Channeling Elton John

Gracie channels Elton during lunch.

Party time

Today, we went to the lake to visit some folks who were grilling, and then to a bridal shower. Lauren kept referring to these events as "birthday parties," and I think she was slightly disappointed that there was not a giant inflatable structure at each destination. However, they both realized quickly that the lake and shower afforded amenities that they could really appreciate. Specifically, a boat and yummy cake.

At the lake, the girls had their first boat ride. They were very cute in their little life vests, hair being blown, and I am very saddened to report that I failed to capture pictorial evidence of this moment. They had a wonderful time, fished briefly, and made two new friends. (Seriously, how did I not get a picture of them in the boat?)

Next, the bridal shower. Again, no pictures. By then, I had located the camera, but the batteries were not cooperating. They enjoyed some snacks (cake!) and visited with family. A couple of snaps from the iPhone:

"It" bag

We picked up two of the above purses last weekend at a consignment sale, and these are the new "it" bags for fall. The beauty of them is that they are made of hard plastic, and the sound they make when they are dropped (or thrown) onto the hardwood floors makes us really happy that we exchanged two of our hard-earned dollars for the privilege of hearing an unbelievably loud noise.

Funny

I don't "tweet," but I saw the below on this website and thought it was funny:

Weekly update

This has been both a busy and slow week, with three appointments -- at the most inconvenient and inefficient times -- in two days. The above is a couple of shots of the girls at play.

"Fist bump" and more

Gracie is celebrating the temporary break in the heat by giving her Daddy a "fist bump" (or "knucks," as Skip calls it). We enjoyed the brief cool front by heading straight outdoors and to our neighborhood park:

Errands

The girls' favorite new thing is to discover we have errands. They grab their purses and head to the basement door. Today, we went to the Post Office; the library; the mall (briefly), where we also ate lunch and rode the carousel; and then to the park.

Day One

Wednesday was "Day One" of the girls' academic careers. Ha. Ok, it's really just preschool, and it sounds as if there's more play than school. The below seems to embody more of a where-are-we-going-so-early-on-a-Wednesday-morning vibe. In reality, they were completely fine with the experience, and both girls had crossed their classrooms to get to the play area before I could even hand their bag over to their teacher. There were no tears, no desperate pleas, etc. All in all, they were happy to finally begin school.

Preschool

On the eve of beginning preschool, we found this article interesting.

Earning award points at the pediatrician's office

Since we have been to our pediatrician 3 times in 11 days, I'd like to see some type of award incentive for our HSA card.

Gracie watching "Happy Feet".



Admiring the compelling art work in the examination room.

Sick day

By now, everyone has the virus, except for Skip. We missed church (again, except for Skip) in an effort to not infect others. Instead, we listened to music -- "Daydream Believer" by the Monkees was a favorite today -- and watched "Elmo Blanket" (more correctly known as "Elmo in Grouchland").

Saturday morning

Friday

Friday afternoon I got a much needed hair cut. My stylist has moved to a new salon. I sneakily tried to photograph it from the shampoo room:



When I returned to the car, I had a message that Lauren was not feeling well. So... we went to the pediatrician's office, again, Friday afternoon.

Brownie: July 4, 1993 - August 11, 2009

Yesterday we lost our furry child. In December of 2007, his lab work revealed that he was experiencing loss of kidney function. Brownie was lucky to be an exceptionally "robust" cat, weighing in at 18 pounds in his prime, because he later managed a nine pound weight loss without too many consequences. (Recall the hunger strike he waged when the girls came home from the hospital.) About a week ago, he basically stopped eating. Skip (shhh... he says he will never admit to this) had been attempting to feed him the delicacies of gourmet cat food, with a spoon, with no appreciable result.

I talked with Brownie last Wednesday, a week ago. At first I told him that he absolutely could not go, that we had a family, that he was part of it, and that he was important to me and all of us (the girls always ask "Where's Brownie?" when heading to "Silver Car," or "Red Car"). He was just so old and so frail. After spending some really good quality time with him, I told him that he had been a wonderful pet, a really good and loyal friend, and that it was ok if he needed to go. He began really declining over the next 72 hours.

Yesterday, we took him to the vet, and I think it's a fair statement to say that I was in complete denial about his situation, realizing that there was nothing that we could do to change the circumstances. Also, I have talked with a few people who had cats who lived to be 18 and even 20 years old. Therefore, I refused to imagine a scenario that did not include a full 20 years. After extensive lab work, the vet -- a very compassionate, empathetic professional -- confirmed that his kidney function had declined to approximately 15% functionality. Brownie's prognosis was not good to say the least; he would likely not make it through the week. We made the very painful decision to avoid additional discomfort and the suffering that would inevitably occur. We wanted Brownie to be at rest -- not suffer -- and to spend his final moments being loved.

By the way, someone should really champion veterinarian medicine for the availability of organ donation.

So. Anyway. If you have seen the movie "Marley & Me," you can imagine how our Tuesday afternoon was spent. It was spent with me saying, "But, I thought I had four more years," and with the vet explaining lab numbers and obviously hoping that I not make the decision to leave with him to suffer senselessly. He did not suffer. He went to sleep while we were petting him and telling him that he was the very best pet ever.

We will miss him.

Below is a pictorial tribute to Brownie, covering the last 3 years. I realize this is a lot of photos for a cat, and that this type of thing puts me dangerously into "cat lady" territory. However, I was cheated out of four years so I am going to indulge in extra photos.
:-)

This captures Brownie's sentiments about the girls, i.e., you can bring home as many babies as you like, but I won't yield my spot!



Surveying the Christmas loot



A favorite place to nap in the guest room



Trying to relax on the floor, but staying on baby alert



Enjoying an early play date



Brownie enjoyed the playground area as much as the girls





Getting some affection from Gracie



"What is this supposed to be?"



Despite the initial rejection, Brownie quickly became enamored of the girls and tolerated ear-pulling, tail pulling and various other displays of affection.





Lending support to Lauren




More napping. It would be easy to joke about his sleeping habits (18 hours per day), but he took innumerous naps with me when I was pregnant so I am giving him a pass on being slothful.



On the outside looking in



On patrol at the swings



Pool-side