Cora Meets Kai

 The last couple of weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind.

Miss Cora and I went to Victoria for Grandma Avelle's first funeral, along with a good portion of the family.  Although my family has the talent for having fun in almost any situation, it was very sad to say goodbye to a woman who has been so important in our lives.  I kept expecting her to just walk in the room.  Instead we told stories of her antics over the years.  Such a hilarious woman, such a loving woman.  I can't believe how much I miss her already.  It was fun to talk to my cousin Cara about her recent conversations with Grandma about little Cora.  She told me that they spent about half an hour talking about Cora, and laughing at her photos and our descriptions of her little personality.  I've been told many times how much she was looking forward to meeting her new great grand-daughter, as well as her new great grand-son (my nephew, Kai).  I guess now I am grateful that she gets to see us all from above and that she won't be missing out.  But I know that we will certainly be missing out.

Part of the time in Victoria was spent going through her apartment and sorting her things.  Toward the end of a long day, my aunts decided to pass on to me one of my grandmother's precious possessions:  a pair of sweet little baby shoes that she has lovingly saved since her last baby grew out of them almost 50 years ago.  Each of her children wore the shoes and she kept them polished and stowed safely away. 

And beautifully, they fit Cora's little feet.  What a precious gift.  I hope to be able to keep them in the family as long as she did.

The trip was not without its joys too.  I got to meet my nephew Kai for the first time.  He is older than Cora by 4 days.  Quite something that the first babies among my siblings decided to arrive in the same week.  And because my sister Erin lives all the way across the country in Vermont it's been difficult to arrange a visit before now.  We were (and still are) planning to go to Christina Lake, BC at the end of June/early July to celebrate my Grandma Avelle's 80th, so that would have been their first meeting.  Now the long weekend will be to celebrate her life. The cousins will get another chance to play.  It will be fun to see how different they'll be in a few short weeks.  Already the development is happening so quickly.

The little cousins had some fun together for sure.  Totally fascinated and interested in one another, they got to have their first swims, spend time together in the playpen and just hang out.  Kai was totally enamored of Cora, getting so excited about her that he'd start shaking.  So so sweet.  And both cousins were admired by the relatives.

Now we're getting ready to enjoy a weekend here in Portland.  Planning to hit some food carts, take some walks, and get in some good play time since Daddy is done with school for the quarter (woo hoo!)