August 2017 - Back to School

It is Summer Time coming to an end. Although I type this several months later, I am going to document what happened in August and keep it in that time period. Otto and I took every advantage to enjoy our Summer and make memories. We ate Popsicles and ice cream on the front porch and played outside every day. 

 We took long walks with Lucy to help her lose weight (a losing battle as she has the mid-age spread).
We went to the aquarium and Thanksgiving Point often enough to use our passes.
 As for me, we chose to work with an infertility clinic in Sacramento, CA. This decision came from the desire to have appropriate hormones and medications, ultrasounds and blood tests, and whatever else is needed to trick my body into believing it is a working, functional, woman's body. This clinic has a lot of great opportunities for us. I made for a quick trip, flew into Sac, stayed in Santa Rosa (thanks to Uncle Jim and Aunt Gaylene), had a quick doctor's appointment and ultrasound, and flew home again.
It was a quick, yet informative doctor's appointment. I have always believed in being open and honest about our infertility journey (only so much as I am comfortable to share). I don't mind saying that I learned once and for all that I have no eggs in either ovary. This was not a shock, but new information nonetheless. I left feeling very good (I don't often get good news at a fertility related doctor's appointment) as the doctor confirmed that my uterus, although small, is in very healthy condition. I have a healthy UTERUS! That is a very promising bit of hope. So, I was to put on rounds of medications (similar to that of IVF patients), to see how my uterus would respond and we'd make another appointment in the future for me to come back. 

Meanwhile, the community gets better and better as we continue our Summer fun. Our SoDa Row free concert series had invited Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band. I saw them 15 years ago at the Brigham City Summer concert series and bought their CDs. I love to see them anytime I can see them live. They are so fun to watch. Also, I may have rushed the stage during Banjo Boy just so I could shout "Hey Banjo Boy, we love you, I wish that we could all play the Banjo TOO!"
I may not be that cool.

Still, we had a nice time eating cheese and crackers in the park and listening to live music. So, maybe that makes us a little bit trashy-classy.

 Otto started his first day of PRESCHOOL! Summer is over. He and I returned to school together as I teach one morning class every Tuesday and Thursday, and he is in the class that starts just 10 minutes later. He is a Dolphin in Ms. Amanda's class. His class follows mine in the room rotation, so I get to peek in on him every so often and see him playing and learning. Then, we get to talk about how our day went together on the drive home.
He absolutely LOVES to sing the new songs his is learning "A stick and a bump bump make big B, won't my Mommy be so proud of me."

We attempted to do another Story Time event . This time themed My Dream House. I was really excited about this theme because I have great books about houses and we were going to let the kids design their own dream house!  It did not go well. No one came. I attempted it on two different dates and worked really hard to prepare. I was ready to call it my last one ever, but we shall see. . .(stay tuned).

We found other worth-while activities this month! We went to Ogden Eccle's Peery Egyptian Theater production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It is a fun show to see, but they did an especially amazing job. I played the music for a week for Otto so he would be excited to watch. He did so great and stayed in his seat throughout the entire performance. He liked to see "Jacob! Jacob and Sons!" over and over.  I hope he'll get excited enough to want to be on stage someday.

 My Mom and Dad are the ones working so hard behind the scenes to put the show on.
The Barbers (our favorite show buddies) joined us as audience members.

 Matt's work gave him free tickets to the owner's box at the raceway. Otto was in absolute heaven watching the cars race and sometimes crash. It was pretty exciting for all of us, and especially grateful to be in the air conditioned room while it was still very hot outside.





We took the paddle boat out on Oquirrh Lake one last time. It takes about an hour to paddle around the whole loop and we stopped and had lunch at the park. Otto enjoyed it at first, but grew quickly bored that he wasn't paddling or steering. Still, I think it was a pleasant experience and I will miss this activity particularly as the weather cools off.

It isn't the end of Summer without a visit to the county fair. Which one? Why the Box Elder County Fair of course!
It is only the best one.

Here are some cows.
Otto like the "Mighty Machines" best.