What is Labor Day, anyway? A little research - for the first time in my life - reveals that it is a day to set up by unions to honor workers. And it was set up in September because if it were in May, President Cleveland thought it might be a day to memorialize victims of the Haymarket Affair. All interesting stuff.
So today we have a holiday that honors people who work. Which I think is kind of pointless myself. I mean, why not have a holiday for people who breathe too? With Patriot Day so close, I think that gives us more cause to stop and remember, but then again, that's a day that profoundly affected our generation quite a bit.
Moving on: today was a day that Mommy worked quite a bit on getting set up. Daddy's family came over, and of course Madison was quite thrilled to see Hannah again. We had all kinds of good eating today - Daddy grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, while Mommy prepared all kinds of great food inside. We had the lemonade dispenser set up, and this delicious water we've been drinking a lot of lately: it had floating cucumbers and mint and lemons in it. Nice and refreshing!
We used the day to honor a few birthdays: Uncle Dave and Nana Cypher. Madison made cards for each of them, using her ink stamp blocks to decorate sheets of paper folded in half. She was quite proud of both of them though. We gave Nana some gift cards for Disney, as that's where we're all heading in less than fifty days.
It was a nice gathering, although everyone was largely wiped out from all the busy activity lately. There was this convergence on the couch in the great room where we all sat and talked for a bit. Except for Madison and Hannah, who stayed upstairs and played with ponies for a while.
Here is what Labor Day is to Daddy: the end of summer, and what was the harbinger of the school year. Now that school starts in August, that sort of doesn't fit. Daddy told Madison about Labor Day being the end of the summer, but she corrected him: "That's on September 23rd." Well played, Madison. Of course, I was sort of rounding things off a bit. Labor Day was the end of the vacation season, and always a bittersweet sort of moment to reflect back on the summer as we prepared for all the stuff in the school year. I remember one Labor Day weekend while working in Helen, a cold breeze blowing in as the vacationing tourists got fewer and fewer in numbers - a lonely sort of holiday as you wander all these places that used to be so packed with tourists, all gone home to start their new year.
Daddy wasn't about to let the summer get away that easily though. He asked Madison, "Want to go swimming?" Of course, the answer was yes. The family had gone home - we waved goodbye to everyone, and then raced upstairs to our rooms to get changed. There was still just enough time to go for a swim at the pool. We had a great time there for about an hour, roughly until 6:00 or so. School is back again tomorrow, so we had to get back in time. And it turns out, we would have had to leave the pool anyway - there was a faint sound of thunder in the distance. Listening to the radio, it sounded as if there were pretty big storms all over the state today. The heat was such that it was inevitable. Labor Day 2014 was a pretty hot day.
But we cooled off in the pool one more time, and headed home for a quick bite to eat. Madison wanted more for dinner, although Daddy was still quite stuffed from the earlier meals. Afterwards, we went to bed where Daddy read another chapter from the Never Girls book, which we're almost at the end of. We said our prayers, and read the Bible too. And Madison fell asleep quickly, with such a full day under her belt.
Daddy and Mommy stayed up just a little - Daddy wanted to spend some time with Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Baron Von Munchausen. There was an old movie, "The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen," one we hadn't seen in a while. The soundtrack is amazing, and the movie itself quite surreal - but fun if you don't take it too seriously. It is, after all, a tall tale.
And so Labor Day 2014 is at an end. It's the first day of September, and the beginning of a new season. Say what they will about the equinox, summer ends today in a way. Sure, the temperatures are supposed to be hot and muggy the next few days, but fall has been summoned. It knows what Labor Day is all about, and it won't be long before we'll welcome its embrace.
So today we have a holiday that honors people who work. Which I think is kind of pointless myself. I mean, why not have a holiday for people who breathe too? With Patriot Day so close, I think that gives us more cause to stop and remember, but then again, that's a day that profoundly affected our generation quite a bit.
Moving on: today was a day that Mommy worked quite a bit on getting set up. Daddy's family came over, and of course Madison was quite thrilled to see Hannah again. We had all kinds of good eating today - Daddy grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, while Mommy prepared all kinds of great food inside. We had the lemonade dispenser set up, and this delicious water we've been drinking a lot of lately: it had floating cucumbers and mint and lemons in it. Nice and refreshing!
We used the day to honor a few birthdays: Uncle Dave and Nana Cypher. Madison made cards for each of them, using her ink stamp blocks to decorate sheets of paper folded in half. She was quite proud of both of them though. We gave Nana some gift cards for Disney, as that's where we're all heading in less than fifty days.
It was a nice gathering, although everyone was largely wiped out from all the busy activity lately. There was this convergence on the couch in the great room where we all sat and talked for a bit. Except for Madison and Hannah, who stayed upstairs and played with ponies for a while.
Here is what Labor Day is to Daddy: the end of summer, and what was the harbinger of the school year. Now that school starts in August, that sort of doesn't fit. Daddy told Madison about Labor Day being the end of the summer, but she corrected him: "That's on September 23rd." Well played, Madison. Of course, I was sort of rounding things off a bit. Labor Day was the end of the vacation season, and always a bittersweet sort of moment to reflect back on the summer as we prepared for all the stuff in the school year. I remember one Labor Day weekend while working in Helen, a cold breeze blowing in as the vacationing tourists got fewer and fewer in numbers - a lonely sort of holiday as you wander all these places that used to be so packed with tourists, all gone home to start their new year.
Daddy wasn't about to let the summer get away that easily though. He asked Madison, "Want to go swimming?" Of course, the answer was yes. The family had gone home - we waved goodbye to everyone, and then raced upstairs to our rooms to get changed. There was still just enough time to go for a swim at the pool. We had a great time there for about an hour, roughly until 6:00 or so. School is back again tomorrow, so we had to get back in time. And it turns out, we would have had to leave the pool anyway - there was a faint sound of thunder in the distance. Listening to the radio, it sounded as if there were pretty big storms all over the state today. The heat was such that it was inevitable. Labor Day 2014 was a pretty hot day.
But we cooled off in the pool one more time, and headed home for a quick bite to eat. Madison wanted more for dinner, although Daddy was still quite stuffed from the earlier meals. Afterwards, we went to bed where Daddy read another chapter from the Never Girls book, which we're almost at the end of. We said our prayers, and read the Bible too. And Madison fell asleep quickly, with such a full day under her belt.
Daddy and Mommy stayed up just a little - Daddy wanted to spend some time with Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Baron Von Munchausen. There was an old movie, "The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen," one we hadn't seen in a while. The soundtrack is amazing, and the movie itself quite surreal - but fun if you don't take it too seriously. It is, after all, a tall tale.
And so Labor Day 2014 is at an end. It's the first day of September, and the beginning of a new season. Say what they will about the equinox, summer ends today in a way. Sure, the temperatures are supposed to be hot and muggy the next few days, but fall has been summoned. It knows what Labor Day is all about, and it won't be long before we'll welcome its embrace.
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