Party Like it's 1999!

Rewind to this day 11 years ago.

Memorial Day 1999.

I was 16, Ben was 18. At the beginning of this day, 11 years ago Ben & I were just friends. We didn't have school that day (score) & headed out with a big group of friends to see the movie "Star Wars: Episode One". We piled into Ben's parents' car and drove an hour to a sweet movie theater because our town was small & didn't have what it took to show an epic Star Wars movie. We started the day as friends, but I had a big crush on him for months, which he recently discovered ... thanks to my 12 year old brother's HUGE mouth ...who I was going to KILL. Mortifying I tell ya! After Ben's eyes were opened with this news of me having a crush on him, it was like that song "Dream Weaver" started playing and all was right in the world. We ended up holding hands awkwardly through the cup holder in the movie theater. Why through the cup holder???...we were awkward teenagers and it slowly (read: awkwardly) happened over the course of a 2 hour movie. We didn't make eye contact, we just stared straight ahead, tried to concentrate on the movie & held hands. I'm pretty sure I was sweating, and couldn't swallow. But we made it to the end of the movie, I got automatic shotgun on the ride home (double score) and he made sure to drop me off dead last. I hurried up & reapplied my watermelon chapstick & was ready for anything that may or may not happen next;) I'll just say thank goodness I had my trusty watermelon chapstick that night!

Happy kinda-first-date anniversary-of-sorts Ben!

Now, fast forward 11 years!

So, Memorial Day kinda snuck up on us this year but Ben was busy pounding out his final projects to get his Masters finished up, so we really weren't planning on doing much of anything....until we got invited to a good ol' BBQ baby! Unfortunately Ben still had to stay home & pump out those papers.... but he needed some major quiet time anyway, so the kids & I headed on over to the Matson's for a day of fun with a bunch of friends! Thanks for rescuing us! You guys are awesome!

They sure know how to throw a par-tay!

They have a bunch of ducks, chickens, and quail as pets in their backyard & the kids had a blast touching & holding them all day!

The BBQ master chef Scott

Claira thought this little chick was so cute! She was so excited to hold it. It was so soft!

Claira knows to never pick up hitchhikers...just keep looking straight Claira...atta girl.

What's Memorial Day, the holiday that kicks off all-things-summer, without a slide followed by a pool to land in?

It was such a fun, relaxing day. Good eats, fantastic company, good laughs, fun games & happy kids (who went right to sleep the minute their sweet little heads hit their fluffy little pillows!) We may not have partied like it was 1999, but it was pretty dang close! We missed you Ben!