For the past 5 years we have kicked off our summer with Scratch cupcakes to celebrate the last day of school and look ahead to some fun. A couple of our highlights this summer were Comic Con and our trip to Chicago, both captured in more detail at previous blog posts.
With only 2 years left of high school, Bailey began her college search process this summer, looking at theater for a major. Knowing she liked visiting the Twin Cities, she wanted to check out the University of Minnesota. I had done some searching of my own and discovered Riverland Community College in Austin, Minnesota which had a 2 year theater program. Located halfway up to the Twin Cities, I encouraged Bailey to check it out. We had a great visit at Riverland, meeting with one of the theater professors and getting all the behind-the-scene looks of their program. The next day we checked out the University of Minnesota. Our campus tour will always be remembered for the 90+ degree temps and high heat index, one of the hottest days of the summer. Although we enjoyed both visits, Bailey commented on the drive home that she is open to considering other majors and colleges so we will keep shopping.
This summer was the 4th year Hope and I spent a day at Adventure Bay to celebrate my birthday. Hope turned 40 in June so I wanted to add a new tradition to our weekend to mark this special birthday. We got pedicures to pamper ourselves. Spending all day at the swim-up bar and floating around the lazy river with drinks in hand is the perfect way to spend time with my sister. I look forward to this every summer and can't wait for warmer temps and sunny skies to do it again next summer.
2018 marked my Silver Class Reunion: 25 years since I graduated from West Central. Our class reunion was held back in Maynard with a tour of the new junior high and high school building and a picnic in Maynard Park. 18 of us reunited and reminisced about all the shenanigans from 25+ years ago. Stories, a few drinks and some dancing around the bonfire that night reminded me that we are never to old to be young again.
Our summer was filled with lots of fun, but also a couple surgical procedures for Bailey. Following a year of consultations with her ENT, Dr. Manoligold, it was decided that she have surgery on her left ear to patch a hole in her eardrum. She had been losing hearing and dealing with lots of pain in this ear so surgery was scheduled on June 11th. During the surgery the doctor also found a cholesteatoma, a collection of non-cancerous cells in her ear. To prevent further complications, he removed this while patching the hole. The entire surgery took 5 hours. The Children's Hospital at the University of Iowa was a wonderful place to have the surgery. The top floor is a serenity floor which provided exactly what I needed to keep my mind occupied. The healing in the days to follow was long, but Bailey was a trooper. Her ear has healed, but she still has some mild to moderate hearing loss. We have another checkup and hearing test in January to see if her hearing has improved. The pain the hole was causing is now gone so that is a blessing.
A dental checkup a month later led to Bailey having all 4 wisdom teeth extracted in August. Again, she was brave and handled the procedure with courage. People say that following this surgery, a person may be really happy or really sad. Bailey was a combination of both, crying what she called "hap-hap-happy tears".
It was another jam-packed summer that is never long enough.
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