Friday (3/31) was the day of Pop's funeral. It started early and was a very draining day. We went to the funeral home to say one last goodbye to Pop before heading to the church for mass. I was honored to be asked to be a pall bearer during the service. While it was a solemn occasion, it did have some humor including Zak announcing loudly "Look at that beautiful picture of Jesus!" when he walked into the church. He's not used to a Catholic church with all of the "pictures." When we finished at mass, we headed to the cemetery where they did a beautiful military ceremony since he is a veteran. I enjoyed watching the flag folding ceremony and hearing taps on the trumpet.
It was a very rainy day so everyone headed out quickly after the ceremony to head to the hotel for lunch. It was nice to have some time to catch up with family that we don't see very often. The food was really good and the kids were amazingly well behaved. We finished up with Pop's favorite dessert, an ice cream sundae with a brownie in it. After a very long day, we headed back to the house and were all in bed before 10pm.
Saturday (4/1) we decided we needed to have some fun after the very emotional past few days. We all had a lazy start to the day and then headed to Seaside for some walking on the beach and boardwalk. But not before we devoured almost all of the delicious pretzel tray my uncle brought for us!
We started with some time on the beach, the kids loved running around in the sand and collecting shells and sand. It was pretty cold so no one braved the water. After we spent some time in the sand, we headed up to the boardwalk to walk for a little while. Then "Pop" gave all of his great grandchildren money to play in the arcade. My boys thought this was amazing!! Most of the group stayed and played in the arcade while a few of us walked the boardwalk and chatted. It was really relaxing and also nice to move for a little bit after a few days of not a lot of activity.
After our walk, we were ready to hit up some NJ food! Sarah and I got some deep fried cookie dough, our favorite from the Ohio State fair. It was OK from Seaside, but better at the fair. Then we all shared a giant NJ pizza. And we finished up with some ice cream from Kohr's. After all of that, people were getting tired so most people headed home while we took the boys to finish using their money in the arcade and get their prizes for the day. They decided to pool their winnings and get a giant Pokemon character - Charmander.
After we finished up at the boardwalk, we headed back to the house. My good friend Kim and her family came to visit and pay their respects since they weren't able to come to the services earlier in the week. It was nice to visit with them and the kids all had a good time together. After they left, we just hung out with my parents for a while and started getting our stuff together for our trip back to OH tomorrow.
Sunday (4/2) we were up and moving and ready to get back on the road to Ohio. Since we were all going back to work and school on Monday, we wanted to try to get home as early as possible. As Adrian was finishing loading up the car, he noticed a nail in our tire! Since we don't have a spare (apparently new cars no longer come with a spare, only a repair kit), we had to go to a local tire store to have them put a new tire on the car. While it was an inconvenience, I'm so thankful that we saw it before we left, found a place that was open and were safe in the house with my family while it was fixed - instead of it happening while we were driving home.
We finally hit the road around 1:00pm after another delicious lunch of homemade food. The boys did great on the trip back and we only had to make 2 stops. We had a quick dinner in a rest area complete with ice cream for dessert and for the most part powered through our drive and got home right around 10pm. While we were exhausted, we also wanted to get settled so Adrian and I unloaded the car while the boys played and watched some TV. It was a late night for all of us so we decided to take the morning off, except for my 10am Silver Sneakers class.
Monday (4/3) started too early even though we all slept in. We were all really tired after the busy week we had. Adrian took the morning off from work and we decided to let the kids stay home from school too. I did have to go teach two classes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Other than that we mostly just unpacked, did laundry, caught up on stuff and tried to rest. The boys played a lot of video games and also spent almost 2 hours playing with their toys in the play room - I think they missed their "stuff" while we were gone. Back to our full busy schedule tomorrow!
Tuesday (4/4) we finally got back to our regular schedule after almost two weeks of being off of it. We all got to work and school on time this morning, although I did forget to pack snacks for the older boys again. I ran a few errands and taught a class while all three of them were at school. Then I picked Zak up and we played for a little bit, then he played some video games while I got a few things (laundry, laundry & more laundry!) done around the house.
We picked the older boys up and headed to our monthly chiropractor appointments. I really needed an adjustment after all the travel last week! Adrian was supposed to meet us there but he got stuck at work so the boys ended up coming to work with me and he met me in the parking lot to pick them up. He ran them home and cooked dinner while I taught a class and then he took AJ to Brain Balance while I took the other 2 boys to the book fair at school. Everyone was cranky and not very well behaved, I think we all finally hit the wall after all the late nights and travel. Hoping for an easier day tomorrow!
Wednesday (4/5) started as rough as yesterday ended. The boys were just not following directions or doing what they are supposed to do. We did barely get out the door on time and everyone got to school. I ran to the grocery store and then to teach a Silver Sneakers class. Zak was able to bring the shells and sand that he collected in NJ to school today. He shared at circle time about finding them and the students got to feel the shells. He was so excited that he was able to do that.
After school, Zak and I grabbed a quick lunch then headed over to visit my brother who is recovering from having his tonsils out. We visited for a bit and then headed back to pick up the other boys. It was so nice out that we decided to walk up to get them. Then we headed to the Y for my Zumba class. We ran home and had a quick dinner before I ran to soccer with AJ and Daniel. We finished up with leftover ice cream cake and Survivor. It was a long and tiring day.
Thursday (4/6) was slightly better than the past two days thanks to a good night of sleep for all of us. We got up and out to work and school on time today. I ran a bunch of errands and taught a class before picking Zak back up after school. He and I grabbed a quick lunch before helping my brother out by driving him to his doctor's office. That took up most of our afternoon, although we had a little time for some work around the house and some video games. We picked up the big boys and came home to play and watch TV. It was a very calm night thanks to baseball practice being cancelled due to weather. Adrian took AJ to Brain Balance and the rest of us just hung out, watched TV and relaxed. I'm hoping to catch up on sleep and work around the house this weekend!
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