With our trip to Grandma Great's house cancelled, we stayed at home for the weekend. We got home Friday and evening and spent most of the weekend unpacking and playing with our new toys.
On Sunday evening, we invited family over for dinner including Grandpa and Grandma, Grandma's sister, her daughter and her little family. The kids had a great time playing together and after dinner we got to see pictures from Grandma and Grandpa's trip to Africa again. (They did a show and tell night one evening before Christmas. We got to see all their souvenirs, received some gifts and ate traditional food that was surprisingly tasty. Even the girls liked it, especially some of the chocolate they had brought home from their layover in London.)
We ended up making a surprise trip to Idaho for a funeral. One of Grandpa's cousins passed away and we wanted to be with family to support. So we dropped the girls off at my parent's house and piled in with Grandma, Grandpa and husband's kid sister. We arrived at the end of the viewing, hurrying in to greet family and then joined some of them for dinner at a nearby Olive Garden. It was fun talking with family, most of whom I'd never met but enjoyed meeting. We spent the night at a hotel, rather enjoying the date night feel to it (despite circumstances), staying up watching a movie and talking for hours. We attended the viewing and funeral the next morning and I really enjoyed hearing about his life, even though I didn't know him well. We joined everyone at the cemetery for the dedication and then back at the church for the luncheon. We sat with the aunties, family that I know well and love very much. We talked through lunch and then I loved how family and friends were invited to share stories from the microphone and some even preformed favorite musical numbers.
The drive home was fairly quick. We gathered up our girls and headed over to my brother's house for a New Year's Eve party. We had Alfredo pasta and then laid out a huge dessert fondue. But the kids were much more interested in playing with cousins and had a great time running around. At 10:00, we watched the Times Square ball drop and singing the few words we know to Auld Lang Syng. Except L who knows all the words perfectly and was upset with us for not doing it right. We put the kids to bed, which took even longer than the usual cousin sleepover since they were so wound up. Eventually they were quiet and on their way to sleep while the remaining adults gathered to lounge around and talk. Husband and I introduced our new favorite game, dubbing it "slips". We watched the midnight ball drop, toasted with sparkling cider and returned to our game which had all of us laughing too hard to talk by the end. After that we stayed up until nearly two, talking and laughing through videos on YouTube.
The new morning, the men went hunting while the women played with kids. Or in my case, laid on the couch trying to sleep some more while the kids played around me. We made a huge breakfast, played awhile longer and eventually gathered the kids and took them to Carl's Jr. so they could run and play in the giant playplace.
And finally home again, still recovering from the holiday aftermath as we clean, organize and unpack. The girls are loving their break from school and playing well together. Their new favorite activities include L leading them in storytime while all of them pile onto her top bunk bed, or playing hide and seek in the house while I help them find the perfect spots to hide.
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