An Afternoon at the Cemetery

I know, a cemetery is not the typical place to spend the afternoon with your children, regardless it made for a lovely time. We had been leaf peeping for nearly four hours all over Vermont and really needed a place to let the kids stretch their legs. At the point of need we were in the sticks, so when we found this amazingly peaceful and beautiful place we called it good enough. It turned out to be more than good enough. I'd like to think that if those who are buried there could hear, that they would have smiled at the sound of our children's laughter floating up in the crisp fall air, replacing the sadness that hung over that place.

It was very interesting to walk around and read the names, the dates, and inscriptions on the stones. My favorite inscription was the one on a man's tombstone that read: "His life was like a shock of corn fully ripe." I don't know why but it made me laugh out loud.
Many of the people buried there were born in the 1700's and died in the 1800's. I was taken back by the thought of how long ago their lives were lived.
While perusing the stones I just couldn't help but feel incredibly sad as I saw the numerous stones marking the graves of babies and little children, along with too many young wives. All I could figure was death during childbirth.

Along with reading the gravestones our afternoon at the cemetery included a rousing game of peek-a-boo...

Isn't our girl sweet?

We gathered a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from what had broken off the bushes

Daniel taught the kids how to roll down a hill

Judah practiced his letters

We also had a picnic, picked out a name for our baby if it's a boy, and spent a little time tickling Judah.

Yesterday we found that being creative and open with our family time can lead to great memories and beautiful pictures.
One of my favorite parts of the day came at Eve's bedtime right after I had prayed. In my prayer I had thanked God for the nice time we had playing in the cemetery, so when Eve's turn came she whispered to me: "Mama, what was that place called we played at today?"

I said "A cemetery, darling."

"A cemetery, okay. What kind of people live at a cemetery?"

"Dead people. It is a place where people are buried after they die."

"Oh, okay Mamma"

She then proceeded with her prayer while I simultaneously laughed and breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that she didn't want to explore that topic any further.

Great, great memories.