Friday, May 27, 2011

My First Funeral (Sort of)

That's right, I'm 34 and I've never been to a funeral before this week.  How does that happen??  My grandpa passed away on Ingrid's birthday.  I wrote this about him on my other blog.  I love that guy.

I took both kids with me on a five hour drive to my sister's.  Thank god they were good and slept!  Ingrid read books and sang to herself while she was awake.  We stopped for pancakes.  I had a Harry Potter book on cd to listen to.  It was a nice day.

We ended up going to stay at a hotel when my sister's air bed broke.  I didn't want to sleep on the floor and I knew Ingrid was tired and overwhelmed with traveling, so it would be better for everyone if we contained her in a room where she couldn't bother anyone but me!  Otis was a dream--he nursed to sleep at 8pm and didn't wake up until we woke him up at 7:30am to go get breakfast.  This is the picture of a truly relaxed baby:













The next day we had a get together with my brothers.  It is so rare all four of us kids and all our kids can get together!  Ingrid just loves to play with all her cousins!


Ingrid decided to slide down the slide face first into a pile of mud pies they'd been making.  Add a snotty nose and this is what you get.  Ha!


















The next day was the memorial service for my Grandpa.  It was sad but also a chance to see everyone and reminisce about him.  My cousin from Indiana was there, she has the same kids as me--a three year old girl and a baby boy.  Her son Max is five weeks old.  Otis is five months, remember?  God he's so tiny!  I always think he is so big, but then he gets put in his place by a sleepy newborn...

















It sucks to have a death in the family, but it's nice to see everyone.  Especially with our enormous family that's spread all over the country--it's pretty hard to get us all together.  It's nice when we finally do.  I would prefer a family reunion next time, though. 

3 comments:

MaryAnne said...

I'm glad you were all able to be there, even in sad circumstances. The cousin photos are adorable, and I still can't believe how Otis sleeps! That is awesome!!!

Jami said...

Although it's sad to lose someone you love, a funeral for an old person has that feeling to it: that's it more of a reunion; you can all celebrate their life. Glad you had a nice trip, even if it was for a funeral, and even if you didn't come to visit us ;)

Preparing for Peanut said...

I'm so sorry about your grandpa. I haven't been to many funerals either. I agree that while sad, the bright side is that they bring so many family members together in the same place.

I hear you on Otis's size! I always think Ethan is getting so big, then I realize my friends are giving birth to babies two pounds smaller then him. Insane.

Your kids are so cute and well behaved...glad the car trip was smooth!