And thus starts the summer season

So I wrote this post 6 weeks ago. And a lot has happened since then. I haven't been able to come back and finish this post until now. In order to leave room for healing. 

Happy Memorial Day! Happy first weekend of SUMMER!!! And like Reese's do, ours was JAM-PACKED!

Friday afternoon, we were supposed to close on the townhouse, but life got in the way and the buyers' realtor is a real pain in the butt. So that didn't happen.

Saturday morning we woke up and went for a hike up Sugarloaf. Matt wanted to try out his new backpack, and I went along (against my wishes, but changed my mind in the end) to help him take care of her (READ: to change her diaper on my lap instead of him) and make sure she was okay during the hike. Didn't want to overwhelm her with change and such. It was AWESOME! It was a nice hike and fun to spend the time together as a family.

Saturday afternoon we went to Brew at the Baltimore Zoo. We bought tickets to a beer tasting event with live music and food. Last summer we went to an event like this at National Harbor and had a great time. Brew at the Zoo? Even better, because we got to go to the zoo again. And Eliana LOVES the zoo. It is filled with DOGS! And she loves watching all the animals. Especially when they jump and walk and move. The monkeys are the best.

Sunday morning/afternoon we had music and then went to share a late lunch with the Reese's. Also Matt needed a haircut. It's always nice to see family and for Eliana to show everyone how big she has gotten.

Then we spent the evening with Ken & Jordan. We grilled. Played in Eliana's water table (thanks Liz ~ it gets a TON of action!!) Had a bonfire (thanks Grandma ~ we LOVE IT!!)

Monday. We made friends and found ourselves a babysitter. I had a student come over to play. They had a wonderful time. Then we grilled lunch. Colleen & I went out for some lite shopping. Came home and took Eliana to the pool ~ which was suprisinly an EPIC FAIL! She loved the water over winter break. But it was just soooooo cooooold. So we got in the kiddie pool, and she face-planted. And that was the end of that.

When we got home, we realized that Misty had not really moved in a couple hours. She wasn't sitting up or even looking up when we moved around. In fact, she couldn't seem to find us when we called out for her. Misty had another stroke. (She had one 2 years ago, about this time). So we gave her motion sickness meds (that's what they told us to do last time) and I took her to the vet. They agreed with me that she had had a mini stroke, but with anti nausea and motion sickness meds, she could make a full recovery.

So that was our weekend. It started off so well. We had so much fun this weekend - and almost entirely as a family. We just hope we finish the week as a family of 5 not a family of 4.

And here I begin again.
Misty did not get better. Two years ago she had a stroke. And within a week, she was mostly back to normal. She could walk around. She could take herself outside. She went on vacation with me to the beach. Misty did not get better. On Wednesday I made THE decision. It was one of the hardest and easiest decisions I ever made. I knew that I didn't want to prolong her life (in pain) just to be there for me. I knew I needed to be there for her. And so we took her in. She lay down with her on the floor. I was right in front of her kissing her nose. And we said our goodbyes. It was the right move.

These last 6 weeks have been weird. It's odd to only have one dog, and have that dog be Bones. It has been an adjustment. But I remember her healthy ~ running around the backyard chasing deer a few years ago. I remember her playing in the stream after a particularly long walk. I remember her INTENSE LOVE of snow!

And here she is when we first met