Memorial Weekend

It seems to me that I only blog on weekends.  I usually can't find time during the week or if I do have time, I use it to take a nap.  Even though today is Tuesday, it's really my Sunday.  Here is what I did this weekend.

My sister and I headed Up North to our parents on Saturday.  I worked at the Y in the morning so we had to wait until late afternoon to get out of dodge.  We got up there around 6:30 and didn't do much else.

Sunday morning I helped my dad burn brush.  My dad's brother (my uncle) calls my dad a "fire bug".  Give my dad the opportunity to burn stuff and he'll be happy. Sunday morning ended up being the best time to do it because Sunday through Monday it was way to windy to start a fire.  And with all the rain in their area, the fire danger risk was low.  We got done before lunch and the yard look nice because all the branches and brush were gone.  Then Monday my dad felt he needed to cut down some trees on the neighbor's lot.  Guess what.....the brush pile is back!  He just can't sit still and leave the outdoors alone.

Sunday afternoon we headed over to Crosby to listen (and dance) to some country music.  My mom and dad follow a guitarist... Mark Peterson....and his band.  It's a nice hole in the wall called "The Bridge".  We walked in and to my surprise, my cousin (the before mentioned uncle's son) was playing bass for Mark.  If I could count the times that I have seen A, the majority of the time he's been on stage.  Besides this cousin, my mom's cousins and their extended families were here too.  It was big happy reunion with people I didn't know.  All in all it was a good lazy Sunday.

On Monday, my mom had planned on going to two cemeteries.  One was in Mom's hometown to see her parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors.  Much of it is new, but it was fun to see the tombstones that are over 100 years old.  They are gigantic...over 6 feet tall and very slender....and so weather beaten that you can barely make out what's written on them.  And if you could, it would probably be written in German.  We put silk flowers (red gladiolas) on my grandparents grave.  Just looking over all the headstones, it was sight to see.  So gorgeous....all the flowers and crosses, flags and wind-chimes.  Statues and even solar lights.  I wish I had my camera to take pictures.  While we were here we ran into my mom's uncle (by marriage).  He had brought his 9-year-old granddaughter to see her grandma and place flowers on her grave.  We talked for a bit and then continued on.

We headed the 6 miles back to the town that my folks live in; to that cemetery.  Here was my dad's family...parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors and friends.  And again, we ran into more family.  Two young people ( 18 and 22??; siblings, a girl and a boy) who are distant cousins.  Their dad was close to my dad and he passed away unexpectedly two years ago.  A little awkward to run into them at their dad's headstone but we made pleasantries.  **If any of you remember that Lino Lakes police officer being shot at the Anoka firing range a couple of weeks ago, these are his younger siblings.  Update on the police officer: he's doing well, though not 100%.  He was discharge from the hospital and was taking it easy at "the lake".  Hopefully he will return to duty by the end of the summer.**  It was such a gorgeous day that I ended up walking home from the cemetery since it was only like 5 blocks...super close.  The hardest part was crossing the highway in town.  It was a parade of cars, trucks, campers, and boats heading back to the cities.

Other than the two field trips, we really didn't do much else. 

And here we are to today.  My sister and I headed home after lunch and we ended up avoiding much traffic until we hit Big Lake.  That was due to road work versus Memorial Day traffic.  Now we can relax and gear up for tomorrow.  But first I have to do laundry if I want to wear clean clothes.