Our vacation...so far

We have been traveling..A LOT! Here is a little bit of what we did the last week of June, before we continued our vacation in MI.

We decided to make a stop on our way down to Virginia instead of driving straight thru. We went to The Wilds, its an animal safari nature preserve in southeastern Ohio. It was so beautiful and Peanut loved seeing the animals.




That night I found out we were staying at a hotel owned by friends of our family!! What are the odds! And the next morning we went to breakfast at their restaurant too, it was so surreal.

Then we headed to Virginia to meet up with the rest of the family for the Deel reunion. This is an annual event for my Mom's side of the family. It's always held at Breaks Interstate Park which is a beautiful park that connects Virginia and Kentucky. They have many overlooks that you can walk to, I've been doing it for years and now Franklin loves it too!



I used to see this side of the family three times a year, now its only one, but with the blessing of Facebook we are able to keep in touch much better!


This year also marked the wedding of my cousin Shana. Her and David went down to Florida to get married on the beach a week before and then had a reception after our reunion. She was gorgeous, the venue was beautiful and we all had a great time! Congratulations Shana and David!!!


The morning after the reception we headed back to Ohio. We weren't going home, only continuing our vacation in a cottage at a state park. The first two hours of our drive were all in the mountains. And along the way we saw many interesting things...buckets for mailboxes, Christmas lights and this bridge:


Once we got out of the mountains the adventure didn't end. As we were driving on the highway in West Virginia we saw a wild turkey fly into someone's windshield!! It was a HUGE mess with feathers, glass and turkey blood everywhere! I felt so bad for those people.

We absolutely loved the cottage we stayed in at the park. It was quite homey and comfortable. Peanut loved helping Daddy make breakfast.


We went to the lake, the indoor pool and the playground. We were only there for two nights but had so much fun we plan on going back as soon as we can!




Stay tuned for the rest of our adventures and the celebration of Peanut's 3rd Birthday!!!

My baby boy is getting so big!!

Buddy's 4 Month Checkup!

It's been a few weeks since I've posted, our life is somewhat returning to normal, Peanut still asks about Sophie almost every day. :(

But today was an exciting day, for me anyway, it was the 4 month check up for my baby boy!! I'm sure he was less than thrilled with the exam and shots, but I always love to find out how much they've grown. He is now just barely over 15 lbs (55%) and 26 inches long (90%). That is slightly less than Peanut weighed at the same time but almost an inch longer! At this rate I will have two tall, skinny kids!

Unbelievably Hard Day

I thought I was prepared. I thought since I had planned for it I would handle it better. I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. Yesterday was one of the hardest days of my life. We put Sophie to sleep. It sounds so peaceful but it's still ending her life. Even though I know she was in pain. Even though I know she had suffered a long time, it was still hard. I held her as she fell asleep in my arms. I hadn't been able to hold her like that for a long time because she wasn't comfortable. It was comforting and heartbreaking at the same time. I didn't get to hold her as she received the final shot but I saw her take her last breath.

Having Peanut has been both a blessing and a curse in this situation. In one way I had to get control of my emotions and not let her see that I was so upset. And as I was able to go through the day because of this it made it that much harder when she kept asking for Sophie last night. She didn't want her to go on her trip, she wanted her to come home. She wanted to be with her. I hope as each day goes by she asks about her less and less. I love that she loved her as much as I did and I know she doesn't understand she's causing me pain, but it hurts so much.

To Sophie...you were a wonderful dog. You were my first baby. You were always there for me when I needed you. You will be forever loved and missed.