The day after Easter, the whole Croft clan headed to DC and then to Pennsylvania for Grandma Dee’s funerals. I was especially looking forward to going to Pennsylvania to see the town she and Marcus always told me about. We didn’t end up having much down time for much outside the wake, funeral and reception, but I loved meeting new relatives and seeing everybody together to celebrate Grandma Dee.
You might think that driving 4 hours to DC, then 4 more to Pennsylvania with our family (one bambino), the Thompsons (one bambino & one bambina) and the Macchia (one bambina) might have been a little nuts, but everything went pretty smoothly. All of us were a little nervous about leaving early Monday morning amidst all the Hampton Roads & DC traffic to arrive on time but we were there with plenty of time to spare. Then all the mama’s proceeded to take over the bride’s room as we changed diapers, ate snacks, changed, and hoped our husbands still loved us after we all admitted to being spastic backseat drivers on the way up.
After a funeral & reception there, we all piled back in to the car and headed to Pennsylvania. James shocked us with his good car behavior! We were definitely spent that night though, and pretty much fell asleep upon arrival.
My sisters-in-law did an excellent job picking out the hotel- not only was their a beautiful view of the mountains from our hotel room window, but the continental breakfast was delicious- us fatties had no problem completely monopolizing the little dining room. Babies crawling around on the floor & the whole nine yards! The nice staff ooed and ahhed over our children, and gave us a plate full of chocolate chip cookie, hot from the oven, as we headed out for the day’s events. So, if you are ever stopping in little Greesburg, Pa…check out the The Mountain View Inn
The day started off with a completely serendipitous reunion of Marcus & his old high school buddy/college roommate. They had completely fallen out of touch the last 4 years, but we ran into them at breakfast that morning! It turns out they were in town to visit his mom’s family. In the words of his friend that morning, “How random is THIS?”
The day was spent remembering Grandma Dee & I got a mini-look at Greensburg and her sweet family as we went from the wake, to the funeral to the reception. I remembered to snag some pictures too!
2 of the whole gang
and 3 funny ones of the babies
When we realized Columbus, Oh was not too far of a trip from where we were staying, we decided to surprise my grandparents with a visit. And surprise them we did…left the baby on the front stoop, rang the doorbell & hid! They had not met James yet & nothing says family is important like attending a funeral. So we commited ourselves to another 4 hours in the car, and a 10 hour middle of the night drive home a day & a half later. It was SO worth every minute in the car.
Meeting Nanny
In front of Nanny’s house after a walk down my favorite street in the world!
Meeting Grandma Jan
And that was our first big family travel. Thank you baby for doing so well in the car, Thank you sis-in-laws for caravanning- Thanks Mom & Dad C for your generosity in the hotel room department, Thanks husband for your general positive outlook & all the driving, and thanks Grandma Dee for inspiring the whole thing!
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