Memorial Day, 2011

For Memorial Day a big amusement park in Charlotte, Carowinds, was having Military Appreciation where current and former service members could get in for free and their families at a discount.  I really wanted to go so I invited my mom and her friend Mark to come down and join us.  Mark is a Marine veteran so we all got to go for a really great price.  It was so much fun!  They did an amazing tribute where they raised the flags and played the songs of each of the branches of service, and at the end they raised the POW/MIA flag.  I wish I would have captured a photo, because I kid you not right as the flag was going up a dove flew over it!  Talk about a sign!  They also had a lunch for all of us where we got to eat some Southern barbecue! It was a great weekend and I am so very glad my mom and Mark came to share it with us.  The kid to adult ratio was 1:1 and that NEVER happens!  The only part that was not so fun was the heat.  Let me tell you, it was H O T hot!!!!!!  I don't ever remember a time in my life feeling that hot, I guess we just hadn't adjusted yet?  Oh, but adding to the coolness points of Carowinds is that the border between the Carolinas runs right through it.  That meant that Shelbie and Owen could be in two different states and still talk to eachother!  Which of course, when you are 8 and 9, is the coolest thing EVER!

Van and Charlie Brown

Lucy!

All the kids LOVE roller coasters, so it's a good thing Carowinds had some for everyone!  You can't see him, but Van is on my left.  This was the only one he was big enough to ride and we had to go again and again - he couldn't get enough!  Owen was lucky enough to get onto the biggest coaster in the southeast, but when he and Andy went to take Shelbie on it the attendant said they were too short.  Bummer!

The boats were more Grandma's speed!

Van really took his driving responsibility very seriously!

I really hope to take the kids again next year.  At the end of the night they had a fantastic fireworks show, and from our vantage point there just happened to be an American Flag in the foreground!  It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend!