Last weekend was the memorial service for my Grandpa Loren in Albia, IA. The service was set for Friday at 4 pm. Our family drove down to Albia on Thursday evening with the goal of making it in time for dinner, so Dave brought along his computer and headset, and worked in the car on our drive down. I scrambled around all morning getting everyone's things packed up and loaded in the van. We knew it was approx 2 1/2 hrs there so we left with plenty of time to get there before 6. At 3 pm we pulled out of our driveway, and we drove about 20 minutes, and I called my grandma to tell her where we were on the road to give her an idea when to expect us. It was during that phone call that my brain reminded me I had forgotten to put my flute in the van. DOH! So we turned around to go get it. I grabbed my flute and also a portable high chair and tray for Vanessa. It set us back about a half hour but we managed to make up lost time on the road. We pulled into a parking space by grandma's apartment at 6:10 pm - not too bad! We had to skip stopping at our favorite place on the road, Smokey Row Coffee shop in Oskaloosa, but oh well.
My Grandma Rowena had a delicious dinner prepared - short beef ribs, baked potatoes, cooked carrots, and a delicious fudgy chocolate cake which was eaten in honor of Vanessa's first birthday celebration and my mom and dad's 32nd wedding anniversary, which happen to fall on the same day, June 2nd.
We ate very soon after we arrived. The kids were excited to get out of the car and were pretty hungry too. When the carrots went around the table, I scooped up some and put them on Calvin's plate. He took one look at them and said "Mom, is there grass on the carrots?" I just laughed. It was dill seasoning.
After dinner the happy birthday song was sang in Vanessa's honor. My mom held her and "helped" her blow out the 1 candle on the cake. I served her up a piece and she ate it steadily and quickly, not making much of a mess. I am sure she thoroughly enjoyed it! She is a chocolate fan already just like her mom, grandma, and great grandma!
More candles were added to the cake and we celebrated my mom and dad's 32nd wedding anniversary.
That night we didn't go anywhere, we stayed in Mama Row's apartment. Violet and Calvin kept asking to watch movies, there really wasn't much to do there. We tried occupying them with things. We ended up throwing a yellow ball around in the living room for awhile, and before I knew it, it was 10 pm and we had to leave to go check into the hotel. Everybody was tired. When we drove across town to the Indian Hills Inn, we got checked into our room and by the level of excitement, you'd have thought it was 8 am. They jumped back and forth from bed to bed, giggling and laughing. I sure hope nobody was directly underneath our hotel room. It seemed like a quiet place. We got them all settled down and in bed by 11:30. I do not know what took soooo long but they just took forever to settle down. Vanessa was the first one asleep - she was in a crib in the corner, with a blanket over the top so it was darker.
Friday morning we all got up somewhere around 8:00 - don't really remember the time. Calvin was the first one up, as always. He came walking around to my side of the bed and wanted said "I wanna nuggle wit you." So I couldn't resist that!
We got dressed quickly and went over to Mama Row's place for breakfast. She had prepared creamed hard boiled eggs over toast with fruit. We designated Friday morning as our swimming morning, so after eating a yummy breakfast, we headed to the hotel and got our suits on. Vanessa went down for a nap as soon as we left the hotel room to go to the pool so that was good timing. Violet wanted to be brave and learn to swim herself, so I worked with her for a couple hours. Calvin was satisfied enough to walk around the pool with his life jacket on the whole time, scooping up water and dumping it elsewhere. He threw balls and we threw them back. Violet actually did great in the water. I held her for awhile but she caught on to how to get herself moving on her own in the water quickly. The pool was small but she figured out how to push off the wall, and doggy paddle swim towards me about 8 feet away. She was SOO excited!
After swimming time came to an end, we all showered up and got ready for the memorial service that afternoon at 4 pm. We ate some barley vegetable soup with cornbread at Mama Row's house for lunch, and stayed there until we left for the church. The family gathered in a small room next to the church's sanctuary while everybody else took seats and waited. I tried to get Vanessa to take a nap in the crib in the church's nursery, but she wasn't having it. She kept standing up and screaming. I was afraid she was going to climb out (the mattress wasn't lowered all the way) so I couldn't just leave her like I normally would. She stayed in a stroller for part of the service and my mom took her out during a good chunk of it (thanks mom!!). After my dad, Aunt Ruth, and Uncle David shared about their dad, I got a chance to get up and speak and share some of my favorite memories with my Grandpa Loren. My grandma Row told me she hoped this would be a time of joy and celebration, nothing too sad, so I tried to keep it memorable and fun.
At the end of the service, since Grandpa Loren was a war veteran, Violet was asked to sing the Star Spangled Banner accompanied by me on the flute. Dave went up with Violet and sang with her, but he sang quietly and she sang loudly. Her start was a little rough but she gained confidence and sang well through the rest of the song. A trumpet player played the TAPS at the end.
Calvin and Violet sat well during the service. Calvin leaned over and laid down on the bench at one point, and totally fell asleep on his back. He was OUT...which we were glad for, it was the only nap he took that day. He slept through the point the service was over, so we left him laying on the bench until we had to leave for the burial.
There was a short burial at the cemetary that the ashes of his body were buried into. Two songs were sung by everybody. We left the van running and Calvin and Vanessa fell asleep. Violet walked with us to the burial site. It was super hot, close to 90 degrees, Violet complained about being sweaty.
A meal was served in the church's fellowship area after the burial. Burgers, coleslaw, baked beans, and ice cream and brownies. All of Grandpa Loren's favorites, I think! We decided to go back to the hotel after that and take the kids swimming again. Jay and Molly talked to us in the pool, my dad went swimming with us. Violet swam again, but wanted to leave her life jacket on and have freedom. She enjoyed the hot tub too! I put Vanessa in the pool that night too, she seemed to enjoy splashing around.
After the kids went to bed, we decided to go down to the hotel bar and hang out with Jay and Molly. We ordered a pizza and a few drinks, and enjoyed some time just chatting. When we were leaving and tried to pay, the bartender told us it was taken care of, and "that table" over there had paid for it. Philip "Flip", Walt and Jolene were there too, and Flip had footed the bill. How kind of him! We chatted for a short time but went to bed...it was after midnight and we were all tired.
Saturday morning Mama Rowena's good friend Carol Sovern's house - she hosted our family for brunch. She served pecan cinnamon buns, fruit, and egg casserole. Coffee and orange juice were refilled all morning. The kids didn't have much to do and wandered around the yard and complained about how hot it was. It was nice to see all the family. The rest of the day was spent at Mama Row's place. I had to lay Vanessa down for a nap, but had nowhere to put her, so I laid out some blankets on the floor and laid down with her in a dark room. I knew she was exhausted but was at the "overtired" point. I held her down with my hands on her back and she cried herself to sleep for about 15 minutes, trying to roll over and crawl away. She eventually gave it up...and konked out completely and slept hard for 2 hours. I got tired holding her down, and when she fell asleep, I laid my head down next to her blanket and fell asleep too. I didn't realize how much time had passed, but when I woke up, 2 hours had gone by. Vanessa was still sleeping so I crept out of the room to join the rest of the family and waited to hear her crying. Violet ended up going in to get her after awhile, and brought Vanessa to me.
My Aunt Ruth prepared a delicious seafood pasta dish with salad for dinner. She went crazy in the kitchen, getting almost everything dirty! The meal was yummy and satisfying. Everybody enjoyed it. We decided to leave that night, so we worked on packing up all our stuff and saying our goodbyes. Grandma Row stopped to say a few things before everybody left - read some letters that Loren had written to her a long time ago, and some poetry.
Our drive home was silent. They changed into their pajamas before leaving. I think the kids fell asleep and we got home in good time.
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