Family Day Out on the Weekend

We decided to have a fun family day out this weekend. We thought about going to the Cleveland Art Museum, but it was awfully nice weather, so we went up to the South side of Cleveland to two cemeteries where some of Mom's family is buried. Elizabeth has been wanting to go up to the cemetery at North Olmstead for ages to take a picture. Mom's great-uncle, J.D., is buried up there, and he's kind of a pet family member to Elizabeth. He was in the army right after WWII (part of the occupation forces) and brought a German bride home with him.

Driving up there, we actually got stopped at the railroad tracks for a train to pass by! Hooray! I just love trains, and we don't have them around our place anymore. We were even the first car in the lane, so I was able to lean out the window and get some pictures. The cemetery itself is made to serve as a burial grounds and a park at the same time, since it's in the city. All of the stones are the flat-in-the-ground kind, and there are trees and flowers around. Lots of grassy areas, too. These are actually the first flower pictures I've gotten --- and it's fitting to post them on the first day of Spring!



Dad had his new "fishing" camera to test out, so he and I were goofing off taking pictures of each other. This one actually turned out to look just like him. (Notice the "Live to Fish" slogan on the t-shirt.) And, while we're at it, might as well take some of us riding in the car. Dad and Elizabeth were in the back seat --- complete with St. Patrick's Day shamrock badge! I never have pictures of myself, since I'm always the one with the camera, so here's a shot of my reflection in the rear-view mirror --- which needs a good scrubbing. Mom was driving and her picture turned out blurry. Boo hoo. :(

We took a brief lunch break before heading to the second cemetery. This is called Woodvale, and it is where our gg-grandparents and ggg-grandparents are buried. There are also quite a few aunts and uncles there as well. One of the stones in particular is really wearing away (has been for years), so we spent some time reading it with tin foil. Amazingly, we were able to decipher the whole thing! This is Mom, Pop and Elizabeth working at it. The last picture here is of the area of the cemetery where all of the family is buried. I thought it was really cool how close they all are, so the arrows identify the different family plots.



That's about it for now. It's supposed to reach about 80'F today, so we're thinking of going somewhere, just to get the sunshine. We'll see, though. More later.