I want to tell you all about our Memorial Day weekend...but at the start of the post, really don't have a lot to actually say about the weekend. So I thought I might just let you look at pictures from the weekend, instead. That way, my brain & yours don't have to do too much work!

Oh, lest I forget, I want to congratulate my cousins, Jake & John Thomas, and N's cousin, Katelyn on their highschool graduation!! It's totally crazy & amazing that these "kids" are now all out of highschool. Looking back at the picture, they each seem so small on the day that Nathan & I got married. I feel so old...but as my cousin, Jake says, "You're not old...you're just aging."

Thanks, kiddo. I'll remember that.

So moving on from my oldness...Let's talk about the weekend!

Saturday, we spent the morning, just hanging out. Iliya found his Dr. Seuss backpack that Natalie had given him several months ago. Ever since we saw Seussical, he has been obsessed with the Cat in the Hat. And I've got a great video of him that I will share soon. But I digress... He found this backpack and wanted to put it on. He ended up wearing it for almost a half-hour, while he played.

At 12:30, Iliya had a haircut appointment, so we ate lunch a bit late, ran for the appointment (and Iliya didn't cry for long), and then back to the homestead for a late-ish nap. Saturday evening, we headed over to Nathan's parents' house for an early Memorial Day dinner. We dined on BBQ (pulled pork) and other assorted home-smoked meats and salads.

We actually got there a little early for dinner, so Nathan's mom pulled out the slip & slide she had purchased for such an occasion.

And after dinner, Iliya and Natalie had a good time slip & sliding...wearing themselves out for a good, hard sleep Saturday night.

Sunday was the usual "church, lunch, nap, snack, church-again, dinner" routine.


before church

At church, Sunday morning, we noticed that Iliya's eye was a bit swollen. He had a mosquito bite above his right eye. After naptime, this is what it looked like.

being a silly boy!

We read up on eye swelling, and everything we read (from health books to the internet) said that mosquito bites will cause the eye to have massive swelling for up to 2 days, and if the swelling lasts longer than that, to call the doctor during office hours. So we weren't really worried, because we actually knew it was a mosquito bite. But at church on Sunday evening, we were asked repeatedly what happened?! It did look bad. And by the next morning...

But not to be deterred by a mosquito bite, we got busy celebrating Memorial Day as soon as Iliya got up and ate breakfast. We hadn't gone to the UA Rec pool, yet, so we figured there wouldn't be a better day to go have some fun, trying out the pool. We put on our swimming suits and headed off - a little early - to the pool. On our way, we stopped at the local G00dyear store for a free oil change for Veterans (thank you, G00dyear!!). Next, we stopped at the mall so Nathan could get a haircut...but they weren't open yet, so we ran over to the Veteran's Memorial Park (in front of the mall) and walked around with the little guy.








As soon as the barbershop opened, Nathan got his hair cut, and then we were at the pool not long after it opened.


After we finished at the pool, we headed home to EAT and lay Iliya down for a nap. Shortly after Iliya fell asleep, Nathan headed out to Mobile (he had to be there early this - Tuesday - morning for work). And after he woke up, I took Iliya back over to the pool to meet Aunt Kristy, Uncle Patrick, & Natalie for an afternoon swim. Since I was in the pool for most of the swimming, we don't have any more pictures from the pool (unless I get some from Kristy).

For the rest of Monday, I heard nothing but talk of the "BIIIIIIIIIIIIG pool!" and I am really glad that Iliya enjoyed himself so much.

Nathan made it back home safely on Tuesday evening, and thus concludes this Picture (+ a few words thrown in there) Post about our weekend!