Memorial Day

First I want to start this post off by saying thank you to all of the soldiers and servicemen (and women!) who have given their lives for us.  Memorial day is so often seen as just “another day off” but I wanted to take the time to remember my uncle, Tito Ernie, whom I am excited to meet in Heaven someday.

It was a great way to start off this week – the first of my non-school weekdays!  I got to finish all my laundry (it’s put away, and everything!), sweep & mop the kitchen and dining room, and get all the dishes washed before 11AM!  Miracle of miracles, I tell ya!

Then I had a lovely time with Miss Ema Jean, hanging out, fellowshipping at Starbucks, over our Captivating study and some iced coffees.  It was great!

* This is not our picture, but these are the drinks we got.  :P

Back at home, Bubs was up from his nap, he ate lunch, and then we headed out to Fairmount Park, off of Market, in Riverside.  We just purchased his FORWARD FACING SEAT the night before – what a big boy!  He must've thought it was a ride, because on the way to the park I heard him yelling out:

"Yeah!"

Miles practiced his train whistle arm pump with Daddy. (Not pictured)

We walked and strolled all around, but not before we stopped at the playground.  Miles had so much fun with the big kids.

"I can climb this."

"AHHH!!"

We love maps.

We made our appearance at the Rose Garden.

Miles loves to stop and smell the roses.

... but he doesn't stop for too long!

We saw a tank

... under which, were some ducks.

A grove of palms

So tall!

"So is this just like the bathtub?

I'm jumping in."

"Daddy, look out there."

This boy is on the move!

There!  Between the two palms!

It's my two favorite dudes!

Sand fun.

It was great walking around the park, but smelling so many delicious grills a'cooking, we just had to get a tasty bite for dinner.  I wanted a hamburger, and James wanted some sort of grilled pork product.  We ended up at The Salted Pig, which was less than 10 minutes from where we were:  12th and Main.

This is what hungry Bubs looks like.

And this is what cranky Bubs looks like, even after having

some fresh berries...

I ordered:  The Black & Tan burger, medium

with fries & spicy ketchup, 

a glass of Drake's 1500 Pale Ale (a little too crisp for me),

oh, and that's Miles' cheesy flatbread

James had:  Porkbelly sandwich dressed with arugula and pickled strawberries, 

with fries & spicy ketchup,

and Timmermans Strawberry Lambic

The Salted Pig definitely lived up to all the hype.  I think it may have been one of the best burgers I've ever eaten... I remembered Ema ordered it when she told me about this restaurant - although the place is just a *bit* too hip for my taste.  Still, the atmosphere was great, and everyone was super nice.

Miles was karate kickin' on the way home.

After putting the boy to bed, we decided to play a game of Scrabble.  It was pretty good - we used all but three letters (fro - down in the corner).

warbles, frugal, kites, bureau, sex, strike, ta, 

whirl, ruin, vice, gem, ensign, dome, hoarded,

bay, doth, toy, recited, pique, ajar,

quid, got, way, adopt, zip, plans,

zen, van, sleet, ego

After subtracting James' leftover letters, and adding them to my score,

I won by ONE POINT!

All in all, it was a great Memorial Day, and James was a really good sport because he was leading the entire game, until I used my last two letters to form 'ego' - causing me to win by just a point.


Much more to come - I cut Miles' hair today, so I'll be sure to take some photos.  Until then...