August to September 2019

August 2019

Trip to Lawrence, KS

In August, we made a trip down to Lawrence, KS for a weekend to see Nana, Aunt Laura, Uncle Chuck and cousin Mason, who we hadn’t seen in a while.

Morrill Hall Visit

We decided to do something else fun in Lincoln before school started back up, so we took the kids over to Morrill Hall on the University of Nebraska campus. It is a Natural History museum that has some really cool exhibits (some of which I remember from when I was a kid and some new stuff too).

Goat Yoga

Carol had been wanted to try Goat Yoga for quite some time but the class she signed up for through church kept getting postponed. The Goat Yoga finally happened in August 2019. It is just what it sounds like, you go yoga surrounded by goats. Apparently it is enjoyable for both humans and goats. And while I admit that it is very cute, it is still a bit weird to me.

1st Day of School

Grant started Middle School this year and Jenna is a 1st grader.

Lincoln’s Sunken Garden

Once the kids were back in school, Carol and I celebrated our newfound freedom by going for a walk in local garden area. We have a really wild side when the kids aren’t around! We’d driven by it but never stopped, so she and I took a nice relaxing walk around in the gardens. We were both impressed by the beauty of the garden and the amount of work that has gone into creating it. It was definitely worth driving across town to see.

Random Pictures from the Month

Lucy and Daisy, Grant’s long hair, Grant in comfortable chair, silly Grant, Jenna with a silly braid, silly outfits for Jenna.

September 2019

Produce Sale

As I mentioned above, Carol’s garden went a bit crazy to the point that we were generating too many tomatoes and herbs to use ourselves. We gave some away, but still had so many that Carol and Grant decided to set up a little stand in front of our house to sell to neighbors. Grant was also trying to sell chocolate bars for school, so it worked out nicely. They sat out there together for a while and actually sold some items!

Busking

Grant performed some songs at the Farmers Market again to try to earn some tips. This is apparently called busking. It would have just been begging without the Ukulele.

Dog Sitting

We watched one of my brother’s dogs while he and his wife went out of town. Ren is a high energy dog and Daisy loved playing with him. Our older dog, Lucy, kind of just stayed out of the way and let the youngsters play. We thought that Lucy’s age (14) was probably the reason that she had begun to rest a little more often and stay out of the young dog’s way, but later found out that there was more to it than that.

Special Olympics – Horse Riding

As you may recall from previous posts, Grant and Jenna have been taking horse riding lessons intended for kids with special needs. Since Grant was diagnosed with high-functioning autism, he qualifies for the lessons. He also qualifies to participate in Special Olympics – which he was invited to do. He wasn’t sure he wanted to, but was finally convinced by his instructor. He and Carol drove a couple of hours to the competition and he competed in two events in his age bracket – Trail and Equitation. He ended up winning a gold medal in both events! Way to go, Grant!

Goodbye to Lucy

Later in September, Lucy had a day where she was super lethargic and just wasn’t acting right. We took her into the Vet thinking that she might have an infection or something, but instead found out that it was a much worse diagnosis. We found out that she had inoperable cancer in her abdomen and that the reason for her lethargy was that the cancer had started bleeding. We were told that she only had days to live and that we should make arrangements to have her humanely put down. I was there with her at the Vet’s office to hear the news and brought her home so that the rest of the family could have a chance to say goodbye to her. She didn’t seem to be suffering, so we decided to give her a couple more days in the comfort of her loving home. We made the decision that if she was still alive on Wednesday morning, that Carol and I would go together after taking the kids to school to euthanize her. She passed away peacefully around 6:45am on the Wednesday morning with me laying beside her on the living room floor. Her last gift to us was not making us go through the painful experience of putting her down. The kids were able to say their last goodbyes and were allowed to go to school late. She was a member of our family through several life transitions – from newlyweds who moved away from the Midwest, to becoming parents to human children, to moving back to the Midwest to be nearer to family. We will forever love our sweet Lucy Lou and miss her greatly!

Grandparents Day at Cavett Elementary

Mom and Dad were able to visit Jenna at Cavett Elementary for Grandparents Day again this year. We were thrilled that Mom had been released from the rehabilitation facility and was strong enough to go eat with Jenna.