weekend of memorial.

spent a beautiful weekend traipsing around ol' nebraska this memorial day weekend...

^ beautiful thunderheads. they brought good thunder & lightning! my fave.

^ perfect kite-flying weather. we thought this parrot would be normal size... reading turns out to be a fairly important skill. maybe reading the large letters on the front of the package that said "6.25 INCHES" would have lessened our surprise and dismay when we got it out...

^ charitie with one of our puny little kites :)

^ the country is a good place to be out for a jaunt.

^ it's nice to wear boots now and again. or should i bust out my texas accent and say "now and agi-yen"?

^ we went to fort hartsuff on memorial day, which is an old fort that was only active from 1874-1881. just over 100 soldiers were stationed here at once. it wasn't very big, but super picturesque and old-fashioned. good 'merican family activity :o)

that flagpole above is from one tree... 90+ feet tall. i'm glad i didn't have to find that and bring it back... ouch.

^ old-fashioned food. i don't think i want to eat that...

^ cozy?

^ the first sergeant got all the fancy stuff... like quills & ink. whoa man.

^ the guys. [ dwight | dan | sam ]

^ love this piano! inside the officers' quarters.

^ "o how lovely" :)

^ love THIS piano, too. the officers stationed here liked their musical instruments. i approve.

^ :)

^ i like this little nook. i'm sure someone's wife used to love it, too.

^ the view out of the front.

^ nadine & charitie

^ more officers' quarters.

^ LARGE tree. ooph.

^ back home... ol' chester. my favorite.

^ the cute new ponies!

^ and then there's earl, the old pony. who is a little rotund but still cute :)

^ :)

^ dan one-upped me... he found a bigger tree. yes, dan, you win :)

we need more 3-day weekends. yes? yes. i enjoyed this one immensely, including all of the parts that went un-pictured. and i did think a lot about the fact that we have a holiday because we have things and people to memorialize... i'm grateful for america and for what we stand for. and incredibly thankful for the soldiers and others who have given so much for that. i don't want to take the good things for granted, ever.