My memorial Day

This is the Wiz's post--she Emailed it to me because she was temporarily unable to access blogger. All the credit goes to her! So, technically, today is Memorial Day. However, we decided to go visit the graves of our progenitors yesterday instead, due to the fact that we just wanted to. My family hooks up with my brother's family, and we're off to the cemetery to memorialize. Now, when I say "hook up", I mean that they came over to our house, where we changed diapers, made sure all the 4 year olds went potty, and generally took half an hour to leave the house. Between the two families, there are 7 children, with SIL due to deliver any day. First stop: Wal-Mart. Yes, it was Sunday, and yes, we're all going to burn, but we had no flowers, and really, what is the point of going to visit graves if you have no flowers to put on them? My brother and I wander through the garden center, looking for mums, because for some reason, mums are the flower of choice when it comes to dead people on Memorial Day. Brother: Are those mums? I hate Wal-Mart. Me: No, those are petunias, and this is a nice Wal-Mart. Bro: Are those mums? Does everybody know that mums are for dead people? Me: No, those are geraniums, and they're hanging plants. No hanging plants for the graves. And yes, everyone knows mums are for dead people. Bro: Yeah, they're too expensive anyway. Are those mums? Me: No, those are zinnias. Don't you know what mums look like? Usually they have a display of mums in the front, right when you walk in. Bro: I hate Wal-Mart. So we are walking out, and lo and behold! A display of "Memorial Day Mums" is right in front of our faces. Now, in our defense, we didn't see them before because there were only two things of mums on the display table, and they were the saddest looking flowers you've ever seen. We decide to head to the local grocery store. We are walking into the store, with flowers displayed everywhere. Bro: Are those mums? Me: Again, those are hanging plants, and again, they are geraniums. Once inside the store, the mums are displayed. Look! 3 for 10! You buy six, and I'll buy six. We cleared the mum display, and each of went looking for our respective snacks to munch on in the car, with the excuse that we were buying them to keep the children happy. At the check-out, I see my brother looking at the newspaper. Me: What are you doing here? I thought you were in the car. Bro: Abby's in the bathroom. Finally, we are off the cemetery! 5 minutes later, I hear "I need to go potty." My 6 yr. old: Why didn't you go before we left? My 6 yr.old niece: I did. I still need to go. Well, too bad. We're going to the cemetery, which is not known, as such, for its toilet facilities. We get there, and immediately begin the search for the graces, since this is the first year we've done this without our parents. We find one set of grandparents fairly easily, and have a nice time briefly reminiscing about them. The cries of "I need to go potty" were silenced in the excitement of deciding who got to place the flowers, who got to water them, and where was my toddler going? As we headed down to the next grave, and the cries began again in earnest, and also began to multiply. "I need to go potty!" "Me too!" "Whose grave is this?" "Hey! Somebody already put flowers here! Can we keep them?" "Look at that grave! It has an angel on it!" "Can I ride in the front?" "Is there a bathroom here?" "Hey, we're almost out of gas." After the next set of graves, we decide to send one set of kids up to Grandma's house, which is nearby, so that they can visit the potty facilities. Every child except for two decide that Grandma's house is way more fun than the graveyard. So my SIL leaves, with 5 kids in tow. My DH, my brother and his 4 year old, and me and my toddler set off to find the hard to find graves. Eventually we do, with DH (the only one, technically, not related to these people) being the one to find them. Hurray for him! It's no wonder my family likes him better than they like me. What's not to like, really? At Grandma's house, my oldest has a bout of diarrhea, and my niece has a potty accident. I'm sure my parents were sad they missed out on the grave visiting this year. Happy Memorial Day, everyone!