Scare

So the annual Kosloski/Groth weekend was everything it promised to be....and more.

Sure, there was lots of Kelly's buttery cooking, heavy drinking, talking stupid, listening to Zong song, some Olympic watching, community parenting and even some liberating skinny dipping.  Yes, you would think that would have made the weekend so chalk full of fun that there would be no room for anything else.

But there was...and it was pretty scary!

But lets start from the beginning, shall we?

Here we are, driving to MN on Thursday evening...the anticipation and excitement is killing us.

On Friday, we headed over to the cabin that Steve and Kelly are renting for the summer for more crazy fun. It is a little cabin with a whole lot of charm...and retro stuff.

See exhibits A and B:

Retro.

Charm.


We thoroughly enjoyed the screened in porch feature.

Conveniently, the cabin is situated right next door to Steve's fellow wrestling coach and friend whom has a nice beach and dock.  We enjoyed these features as well on Friday evening and all day Saturday.

 Me and Koslo.

 Our water dog.

 His second Northern of the trip.

Marsupial Kelly.

And then it was firework time.  Well, really, it was just one firework that did it.  Someone bought a few fireworks to light off for his kids to watch and he lit off two of them and then had us come over for the last one.  The best one.  We, including Turbo, walked next door and stood on the deck while the firework was lit on the dock.  It was loud and bright...and pretty cool.  But the mosquitoes were attacking so we all made our way back to the Koslo cabin and the protection of the screened in porch.  Only when we got there, Turbo was not following right behind me, as usual.  Immediately, that sent up a red flag.  We got some flashlights and walked around, calling her name.  Nothing.  I really was not too worried, I mean if anyone knows Turbo, they know she is more human than dog, percentage-wise.  There is no way she would ever stray too far from me or the hubs.  Which is why I don't think I thought too much about switching her tags over to her new collar almost 2 years ago.  It was never a possibility that she would stray from us.  So I assumed that she was hiding in a nearby porch, house or camper.  I figured she would make her way back eventually so we called off the search.  But she was not back yet the next morning, or afternoon.  All morning and afternoon we did drives and walks calling her name and nothing.  I googled lost pets and happened across this article.  So I made some calls to the local police department and humane society where I was able to talk to real humans and they took the info but told me that no one had turned in or called about a mystery dog.  I also called the local vet clinic and left a message about Turbo with my number in case anyone brought her in.  Of course this would happen on a Sunday, when no one it around.  

By 1:30 pm on Sunday, the heartbreak set in.  We needed to leave the cabin.  We were supposed to travel the 5 hours home that evening.  It was horrid and terrible.  The tears started.  To drown out the pain and heartbreak from picturing her scared and cowering in the wilderness where she has not an ounce of animal instinct to help her, I went into survival mode.  I shut down my brain so I didn't have to think about what a great and amazing dog she was, how we never even really had to train her to stay in our yard when we moved into our house, how she required a chewy every night, how she smelled and cuddled and looked like a fawn right after a grooming, how sensitive she was, how she loves bedtime and sleeping at our feet on the bed, how she hated men in baseball hats or how she thought any person who came to our house was there to see only her.  

We left the cabin.  We went to the Koslos house were we all showered, and worried.  But we could not bring ourselves to leave without her.  So Steve and the hubs went back to the cabin for one more search.  While they did that, Kelly (thank you) posted her pic and info on the lost dogs of MN website, humane society website, fb and Craig's list (this I would not have thought of but the lady at the humane society to us to do this).  Calls and texts from friends and family started coming in and each one made me lose it.  Eventually the boys returned home empty handed.  Approximately 15 minutes after the boys made it back, I got the call.  That glorious call from the vet clinic.  Apparently, the "dog catcher" (really?  they still have these?) brought her in last night.  The vet lady was at the Twins game so she was gone all day but when she got back, she found my message.  Turbo was just fine.  She was in the "pound" with another dog and was happy as could be.

OH THANK GOD!!!!

And here is our girl, reunited!!!

I can't tell you how great it felt to be leaving MN this morning with our whole family.  Joyous!

And a few more pics from the weekend...

 Patriotic dolphins, duh.

 Hill rolling.

 See?  Very human.

Sully "sharing" with Chloe the cat.

20 Month Baby

Dear Sullivan,

Tomorrow you will 20 months old! Inching closer to 2 every single day.  Tearing, ripping and demanding your independence from your parents any chance you get.  But then, 20 minutes later, needing to be close and snuggled in my arms.

You have started talking in phrases.  Phrases like, "tractor na-night", "my B", "kitty meow" and "big cars."

Surprising us every single day with how smart and sassy you are.

You finally don't think time outs are so funny.  They are very effective at the moment.

Time marches on.  And so do you.

Such a privilege it has been to watch you grow.  But also watch some things stay the same.

Your belly laugh and the way your mouth forms into an "o" when you are really concentrating on something.  These are the same since you were only a few months old.  Two of my favorite things about you.

Love,
Mama

Weekend Friends

We have had busy weekends the past few weeks and will have another busy one next weekend.  We have been really enjoying spending time with our adult friends and their kids.  Weekend visits start much earlier now and we can't stay up as late as we used to, somehow 9 pm feels like 3 am when you get up at 5:30 am after go-go-going all day and trying to not only keep toddlers alive but also entertained and fed something other than chips.

Last weekend we got to visit the newest member or our growing clan, Baby Charlotte.

To say that she was the best behaved child all weekend is an understatement.  The other two tots took turns fighting over toys and throwing relentless tantrums about completely ridiculous expectations and demands including being upset about how too wet and sticky dip is on a chip or how when you say you don't want the rest of  a particular juice box which then gets thrown away but then decide it is the only juice box you want and it is irretrievable as it was disposed of in a public park trash bin.


This weekend we spent more time toddler refereeing between our son and Lucy when the Charnos came to town.  The slip n slide was a uniting force though...

 Cutest little ruffle butt.

Can you tell that is her daughter?

On Saturday, we all headed to the zoo.

 Roar.

 Waiting for the choo choo.

Mad penguins.


And some other random pics from the weekend...

Saturday evening we had a cook out with even more friends and babies.  It was great.  I am always a little taken aback though that we are so grown up.  That we are the parents.  It will never stop being surreal to me.