Home of the Free, Because of the Brave...

We headed out to the Memorial Day Service on Fort Rich today to honor those that paid the ultimate price for our freedom and those still sacrificing for us today. We have so many men and women from the Anchorage bases over in Iraq right now, they had to substitute rifles for the typical cannons in the 21 gun salute and we didn't have a fly over in the missing man formation at all, which was a disappointment. But, the weather was beautiful and the speakers were good. My not so favorite congressman, Don Young, gave an unexpectedly profound speech. He told us all to take a deep breath and as we exhaled, he reminded us that we can breathe freely because of those who gave their lives and to remember that not only on Memorial Day, but every day. This day is always tough on me. I miss my grandfather and the ceremony is so similar to what they did for his funeral, it's like we re-live it every year. We place the flowers on his grave and then, have to walk across the whole cemetery where my other grandfather lies, who we never even got to meet, because he lost his life in Vietnam. It's hard to think about all the families still losing loved ones today and knowing how many people those losses will affect...

Field Trip Day!!!

I got to go with Owen's class to the Planetarium today!!! It was a lot of fun and the kids did awesome. It was way too much to ask of this age group. They had to sit quietly through a movie about telescopes and then a presentation on the solar system. It was shocking that they could all behave so well. Of course, all but three kids had at least one parent there with them...says something about the type of family sending their kids to this school! We had more than one adult for every kid!! We needed it though, I swear, I don't know how those teachers keep up with that much energy!! The weather was awesome too....77 in the shade! It was crazy hot!!! We had pizza at Goose Lake next to UAA for lunch and when we walked passed the lake and a couple of ducks, I overheard the teacher tell one of the parents that the class walked to the duck pond across from the school yesterday. I would guess that little outing has something to do with the conversation Owen and I had earlier that morning when we passed Westchester Lagoon full of ducks. He pointed them out to me and then said, "you need to put those ducks up mommy". I tried to explain the concept of "wild", but I think it's fair to assume that he thinks I've lost my mind....

The best part of the whole trip for Owen was the bus ride....they could have skipped everything else and just driven him around town, you would have thought it was a limo! What you wouldn't have thought about was the fact that out of the 25 little ones on the bus, not one of them could even come close to putting their feet on the floor. That doesn't seem like a big deal until you ride in a school bus again...they are bumpy and tend to rock from side to side and to add insult to injury, this particular bus driver would wait to the last second to decide to stop for a red light and then have to slam on the brakes!! Trying to keep 25 little ones from bouncing right out of their seats was challenging enough to wear us out all on its own!!!! ;O)

Just An Update...

We've all been so sick and so tired lately, pictures of my little troublemaker are very far and few between. But, I snapped these pictures of him yesterday when he was asking to watch his 3-D Bob movie from the Aliens vs. Monsters DVD pack. He totally doesn't get it, but, he loves to wear the glasses for just about any reason! Hope you all have a great week. Owen's school has got a shake-up this coming week. His teacher is leaving and won't be replaced until July 1st. The new teacher is moving up from Colorado to take the position. So weird to me! Anyway, Owen has a week off from school the first week of June, so, I guess I too will get some time off...if only we are all healthy it will be fun!