Work Sucks

Today Brian and I hosted a Retirement party for Judy.  After Denny's retirement last fall she thought she'd work for a few more years.  That didn't last long and less than a year later, here we are celebrating her decision!  She had a great turnout and as always we had a successful party.

 

 

By the end of the night I was sitting in a chair with my foot up.  My ankle was super swollen and I could hardly bear any weight on it.  Wish I could remember how I hurt it.

Well, I guess today's a good day for a craniotomy

Amy's surgery was today.  It's been a whirlwind of emotions as we all learn what this means.

One thing is certain - they have so much support.  SO MUCH.

The surgery went great!  In a few weeks she will start Chemotherapy and Radiation.  A care calendar has been created and meals, yardwork, Ethan playdates and household duties have been assigned and scheduled.

We got this!

Team Glory

Hailey's team is so fun to watch.  Most of them are playing for the first time so they are super excited to learn and at the same time pretty clueless.  They understand their job is to get the ball in the goal or keep the ball out of their goal (especially if they are the goalie).  Other  than that, there are just a bunch of littles running around the field, all chasing the ball.  All of their little legs kicking at the same time trying to get their foot on the ball.

Every once in a while someone will get a break away or 'fire the cannon' to score.  They are so adorable and these coaches sure have a tough job.  Hailey's coaches are very patient and try hard to keep the kids excited and engaged. 

Look at that adorable goalie!

Goner

She lost another one!

She is getting pretty good at this :-)

Happy 4th!

This year we tried something different.  Instead of making our 15 minute trip to Braham to watch fireworks we decided that we should pack up and head out on the boat.  There are always plenty of cabins and homes on the lake that put on shows and although they may not be as big as ones you could find in the city, they would be here.  On our lake.

We made our way out on the water and soon the shows started.  Yep, that said SHOWS.  With an S.  Meaning multiple.  

There's some over there!  And now look over there!  Ohhhh look behind you!  Look across the lake, way over there!  There's more!  

The people of Pokegema lake sure put on a good show :-)

Earlier today Kim and Joe asked me to take some engagement pictures for them.  Here are a few of my favorites.  By the way.....did I tell you Kim and Joe got engaged :-)

Knocked Out

This scene is all too common on our way to the cabin.  

Headphones on, blankie on lap and a very tired little girl.

The first of many hard days

A few weeks ago (June 18th to be exact) my neighbor, Amy, was having some pretty horrible headaches.  Within a few days she noticed her left arm was bothering her and her handwriting was changing.  Her and her husband, Paul, consulted with the neighbor (who is an OB physician) and he suggested she make an appointment to see a doctor.
This appointment led to an MRI, which lead to a phone call follow up requesting further MRIs be done because there is a presence of some lesions that they wanted to check out.
Today she received the call.  They received the diagnoses and the hardest part of their journey started.

Such devasting news for such an amazing family.  They have no doubt had their share of challenges and this just doesn't seem fair.  How could this happen to someone so young and otherwise healthy? How could this happen to our friend?

This news has filled our neighborhood with sadness and disbelief.  No doubt this will be a tough road for the next few months but everyone is optimistic knowing that we are all here and will come together to do whatever we can to help them all through this.

Amy Wolvert, top left

What's going on over here?

  Looks like it won't be too long and the OCW family will be gaining another family!

I have to admit, it's making me a little sad that once this house is built I am pretty sure I am losing my view of the Goman's house.

It never gets old. Really.

 
We have been busy the last few weekends so it was nice to get out of town this weekend and head to the cabin.  The water was a little green this weekend but the girls didn't seem to mind.  Hannah tried to dig to China but realized that was going to take much longer than she had planned so she settled on stopping once she hit the clay and then spent some time making a clay family.

While Hannah plays in the sand, Hailey floats in the water.  She can not get enough of the water.

She will play in the sand for a bit but it never lasts too long if it's warm enough to get wet.

 

These days in June are perfect for Grandma and Bob.  They can bring their chairs down to the lake so they can visit and see everyone but still stay cool and not melt in the sun.

 

I just love this view.  The bright blue sky, puffy white clouds, water and family.

We did some work on the beach pulling weeds and cleaning things up- looks pretty nice for now.

 

Next Up.....SOCCER!

Soccer season has officially started!  Hannah and Hailey play alternate nights this year so between practices and games we will have soccer Mon-Thurs.  At least it will be a summer full of family and gorgeous evenings outside.

The End.

Today was Hannah's last softball game of the season.  She seemed to have fun and has said she is interested in playing next year.  At the end of their game they each got a mini bat and their coach said a few nice things about them.  It was a fun season and we look forward to next year.  

Good Job Parrots!

One Step Closer

Today Hailey starts at Adventures Plus Bound!

This is held at Oxbow Creek so for the next few months we will continue to have two drop offs and two pick ups.  Knowing that it will soon come to an end makes it easier to handle.

Hailey is so excited to go today!  She is a little bit nervous about whether or not she will make any friends but we all know that she will have nothing to worry about.

 

She ended up having a few rough days.  Crying a lot when I dropped her off.  One day it was so loud I could hear her screaming for me as I walked out of the building.  That was just enough to get me to start crying.  It's heartbreaking knowing that I had to leave her like that.  It's so hard to walk away and trust that everyone there will take care of her and make her feel better.

When I picked her up each day she said her day was "Amazing" so I know that she was fine shortly after getting dropped off but that didn't stop her from crying and holding onto me for the first three weeks of drop offs.

She made some great friends at Bound: Anna, Isla, Presley and Izzy.  As the weeks would go on, I would drop her off and she would go running in- hugging every little girl in the place.  They were always so excited to see each other "Oh Hailey, I like that shirt" "Thanks, I love your shoes" "You look so cute today" "Your hair looks good like that"

The staff at Bound were great and many of them were staff from CBPA that she already knew from the many days of drop offs and pick ups for Hannah.

We made it through the summer and near the end she was sad to leave it all behind.

Picnic at the Cherry

Melodie and the kids have never had a picnic at the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden so we thought it would be a great day to take the kids.  The girls are off for a few days before Adventures Plus starts and although I could have sent them to Jackie's, I wanted to have a few days with them before our new routine started.

The kids had a good time overall but it sure was hot and sticky.

Party Crasher

Hannah was invited to McKenzie Groth's birthday pool party today.

When I went to go pick her up I remembered that Ethan knows McKenzie so I brought him with.

 

 He thought it was pretty cool that he was coming along with Mrs. Fancy Pants without his mom and dad.  It was a short drive to McKenzie's and they were pretty surprised to see Ethan when he got out of the car.  I think he enjoyed the attention from the girls just a little bit.

The last time

 

I am not really sure that I am ready for this.  Today is the last day we will be at Jackie's.

Both of my girls were raised here.  This is the place they learned to crawl.  First words were spoken and first steps were taken.  They were potty trained, learned how to tie their shoes and write their names.  They became them here.  

I appreciate Jackie so much for the time she spent with my girls.  

We were so fortunate to have her as part of our village.

Well little one......what now?

That's a wrap!

Another year of school for Hannah in the books.

I was out of town at Epic this week so I wasn't there for Hannah's last day of school.

For the rest of the week the girls will go to Jackie's and then next Wednesday Hailey will start at the Adventures Plus Bound Program.  I am so excited for her to meet some new friends and to be around kids her own age.  She is going to love it!

OCW Uber

Andrew has an electric go cart.  Amy and Paul noticed that it has hand controls so they ended up getting one for Ethan.  This way when the kids are out riding their bikes he can keep up.

Tonight when we got home from the cabin, the kids were out zooming around the hood with their new rides.  The girls ran over to play for a bit.  Eventually it was time to come home and get ready for school (not to mention I had to leave to go out of town for work).

Ethan pointed his go cart in our direction, stopped in front of us on the side walk and with the most serious voice ever said "I'd better make sure that you guys make it home safe".

Family Fun

The best part of the cabin weekends is the fact that we are hanging out with family.

Some weekends we don't do much but sit and talk but it never seems to get old.

 

We went for a walk this weekend and I had to take a picture of this sign.  This sign has been here for as long as I can remember and I can only imagine that one day it will be gone.  

You get a true sense of just how big Reggie is when you see him next to Hailey. Sure she is bent over a little bit but remember, she is almost 6!

MN Zoo Trip

 I volunteered to chaperone Hannah's class trip to the MN Zoo so for the day these three were my little buddies.  They were all so good and are such sweet kids.