Memorial Day Weekend

We had quite a busy Memorial Day weekend. On Saturday, I told Skylar that summer was pretty much here which meant that the kids begged to eat lunch outside. So after some time scrubbing the picnic table, they headed out for their first picnic of the year. They were so excited! Afterwards we finally made it to planting our vegetable garden. I decided to forego planting any seeds this year and just opted for planting plants so hopefully we'll have some better success this year. We planted one or two plants each of broccoli, pumpkin, squash, peas, tomatoes, cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, strawberries, and I even found an artichoke plant which I couldn't resist trying out! Skylar and Nick promised to really help out in the weeding department this year since my belly's starting to get in the way. We'll see how that goes.
Later that evening Ben's mom came and watched our kids so that we could go see Indiana Jones. We bought our tickets online to go to the District out in South Jordan. It is seriously the best because you actually get to pick your seats online so you don't have to wait in line at the theater to get good seats. We seriously walked in as the previews were ending and got some of the best seats in the theater! It was totally worth the extra 15 minute drive. Anyway, the movie was totally what I expected-not my favorite Indy but it didn't disappoint. I liked it! Harrison Ford may be getting old but he's still awesome! Afterwards Ben and I took a drive through the Daybreak community because we had never been there. It is totally nice but maybe a little too nice-somewhat Stepfordish because it's too perfect. We also got to see where they are building the new LDS temple.
Sunday was my birthday. This year I was just really not too excited about the whole thing. I guess that's how birthdays get as you get older. After church Ben asked what I wanted to do for my birthday. I ended up taking a 2 hour nap. I'm getting exciting in my old age!! Later, my mom & dad invited us over for a yummy dinner so that was nice that I didn't have to actually cook. Of course Ben and the kids were all super sweet all day so I guess having a birthday is nice for something! After I opened a couple of presents (our cruise was actually my main present!) Nick looked around and said "There's one more present!" He looked around and realized there actually wasn't and then quickly said "It's a hug from me!!" It was so cute! Skylar and Kade also joined in on it. It was definitely an awesome present!
Monday morning we woke up to totally gray and rainy skies. We were totally bummed because we were planning on going to the zoo with our friends. We called off the zoo trip and tried to think of something a little more indoor friendly to do. Around 10:30 the weather had cleared up a bit and the zoo was back on. We packed a lunch and packed the kids and headed to SLC. We decided to hit the SLC cemetery before to visit the graves of my family. Skylar was the one that was totally gung-ho about this. I'm glad she wanted to do it because it was nice to visit the graves and tell the kids a little about those whose graves we visited. We went to my Grandpa Henricksen's (actually in Lehi cemetery beforehand), my Grandpa & Grandma Jensen's, and Great-Grandma & Grandpa Allen's, along with my sister Mary Gwen and nephew Kye (and others buried near by). I don't think I'd ever really told the boys about my sister and nephew who both were stillborns and it made me realize how important the holiday is to take time to remember.
Finally we made it to the zoo. We met our friends the Hanamaikais, the Tongs, and the Willardsons. When we first got there the weather was okay but it quickly made a turn for the worse and pretty much rained the whole time we were there. It wasn't too bad because a lot of the animals were indoors and the ones outdoors were out and about. Despite getting completely soaked, we ended up having a good time! Plus, now we'll totally remember our crazy rainy zoo day!
After the zoo we headed home for a bit so we could throw our drenched pants into the dryer and get some dry socks & shoes on and then we headed out for my birthday dinner at Tucano's. We were expecting a huge crowd since it was Memorial Day but the waiter said we had missed it so we were lucky. We had some yummy food and I was sufficiently embarrassed with the waiters singing their loud Brazilian Happy Birthday song. Afterwards, the kids got soaking wet again in the fountain outside and then we headed home for some cake & ice cream. It ended up being such a wet, long, exhausting day but it was a really fun day!!