Monday, June 3, 2013

Bucket List Kick Off and Post #199 Remembers...

 
So even though the kids are in school for another 2.5 weeks, summer has officially begun around here! Saturday we spent with some of our friends having a BBQ and a Wii Bowling tournament. I lost, but I had fun. It was parents against parants, so the kids did all the smack talking and it got pretty hilarious. 
 
It's also so wonderful to have a group of people you can experiment on with new appetizer recipes. And this group always loves my experiments! I made a favorite stand bye, Bacon Deviled Eggs and then tried something new with some Shrimp Guacamole Crostini. I got the idea from a dish we'd had at an Italian restaurant for my birthday and I made up the recipe as I went, taking out what I didn't like and putting my own touch on it. I was worried they wouldn't be good or liked, but by the end of the evening I had three empty trays and a lot of compliments and a couple ideas on how to improve. The best compliment came from my son, a notorious shrimp hater. He didn't have much to say, but he ate 5 Crostini!
 
You guys have all read my posts about why honoring Vietnam era Veterans is important to me, so I'm not going to get into all that. But I wanted to share some pictures of how Matt's American Legion post, Post #199, celebrated them this past weekend.
 
The pictures I took of the bands playing didn't come out to great, but there was music and speeches. The American Legion Auxiliary (a volunteer organization connected to the AL comprised of dependents of Veterans) provided food, and an organization that shares retired vehicles for display brought a whole bunch of military vehicles, including a tank. We didn't stay all the way to the end, but the event closed with our local Boy Scout troop retiring some flags.
 
One of the speakers, a Representative from Issaquah, said something that I appreciated hearing. He served in the Navy for twelve years in the 80's and said that his generation was credited with ending the Cold War but that to him, that wasn't true. The victory belonged to the Vietnam Era Vets.
 
 
 
I liked seeing all the Vets sporting their jackets and other signs of service. THEY'RE proud of their service, and we should be too!


Some younger members of the club sharing the vehicles were climbing up in truck beds and such, giving kids tours and demonstrations. Eli is so his father's son. They were both fascinated with the different weapons.
 
 
Matt was telling the kids how when he was in the Army, they wanted him to learn to drive one of these kind of trucks, called a Deuce and a Half. He learned to drive his communications Humvee with switch instead.

 
 One of the truck drivers brought his dog and she was the sweetest thing! Liz liked that because she said that there's another group of Vets people often forget and she is so right- Dogs play a huge role not only in the Military, but in the police departments here at home too.

 
 
Anyhow, our Summer Bucket List challenge is underway! And I can't think of a better way to kick off our summer than a BBQ with friends and a day spent saying thank you to a group of men and women who so deeply deserve it.

SMOOCHIES YA'LL!!!!

2 comments:

Hilary said...

I love your summer bucket list! It's going to be so fun reading about all of your adventures! :)

Daisy said...

Thanks, Hilary! I'm looking forward to sharing about them. :D I can't wait!