Memorial Day 2011: All Objectives Achieved!

When we departed for our long weekend away, I had five main objectives: see grandfather, see MIL, plan Boston trip, go to beach, go to movies. I thought surely at least one of those was not going to happen, maybe two. But miracles of miracles, we achieved all 5!

The movie times aligned perfectly Friday night to allow us to get in two movies by Midnight! Kung Fu Panda 2 was okay to good. Not as good as the first, of course. This one was darker, more intense, and more serious, but it was absolutely beautiful, visually speaking. Pirates of the Caribbean was pretty good, too. Better than 3, on par with or somewhat better than 2, depending on whether you ask DH or me, respectively.

Saturday we made the grandfather/MIL sub-trip, but I forgot my camera, so not too many photos there. Dad took this one. (I should have asked to take his camera with us as we went to MIL's, but I forgot.)



My grandfather is not doing well. He is having more frequent trouble putting words together to form sentences, and his memory is just completely gone. He has even started asking about my grandmother; she died almost 5 years ago. :-( I'm not sure he knew who I was when I left, but I know that during lunch, he not only knew me, but he knew Luke by name. He had trouble asking about him and getting the words out, but he knew who Luke was.

We left from there to visit MIL. The road between the two takes you right past the entrance to the Okefenokee Swamp, which has been battling fires recently, including sometimes closing the very rode we were traveling! As soon as we got on the road, we could see the smoke in the distance. (Sorry about the cell phone pics. It's all I had on me.)



Before we get to the photos of the damage, for comparison, this is what the roadside should look like:



Not this:



It was all black on both sides for miles and miles. Here they intentionally burned the median to keep the fire from potentially spreading from one side to the other:



We stayed a few hours at MIL's house. Luke didn't quite know what to do with her new completely hyper puppy, and she (the puppy) didn't really know what to make of Luke either! I didn't get any photos while I was there.

Sunday was outdoor fun day. Well, it was for Luke. You know how much fun I have being outside (note dripping sarcasm); it was bad before the melanoma, and it's even worse now. But Luke loves it, so I do it for him when I can. I let Papa handle photography duties while they did bubbles and I watched from a window inside. I also took that time to work on the Boston plan, which I think I have mostly ironed out (will save that for the Boston recap post later in the summer).



I do feel compelled to go to the beach with him, though. Capris, long sleeves, big hat, and sunscreen, and we didn't even go until about 6:30 PM! In my "old life," I'd have probably gone in shorts and short sleeves with no hat or sunscreen that late in the day, but not anymore. I even made Luke wear sunscreen, though I did let him go without a hat or shirt.



I noticed that Luke had made a footprint right behind one of DH's. So hard to believe they are so close in size!



Some group earlier in the day had made quite an impressive sand castle, decorating it with things they found around the beach.



Well, we can't have that, can we? We must make our own!



Complete with functional bridge over the moat:



I played with the camera and the lighting while I waited.



Finally, they were ready to fill the moat! Thus began the bucket brigade:



It didn't get very full (kept absorbing the water; not a surprise), but it served its purpose. It failed its load test, though. Not even the bridge engineer could do that with just sand!



But as fun as it is to play in the sand, visits to the beach are really all about the water. And boy, does that child love the water!



Luke was asking for a snack when we left (actually, he was asking for more chicken, which he had for dinner). Only thing on the island right now is Dairy Queen. That'll work! They had chicken, too, but when given the choice between chicken and soft serve "white" ice cream, the ice cream won.



Sitting in the back corner of the restaurant with damp swim trunks and wet hair (and a mostly dry swim shirt), he was shivering before he was half way done. I ended up giving him my sun shirt to try and keep him warm. (I had a tank top under it!) He and Nana huddled for warmth while he finished. A great end to a great weekend.

Currently feeling: accomplished!