Memorial Day weekend + a very special birthday

I wasn't sure how our Memorial Day weekend was going to shape up since Reid was sick Wednesday-Friday, but thankfully he seemed better by yesterday, and Grant hasn't caught whatever it was (yet).

On Saturday the boys and I drove two hours to Orange for a 50th anniversary party for Randy's sister, Marty, and her husband Jerry. Of course they acted super-shy for the first hour or so, but eventually they warmed up and had a blast playing blocks with Marty and Jerry's great-grandson, Cayden. And they even took a dip in the pool, despite the fact that we didn't have swimsuits. (They loved it so much that now we're planning to go swimming at Honey and Big's tomorrow.)

Today was an even busier day! We left right after lunch to drive to Huntsville for my great-grandmother's 100th birthday party. The boys got a little nap on the way:

{Grant in green, Reid in blue}

As usual, they were shy at first, but Reid got over it pretty quickly and Grant eventually loosened up, too. It helped that there were balloons and big kids to play with -- they entertained themselves for a good hour or more and ended up pink-cheeked and sweaty.

{Still shy at this point...}

{Wishing Tennie a happy birthday}

Here's the birthday girl with her great-great-grandkids:

 

And with our branch of the family tree:

And here she is with her four children (minus Katherine, who passed away in 2010):

{From left: Memaw, Mary, Tennie, Dorethea, and Charles}

And her kids and their spouses:

We love you, Tennie, and we are so blessed to have you in our lives!

We stopped at Rudy's for some BBQ on the way home, and the boys were so well-behaved and sweet. Not to mention, they are serious meat-eaters and put away turkey, sausage, some of my pulled pork sandwich and even a few bites of Ryan's ribs. 

We also managed to sneak in some backyard fun once we got home:

(No, those are not the latest in toddler Speedo fashion... they're reusable swim diapers. And Grant's on the left and Reid's on the right.)

{Reid L, Grant R}

{Reid}

{Grant}

Sometimes nothing is more fun than a $9 sprinkler from the hardware store:

{G}

{R}

{G left, R right} 

{R left, G right}

Mommy and Daddy even got in on the fun, too!

Happy birthday, Tennie! And since tomorrow is Memorial Day, I can't forget to say thank-you to Uncle Nolan and Aunt Lanie for their service and sacrifice. We appreciate all you have done and given for the sake of our freedom!