Memorial Day! (week 284)

The summer has officially reached Long Beach which means rocket pops, bounce houses, and lots of afternoon backyard barbecues!  We spent the entire three day weekend in our own backyard this year and had friends and family over on each of the days.  Over the course of the weekend, over 20 people passed through the Keisler household to barbecue, bounce, or just hang out and watch sports.  Daddy says it is one of his favorite times of year because you can switch from the Stanley Cup to the NBA Finals, and watch the Angels or the French Open during commercials.  There is just so much going on and so much to do when summer finally arrives.

Our sunburns from last weekend have finally turned into a nice brown tan.  Although we are going to wear much stronger sunblock, hope that we won't get any more sunburns for the rest of the summer.  On Saturday morning, I helped Daddy pick up bagels from Einstein Bros.  We didn't actually see the Little Einsteins in the bagel store, but since we are trying every bagel in Long Beach this was the third store in three weeks that we explored.  The bagels were pretty good.  A bit more like a true bagel than my favorite Grounds, but still a bit too much bread for Mommy the New Yorker.  We needed our energy because we helped Daddy clean the yard, mow, and restripe the baseball lines in the backyard in preparation for the party.On Saturday afternoon, Aunt Kelly came over to babysit because Mommy and Daddy had to go to a surprise birthday party for our friend Carl.  We had a blast playing outside, watching movies, eating popcorn, and reading a book together.  We love having Aunt Kelly close by.  She is our favorite babysitter when the grandparents are not around of course!

The big Memorial Day barbecue was on Sunday, and we had over 24 of our closest friends come over for pulled pork sandwiches and corn.  It was a great day, with children everywhere.  Between the Ponces, Modicas, Armstrongs, O'Dowds, and Hubers (and us of course), we had 11 children running around and causing trouble.  Right now almost all the little kids are either two or three...and boy, are the two year-olds crazy!  Christopher in particular is going through his separation anxiety and tantrum phase.  Of course, he has always been a momma's boy, but right now he is at the top of his game.  We had a blast bringing in the summer and remembering all of the soldiers who fought and died in wars.  It was a good weekend.