Summer

What have we been up to.

It was different the first few days/weeks after Bear passed. We had such beautiful weather, it was hard not to think about how Bear would have loved some evening walks. Clara didn't ask about Bear the first couple of days but then she did. And that was hard. It broke my heart when she would ask where Bear was. And when I told her Bear went to Doggie Heaven, she said she wanted to go see Bear in Doggie Heaven. I decided at that point that I don't like death. It is way to permanent. It would be so nice if we could see loved ones in Heaven. It is not fun to think you'll never see someone/thing again...ever. I know Bear was only in Clara's life for 3 years (with the majority of it with Clara as an infant) but Clara will remember Bear, you can tell. When she sees photos, she still smiles and says, "there's Bear." Life is different and even though it can be easier to manage, I miss having a dog around. I miss having Bear around. I miss walking her. I miss walking a dog in the evenings or in the mornings at the trail. Walking for miles at a time. I miss having a dog greet me when I return home. So happy to see you. I remember Bear would come down the stairs and wait for me to move the gate so she could come over for some love. Of course, then she immediately ran outside to pee (heehee). Oh and her excitement when I would pull the leash out to go on a walk; she jump and spin around and then sit (not so still though because of that excitement), the leash would go on and she'd bolt out the door. She had that excitement in her up till the end. Oh, and since I didn't have the camera with me I have to mentally remember this one: on the last few walks, Clara walked during the walk (she didn't sit in the stroller). And so in front of me would be Clara and Bear walking side by side on the side walk, like best friends. And Bear taught you the lesson to take time and stop and smell the roses: she sniffed everything and had to make sure all the other dogs in the neighborhood knew she was there. I wonder if the dogs wonder where she is now?....

Anyway, Bear is on my mind a lot. I can't help it.

I don't know if being busy is the excuse for not updating the blog. We have been out and about. We went to the newly updated Pullen Park in Raleigh over Mike's spring break (so I guess that was still spring, not quite summer yet). We went to a Durham Bulls' game to celebrate Woll'E Bull's birthday. Mascots from all over came to the game and it was kids run the bases night too. This time I joined Clara during the run. Oh, I found out I was pregnant in March (but really didn't announce it to the world till recently). First trimester wasn't really tough, I was just very tired and very hungry. I still do get tired more quickly than usual and hot. I don't know if I would be so hot if I weren't pregnant but this summer, I've been extremely hot. When we told Clara about the baby, I don't know if she took the news so well. But now I think she likes the idea that she is going to be a big sister. I think she is loving that she is becoming a "big girl."

Okay, so for Father's Day, we took Mike/Daddy to play miniature golf up at a place in Durham named Frankie's. It was Clara's first time. All Mike and I said the whole time was, at least she was free. It was fun. Then Clara and Mike got wet on the bumper boats. Again, it was fun. Mike enjoyed his Father's Day. Oh, we ran our first 5k as a family at the Run for the Quay in Fuquay at the beginning of June. I ran with the baby of course and Mike pushed Clara in the stroller. I surprised myself by breaking 30 minutes and running a 28:25 (I think).

Back to the end of June. Probably the biggest event was Mike's birthday. He turned 40 on June 26. And I pulled off the surprise. I starting planning a surprise birthday party for him back in January. He was surprised not only with the party but with the fact that I had kept it a secret (that everyone kept it a secret) for so long and had been planning it for so long. AND...to top it off...I planned a surprise and childless trip to a Bed and Breakfast in Ocracoke, NC right after his party to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. I think I did well this year...maybe I scored enough points that I can take a break for a year or two? (haha).

Despite not having regular access to a pool this summer, we've managed to get a bit of swimming in. We checked out the Y in Apex, membership fee was too expensive. But we did get a free pass for a week. We traveled to Kure Beach for the day. And Clara and I went and swam and my running friend, Melissa's, pool a couple of times.

Clara's been cooking and baking: making cakes, brownies, and pizzas. She has been running around like crazy and ever since her cousin Preston visited (he is the soccer stud of the family), kicking the ball like crazy. THANK YOU cousin Preston for your influence on our child. We were working on that skill for six months. And she is jumping...with two feet of the ground. She has moved forward by leaps and bounds with her gross motor skills. (I guess I really have not said anything about it on this blog but Clara was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis when she was 2. She has come a long way this past year.)

So I think that sums up the first half of summer. And this post is getting long. I'll put another post up here soon of photos from these events.

Oh and p.s. Clara got a camera for Christmas and has taken well over 500 photos on it. I just noticed that I can retrieve these photos from the computer's hard drive to download onto this blog. So I'll post some of those too. Some are quite good, some are quite...well...interesting, and some are really funny. She is the best!