It has been an eventful month, yet it’s taken me awhile to actually sit down and write about it. I’ll try to keep it quick!
First of all, July ended and I turned the big 3-0. Not too big of a deal, but we did enjoy some family time after Abby’s t-ball with both sets of parents and Dave’s sister. Over the weekend of the 30th, we got together in Rochester with my family and some extended family (Greg even flew into town) for some great family fun.
That Friday night, we were starting to notice that Madi was acting kind of weird–not eating, not being able to drink much at all, and generally acting strange outside. We were worried, but decided to just keep an eye on it over the weekend. Friday night was rough–Madi was pacing around and was hot, couldn’t get comfortable (and was probably thirsty). Dave took her upstairs to lay on the cooler kitchen floor, but she had a hard time making it up the stairs. By Saturday morning, she was in really rough shape–a gland in her tongue was so swollen she couldn’t eat or drink, and was having trouble breathing. One of her front legs was swollen three times the normal size, and she was having a hard time walking and getting up and down stairs/her favorite bay window at my parents’ house. It was a rough morning…we could tell that if we didn’t do anything, she probably wouldn’t make it until Sunday. So, we had to make the tough call to the vet and Greg drove us to New Prague that morning. It’s hard to describe the sadness, but I was glad that it was all very peaceful. We miss her every day, but are so glad that her last summer was filled with everything she loved best: swimming up at Bud’s in June, one last long weekend with Jessi in July, a trip to Iowa, a cabin weekend with Maya the weekend before, and lots of playing ball, walks, and love. We are also so glad that we were able to get our family pictures taken by my cousin mid-July, with Madi, and that she was even able to see Greg for a little bit.
The next weekend, it was another goodbye–this time to my dad, who started a new job in Asheville, North Carolina. After a very stressful time at Mayo, I know he is really looking forward to this new job. He and my mom will be splitting their time between there and Rochester, and we’ll see how it all goes! We enjoyed seeing him again this past Sunday/Monday, and hopefully again over Labor Day weekend while he’s back in Minnesota.
August was also filled with some fun events, but not a lot of pictures…our nice camera broke in July, and we need to replace it–hoping to get by with our little one for awhile, but it doesn’t take the best pictures unless the lighting is perfect. We visited the Freeborn County Fair with Dave’s family–saw pig races, a tiger show, and had the best strawberry smoothie ever! We visited the zoo as a family, and had my college friends over for dinner one night. Mid-August, we went on a short fishing trip with Dave’s family and had a great time. The weather was perfect for eating each meal outside, and Abby had fun fishing (she even holds fish now!), going to a parade, and swimming at Detroit Lake. A cute moment was when she wanted to play with the minnows (another new favorite thing to do). She was holding one and asked it if it wanted a drink of water, so she dipped it in a cup of water. She’s definitely braver than me when it comes to fish!
We had a couple of quick days at home, then headed up to Monson Lake State Park to go camping with our friends Ben and Betsy and their two girls. Minus a little rain Friday night and Sunday morning, the weather was perfectly cool/nice for camping. We had lots of yummy food, checked out Sibley State park, did some geocaching, and hiking. The guys did some fishing, and took Abby and Esther for a little canoe ride. Of course, campfires and s’mores were also enjoyed. It definitely made me want to do some more camping/state park visits soon!
After getting back Sunday, it was a quick turnaround to the next trip…Monday afternoon (after spending the morning working in my classroom with my parents), Abby and I headed up to my friend Kristina’s cabin for our annual “girl’s week” of summer…although we only had a few days this year, we still had a lot of fun. Rain kept us off the lake on Tuesday, so we checked out the Grand Rapids children’s museum instead. Abby had a blast, and probably would have stayed all day. We did get our lake/beach time in on Wednesday morning, even though it was very windy and the ride out was pretty rough. It’s always relaxing/refreshing to get away from it all up at the cabin.
I was supposed to jump right in and head to Chicago with my dad and siblings this weekend, but that fell through. I would have loved to have spent the time with them, but am kind of glad to have been able to just BE HOME these last few days of summer. We did the state fair, visited a nearby state park, and have just been hanging around…it’s been nice! Crazy to think that tonight I will need to get Abby to bed at her regular bedtime, have everything laid out and ready to go, and will be getting up and getting out the door before 7 tomorrow…yikes! It has definitely been a full and eventful summer, and I’m sad to see it end. Not looking forward to the busy life that comes with school starting, but I am looking forward to meeting my new class and getting back into a routine again. Abby is excited to see her friends at daycare, and technically, I do have a 4-day weekend to look forward to next weekend. 🙂
Olsen Family 