Happy 9th Birthday Josie!

Hard to believe she's 9 years old today! 

Summer fun!

A smorgasbord of pictures from the summer! 

A trip to Niagara Cave

Pontoon and water fun! 

Josie being Josie

 4th of July fun with friends and water balloons! 

National Night Out

We hosted a National Night Out event a couple of weeks ago. We had a great turnout and it was wonderful to get the chance to talk with the neighbors! 

Going batty

Brent and I were sitting on the couch the other night when we noticed something gliding overhead. I tried to convince myself it was a giant moth but the lack of fluttering from the wings didn't fit in with my theory.

By the time I convinced myself that it was indeed a bat we weren't able to find it. Then I noticed that the cat was missing. Cat + bat = bad.

I found Oz staring at the ceiling in our bedroom. Then I saw the bat swooping in circles around our room, started screaming and ran away.

Brent, being an avid tennis player, (yeah right!) ran and grabbed his racket. After a few swings he stunned the bat and it landed under our bed. As he searched for something to scoop it up with I kept an eye on the cat. Oz was very excited for his new toy and lunged at the bat who then decided to stop playing dead.

The chase was on! This time the bat was dizzy, hurt or both so Oz had a much better chance at it. Unfortunately that meant that the bat was flung across the room, on the bed, back across the room and against the wall. There was also some more screaming but this time it was me AND the bat.

You can see it in the upper left corner of the door frame! 

By this time Brent had made his way back upstairs and took a final swing at the bat. Thump! Off the window and dead on the carpet. No more fun for Oz.

After cleaning the carpet, disposing of the bat and calming our nerves the realization that Oz had touched it sunk in. Not only is that super gross (ewwww!!!) but its also a rabies concern. Luckily the vet has confirmed that the odds of an issue are very small so he's in quarantine for 10 days and then will get a rabies booster.

Do you think the fear of waking up to a bat swooping over my bed will go away within 10 days too?

Pilot Mound

Josie and I took a trip to Pilot Mound in order to stop by the cemetery and church. Josie was interested in seeing the Fairclough name and hearing stories about Grandma Alice. She also picked out some special pink and white flowers to leave for Alice and was able to really make the connection on where her middle name (Marie) came from. 

Then we toured the cemetery a bit and I told her about some other family members buried there. She was interested to hear that we considered naming her Amelia and thought that it was a very pretty name. After we finished at the cemetery we stopped by the church and sat inside for a bit. It was an incredibly hot day which reminded me of the day of Grandma's funeral. Josie was amused with just how small the church was and thought it was very pretty. 

We then swung through Chatfield and I showed her the complex where Grandma lived. Seeing this place triggered a lot more memories and stories to share with Josie. She was disappointed that the building did not have a pool though! 

It was a special time with Josie and I'm glad I was able to share it with her. Even though I talk about Grandma Alice at home this trip definitely helped put things in perspective for Josie. She came away with a giant list of questions about Tim's childhood so he's in for an interrogation some day! 

Deep thoughts

Deep thoughts by Josie

She playfully kicked me in the leg. 

I said "ow". 

She said "Life hurts sometimes, Mom."