Long month of August

August has been an eventful month for our little family.  It started off with a GREAT trip to Idaho for my sister's 40th birthday in which we surprised her with a big party.  Owen then went on his first camping trip to Kallispell Island in Priest Lake.  He LOVED it but I was a bit stressed trying to keep him out of the lake for which he had no fear, out of the fire for which he had no fear and away from the sharp sticks, again for which he had no fear.  The highlight was that he fell asleep in his backpack while we hiked around the island, a first for him.  After the party and camping, we packed up and headed back to Corvallis. O was a trooper on the trip, about 8 hours in the car.

 We got in some great play dates and swim time when we got back.

Unfortunately, little man ended up contracting the Hand, Foot, Mouth virus, which was AWFUL.  His mouth was full of painful blisters and he had a high fever.  And he was contagious for about 5 days.  Mike headed out for a conference (lucky man) while I had to stay sequestered at home with my sick, cranky little man.  (who HATES to be stuck inside).  And then, I got news that my grandmother had passed away.  Ugh.

  I was unable to travel for a few days because of Owen's illness but was able to get back to Iowa the day before the visitation.  My dad was a huge help and drove to Boise, flew to Portland to meet us and accompany us to Iowa.  He is a saint.  My brother and sister were also able to be there which was wonderful.  It was very sad.  When we got to grandma's house, O went directly to her chair and looked at it questioningly.  He then went to the cookie jar and said 'more.'  Grandma ALWAYS had cookies for him.

  At the visitation he waved at her and again seemed to wonder why she wasn't responding.  So sweet.  We have so many great memories of our time with Grandma and am so thankful that we were able to live there and Owen got to be part of her life.  I had so many people at the funeral tell me how much she talked about him and how he was the highlight of her life.  We made the best of the situation and got to see many of our lovely friends.  We had a long flight back but made it home safely.  We were so glad to be here and see Mike and Hazel.  Unfortunately, Owen came down with the flu and then so did I!  Funny thing about stress....We are recovering and hoping for a somewhat less eventful September!
Cool things that Owen is doing now:
Shaking his head no
Grabbing our fingers to lead us where he wants us to go
Pointing to objects in books like balls, cars or beep beeps
Waving and smiling at strangers
Giving hugs and loves
Waving night night to Hazel
Playing in the dirt with his trucks
Knows Bampa, Ceecee and Nany!