kids had watched too many Jake and the Neverland Pirates and we both thought we should do something to honor the meaning of the day. But what?
We searched for parade listings. Most started at 10am, at this point it was 9:30 so none of those were going to happen. Then I remembered the USS Hornet and crossed my fingers that they would be open. Not only were they open but they were having a special Memorial Day Service on the ship. Perfect! So off we went.
The ship is amazing and is a volunteer led museum, and by volunteer I mean retired military officers or history buffs. Some of the cutest vets you’ll ever meet. It’s massive and can take hours and hours to tour.
We ended the day by coming back home and making some care packages for soldiers stationed overseas. The kids had a great time putting them together and counting out all the goodies. We will be sending them to Operation Shoebox who in turn will send them off to the troops. This was a great activity and I was really proud of the kids for their work on this, we will definitely be repeating this impromptu agenda next year!
Here’s some pics of our day yesterday:
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- The U.S.S. Hornet
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- ships bell
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- Boy scouts presenting the color guard
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- Troops and their Operation Shoebox goody bags
And here’s a pic of troops with care packages from Operation Shoebox.
Troops and their Operation Shoebox goody bags
Sounds like a perfect day. Very nice how you got the kids involved with Operation Shoebox. What a great way to show the true meaning of the day!
Tina recently posted..Gardening with Rambo
It was great, I think we will do it again next year. Definitely the Operation Shoebox part! Now I’m going to keep my eye open at Costco and for sales.
Soo sorry Anna was sick Sunday, what a bummer! Glad she is all better now!