Family Day!

Yesterday I told you about my trip to the flower patch on Sunday night, but we had already had a full day before I ever saw any flowers!

During our WillowBridge years, we really weren't able to participate much in family birthday parties (or holidays). Yes, we could choose our own days off, but we did so pretty far in advance, because we learned if we didn't, it became almost impossible to find days to take off. Usually by the time we found out about a party, our schedule was set, and we had picked the wrong days. :) So we're trying to be a bit more present now that we have a more regular schedule again. 

Sunday was our nephew's birthday party, and I realized that it was his party we attended two years ago literally on our way out of town to begin our job at WillowBridge. We had packed our car, driven to Ryan's sister's house for the party, and then rolled into Grabill and moved into our temporary apartment that same day. I'm not sure we made it to anything else until this past Sunday, so it was a full-circle moment!

We asked my parents if they wanted to hang out with Lexi while we went to the party, because it didn't seem like a good idea to take a puppy into a 4 year old's birthday party. Can you even imagine the amount of food that would have been issued under the table (and some of it not dog-appropriate)? I knew there would be tons of kids at the party, too, and it just seemed like a lot of chaos - for them and for Lexi. Dad jumped at the chance to watch her, and we were thankful for it.

Lexi was SO excited to see Dad, and he was SO excited to see her!

We were like true parents, trucking in with a litter box, a bed, a toybox, and a bag full of anything she could possibly need. (And her lunch. And her snack. And her water bowl.)

My biggest fear was that she would get underfoot of one of my parents while they walked around the house, trip them, and someone would break a hip. Yes, I seriously worried about it. 

But alas, I went to the party, and we had fun with Ryan's family! Here are some pictures from our day! 

Ryan's mom passed away in 2019, as you know, but her sister, Aunt Ruthie, asked if she could get a picture with all four kids. It was a really good picture! Blogger was kind enough to throw all these out of order, but it's okay. 

We got to meet our new nephew. He's a sweetie!

The birthday boy blowing out the candles of the cake you'll see in a minute. :) 

Listening to his happy birthday song!

Oh hey! I got to meet the baby, too! :) 

There's that cake!

Ryan and Aunt Ruthie. She's so sweet. 

And then I found this one on Aunt Ruthie's Facebook page. I forgot she took it! 

All the time we were at the party, Mom was kind enough to text us updates from the Lexi-palooza. She was having a great time playing with her toys, eating treats, and walking around the house with Dad.

(By the way - we know she looks like a shaggy old man. She was due for a groom on July 1, but her groomer had surgery! So the next available appointment is still a month out yet. Ryan may experiment with some trimming, but for now, she's a bit bedraggled.)

SO! Here's a story for you. Remember my worst fear come true about Lexi staying at my parents' house? We stayed at the birthday party for a couple of hours and then came to pick her up so we could get back home for the flower patch fun. 

When I walked in the door of my parents' home, I found my Dad ON THE FLOOR, not moving. And Lexi was beside him. I was like WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?!?!?!!?!? Mom said, "Well I sent you a text. Didn't you get it?" Um no!!!

Yeah. They were napping. NAPPING!!! Dad got down on the floor to nap with the dog, and that's how I found them. He is going to be NINETY in three months! I was beyond relieved to find out he had gotten down there voluntarily, and I was incredibly impressed with how well he got back up in the chair. No help! 

After everyone was awake and my heart had somewhat resumed a normal rhythm, we gave Dad his Father's Day gift. (I think I mentioned it on the blog, but Mom and Dad had pretty bad colds on Father's Day, so we canceled our get-together. This was the first we had seen him since to give him his gift.) We had gotten him a framed picture of the first time he met Lexi, and he LOVED it. 

It was a good day with both sides of the family! And Lexi slept all the way home, so she must have had a lot of fun!