Adventures in Bennionland

Last weekend, on the 11th, we put our family dog Mason to sleep. Mason joined our family in 1994 as a Christmas present meant mostly for Lyndsy & Neal. Mason was unlike any other dog we owned. For one, he lasted longer. I don’t mean this in a morbid way – but more simply. All our other dogs ran away. Literally.

More than that though, Mason became a real member of the family. In particular he was attached completely to Lyndsy. He dug a hole in the dirt under her window to sleep. He seemed to always know when she was out of town and when she was home. When she moved to college we all swore he needed large doses of Prozac.

Mason would scratch at the door with his paw in hopes to get us to open it and let him in for the night. He’d bounce a tennis ball on the trampoline, from underneath, with his nose. He seemed more cat than dog. Moody and personable. He was gentle and kind. And it was time for him to go. As sad as it has been – it was right and it was time.

That whole week proved to me that I am the least optimistic in our family. After explaining to Will & Walker about what was going to happen to Mason (in broad strokes), they immediately broke down. After a few moments of sobbing Will looked up and said, “Mom, we’ll see Mason again.”. “No sweetie, we won’t”, I replied. “Yes we will. He can bounce back down from Heaven to see us and then bounce back up again.” He turned to Walker, explained the situation, and within seconds they had wiped their tears and were back playing in the sandbox. When we came home from the vet, sans Mason, the boys tried desperately to buoy our spirits by saying Mason might be back anytime, just bouncing back down.

Yeah. I’m not buying that. (No offense boys…)

Eric also proved his optimism this past week with two words – Chicago Cubs. Because there is always next year.

Yeah, I’m not buying that.

So I find myself at the bottom of the optimistic ladder. See, for most of my days as a parent I’ve believed one thing – that at some point I’d have a good night’s sleep, in my bed. Maybe even alone.

Yeah, I’m not buying that.

Then again, every time the wind has blown this week I’ve looked over to see if it was Mason scratching at the door. Every single time.

I know I’ve said it before but we are so fortunate to live next to the beach! We headed down to enjoy the fun and sun on Sunday. In about a month it will be even better since we can go in the water! This year we’re going to teach the boys to boogie board – if they’ll do it!

It was a little too cold to do anything but put our feet in the water – but even that was a treat.

Here are some pictures from our adventure:
Chasing some bubbles with a new beach friend:

Aren’t we cute?

Checking out the ocean:

Bubbles and the sun:

One of the perks of living in G-town is that we are relatively close to each of my three siblings. And living with my parents means that if they come to visit Mom & Dad they cannot help but get a visit with the four of us. We’ve been up to see Lyndsy & Jon, we’re going to Alan & Jen’s at the end of the month, and on Monday we got to see Neal and Meleah. They bought a condo in the LBC. We’ve been there several times – this time takes the cake though! We got to meet Neal at his office in downtown, walk to the Port of LBC, go to their house for dinner, and play lots!

Neal and Meleah are a good mix for our family. They both like to play, have fun, joke around, and have a good time. We had such a blast! I’m looking forward to our next N&M family adventure!

The boys at Neal’s office.

Walking across the bridge to the port.

The train that takes the containers from ships to trucks.
So cool, especially for the two little boys.

Helping to wash Meleah’s car! Nothing like kid-labor.

“Driving” the car. A favorite past-time.

Getting to take a bath in their bathtub! A treat!

Reading stories in our jammies.

Belly raspberries from Uncle Neal.