As nice as it is to have a day off from school,

For us, Memorial Day has always been one for remembering and service.

Our family would place flags at the Fayetteville National Cemetery growing up.

Family members of friends were buried there and we witnessed first-hand how the simple act of remembering touched them.

This year, we went down to Boston Common for their flag display.

We walked through the Public Garden and enjoyed our lovely city.

 

Hultz's handiwork:

 We walked over to Boston Common to see the display of flags.

There are 33,000 flags set out and 

represent all of the fallen soldiers from Massachusetts who have died since the civil war.

It was quite humbling to see.

This is what I got when I announced that I had wanted a picture of all three...

 Caroline's reaction when she saw a dog (on a leash) coming towards her... she has this same look when we go to nursery or when I leave her in the child care center at the YMCA when I work out.

 

 

 We rode a very crowded train home with everyone headed to the Red Sox game. 

 Proof that I was here--

Jon worked until 3:30 this morning.

He slept a little, came to church with us, napped a little, then headed back to the ER for another shift.

These late afternoons when Jon is gone seem to drag on for me.

However, this is the first time in 10 years that our Sundays have not been chalk-full of meetings and responsibilities.  I do relish in the fact that we have the chance to enjoy the day together-

even if it's just most of us.

After naps, we headed to the Rose Garden park.

We'll miss this little park when we move.

There's one just like it being built right outside our front door of the new apartment so really, it'll be great.

We grabbed bikes and scooters and enjoyed a perfect evening.

Caroline was pretty upset that she didn't get to ride the scooter over.

Classic Caroline face--

 

After swinging and climbing and sliding, the kids discovered that the fountains were turned on for the summer.

It took some coaxing for Caroline to go in but she ended up screaming when it was time to leave.

Cold and wet, we walked home and took warm showers and baths.

They fell asleep instantly.

I think we'll do it all again tomorrow...

There is a very strict 'no gifts' rule in our school district.

So to celebrate Teacher Appreciation day 

we had a pot luck breakfast with our classroom families.

To have all of us together chatting and eating was a great celebration.

We asked the kids to make thank you cards for the teacher and her assistant

and gave them to the teachers that morning.

This was the first breakfast that Jon was able to attend this school year.

He was able to come with us before heading in to the ER.

 

Hutlz showed us some of the paintings that he's done while they've studied artists.

These are my two favorites.