Iwo Jima and Babysitting

A few weeks ago, Reed, Eve, and I went to the Iwo Jima memorial while waiting to meet up with Grandpa Rowberry. I always forget how amazing the memorial really is. It still amazes me how big (literally) it is! But, more importantly, this memorial has a special place in my heart because my Grandpa Rowberry (who died when I was 3 months old) was a marine. He was one of the first marines to help clean up parts of Japan after the atomic bomb.

Because of the radiation, they told him that he would not be able to have more children (he had 1 from his first marriage), but miraculously, my dad was conceived. Sadly, my grandparents were not able to have more children. What this has to do with Iwo Jima, I am not exactly sure, but I just felt that this little piece of my history should be documented.

Anyways, Iwo Jima will always be special to me. I love what it stands for and how they have an actual American flag waving at the top of the statue's flag pole. It stands for the freedoms that so many died trying to protect.

I think we often get complacent because, while we are still 'at war,' many of us have not experienced the effects of war first hand. Iwo Jima helps me to remember how precious our freedoms are. Hopefully, I will not take them for granted too often.




I hope that Reed will understand how important this memorial is someday.

The first weekend in August, we watched our friends' 2 little girls, Maylie and Taryn. These are some of Reed's favorite friends. He feels very comfortable with them, so is completely himself around them (good and bad sides to that). We had a super exciting morning/afternoon!

We went to our little neighborhood park and played on the jungle gym for a while. We also had snacks, had numerous rides in the wagon, played "Monster" (Tyson was the designated monster, of course), and played hide-and-seek (hiding behind trees - not the best hide-and-seek, but it was fun).

Then, we went back to our apartment, changed into our swimming suits and headed to the pool. The kids tried the kiddie and big pools. They laid out in the sun (the girls' idea - Reed went right along with it) and even chased Eve, trying to catch her toes in the water.

We were all hungry for lunch after that and went back to our apartment. We had mac and cheese (well, I didn't, but everyone else did) accompanied with cucumbers and apples. Lunch was followed by the beginning of "Aristocats" until the girls' mom showed up. All-in-all a fun day! Reed was sad to see them go! He could play with them all day long!

Running away from the Monster.

Taryn was fixing her flip flops. Reed was hiding.

"The Monster"

One of the ideas was that if you stood in the shadow, the Monster could not get you. It didn't last very long, but was a great idea!

Maylie being strong.

What? All 3 looking at the same time?!

Well, I tried to get a full group picture, but it did not work so well.

Well, at least Maylie is smiling and looking at the camera in this one.

Eve was so excited - I think mostly because she found her strap to chew on!

She was watching the kids run around. I know she can't wait until she can join in on all the fun. She is already trying to!