A few dull days. Today, Jax had a baseball game (Dex has a "bye" this week). Tomorrow is Dex's b-day party and hopefully it will not rain. I bought these water balloon launchers for the kids and they have to hit their own name but if it is raining I am not sure what we will do.

I forgot to give the kids their allergy meds today and then in the late afternoon they were playing outside while Stephen cut the grass. Jax broke out in hives and Dex's cough returned. I hope that cough is gone tomorrow! He had it for 4 weeks and it had only just cleared up with antibiotics (sinus infection). :(

This coming week will mark 6 years since we moved to the Pacific Northwest. Let's see, we moved on Wednesday, June 9th. Spend Thursday and Friday (10th & 11th) looking at houses - 20 houses in 2 days. This is the last house we looked at on Friday at about 5pm. Then we went back to the real estate agent's office and put in an offer. Saturday and Sunday we waited word from the homeowners. They took the house off the market because of problems they were having with the sellers of the house they were buying. They said they would hold onto our offer. Monday the 14th, Stephen started his new job at the Evil Empire. Wednesday the 16th, my aunt called me and told me that my dad was hospitalized and I should think about coming home. I booked a flight for the 30th and she called me back and said to come right away. I called Air Canada back straight away and they were "kind" enough not to charge me for that flight and gave me the "compassion" fares of $1000 each for Jax and I to fly to Toronto on the 18th.

I arrived in T.O. on the 18th in the late afternoon and spent the next day and a half at the hospital. My dad got such a kick out of Jax who spent a lot of the time running in and out of the privacy curtain. Dad looked pretty ill but I remember thinking "Shit, I am going to have to go back to Seattle then come back again in a few weeks when it is really time for him to go". But, the next day I knew he knew it was time. He had such a final look on his face when he shook my cousin's hand as my cousin was leaving. I will never forget the knowing look on both of their faces.

Then on the 20th, Father's Day, my aunt came by my parents' place at 5am (Mom was spending all of her time at the hospital) to tell Wally and I (Wally was staying there too because it was too far to drive to his house) that we needed to get to the hospital. Mrs. Read came down from her house four doors up to watch Jax. Dad had died shortly before we arrived.

Wow, I still tear up thinking about my dad dying.