Whirlwind

I can't say that 12 out of 24 hours in the car with a 17 month old is my favorite way to spend time. I can say, that it was worth it to spend time with family and honor the life of a dear lady who lived 94 years!! Marie Brickhouse was Don's maternal grandmother, and I was lucky enough to meet her, and some of his family, many years ago. This was a nice chance to catch up again. That's the ironic thing about funerals. They are very emotional and there is a lot of sadness, but they also bring family together who may not have seen each other for years! And, I learned that Don's cousin Carla reads our blog. It was like meeting an old friend - she knows about Foster and Kate, and how ridiculously absent-minded I can be! It truly was a fun trip, even if I do have Elmo songs stuck in my head.

Here is (part of) the family from way back when. LOVE these old photos. That is Don's Grandmother (Marie) and Grandfather (Sidney Brickhouse) in the middle, with his Mom on the far right and her brother Buddy on the left (ok, feel free to correct me if I got all of this wrong).


Here we all are many years ago - Me and Don (you know us), his sisters Donna and Susan and their kids, and his grandmother in the middle. I liked her. She was very soft spoken, but had the most amazing Butterfly Bushes (trees!) that I've ever seen. :) Hopefully Kate will get some of the gardening genes that she passed down to Don's Mom.


This is Scuppernong Church, built in 1871. Don's Mom grew up in this church and remembers going to Bible School there.



Now, Creswell is out in the middle of nowhere (by my standards), but it was beautiful. The whole countryside heading out from Rocky Mount to the Outerbanks was absolutely beautiful. I can't really put my finger on what made it seem so clean, but it was refreshing. Even the old, rickety barns had the grass cut around them and didn't look quite so rickety!

There were rocks in the parking lot. Kate was beyond thrilled about this. She did pretty well during the funeral. Loved the music, read the bible, was totally enamored by the stained glass windows. "Mama! Mama! Mama!" "Yes, sweetheart, I see them... shhh..." I didn't bring nearly enough toys and books, etc to keep her happy. Oh, and boy do I have a not me for you on Monday. Yow.


Here she is walking to the car with Grandma and Da.


By far, the highlight of the trip for Kate was meeting Uncle Buddy's dog, Susie.


And I think the feeling was mutual.


Looking for snakes with Grandma at the graveside.


What is it it about Grandmas? You can not see them all that often, but its like you were never apart when you see them again. Kate knows her Grandma. She rarely opens up to anyone that quickly.


And here we are 360 miles from our house, but feeling right at home.


And what is a trip down I-95 without some outlet shopping?! I was SO very well-behaved. I've been dreaming about going back to that Baby GAP outlet ever since. I got out of there with only a dress and purse and hat for Kate. Oh my, in my dreams last night I put together outfits with all of the cute clothes I left behind! Alright, I've wasted an hour of Kate's naptime blogging.. off to clean up this house!