Evening in the Park

After a day of pool play with friends, we cleaned up and went to the park this evening for the Summer Night at the Park Concert series. Tonight's show case was Big Band complete with all the good dancing songs. It was busy for our small town.

Finding our blanket space, we enjoyed the evening with Cora; who by the way, received continuous on lookers and comments about her beauty and good behavior. And then we met up with this cute stranger. Who is who? Also a 13 inch Beagle, Penny, came from Oregon and is six years old. The girls were very mellow with each other.

Next week we are planning to go via raft and anchor on the shore line to eat yummy dessert and listen to the music. We saw several audience members with this brilliant idea.

Loving warm summer nights in the park!

Splash Day!

We needed to get our Splash fix today, so we headed over to my parents for some play time. This morning was bright sunshine, so we packed swim suits and towels. By the time we arrived in the afternoon, the clouds had rolled in and left very muggy, warm air. But we still splashed with Splash.

There was time for duck hunting.

Lobster trapping.

The kids put on the sprinkler to cool off and guess who came running from across the yard to check out the action! While he didn't go to the center, he went far enough for this young pup.

We played ball.

But the bubbles seemed to be the big hit for Splash. Jumping like a billy goat, he would attack the bubbles with his paws and mouth and show a bewildered look when they popped.

We wore out Splash. Our duty was done. Until next time ...

Yes ... back on track

I had to miss one of Cora's Agility Classes recently and I had a makeup session last Saturday that went less than average. I have found that the benefit of having class during traditional work hours means less dogs on campus. Less dogs on campus means Cora's sniffer is less active. More dogs means more smells means Cora is ALL Beagle. She did not run a good course. In fact, she hardly ran and it was a lot of bribery to get her to pay attention. A defeating and tiring session for both of us.

Thinking and searching over the weekend on what went wrong and what I had to do to get her to listen to me, not her nose, I visited Cesar Millan's website. I browsed and read and found that daily walks are really the key. While I do walk Cora; I do not walk her daily. Feeling like we needed to reconnect, I leashed up Cora and went for a run.

Having seen her run from our patio to the back fence in lightening speed, I wondered how this was going to go. But I found (from reading Millan) that she really views me as Pack Leader because she would not run ahead of me, regardless of how slow or fast I ran. It was really enjoyable. Her tail steady, her tongue hanging out, I even think she winked at me a few times down the street. It was a blast. We did a repeat the next day, and the next, and ...

Today's Agility she was back in her element. Back in her game of her regular three dog buddies, she ran nearly a perfect course all session. I had my moments of not commanding on time and trying new features, but overall it was a great day! The teacher was proud of Cora getting back on track.

Now we are headed to Advanced Handling!!

Critters

See this fat, big salamander? We met him on our private beach during our recent camping trip. My son was so excited to fish, until he met this salamander. Then it was all about the salamander. Any reptile is too big to me, but this one really was good sized.

My husband was finally able to catch it and put it in our son's bucket. My son played with it and gave it some rocks and grass. And then he started to feel sorry for it; being the animal lover that he is. So, playtime was short lived when my son could not take it any longer with the thought that this little guy was missing his environment. He let him go and it quickly disappeared into the forest.

Then, my son decided it was time to fish.

August Wedding

I've never been to a wedding before where I felt like I should write the Bride and Groom a Thank You note. But today was a first. We attended a well planned and gorgeous wedding late this afternoon.

Our children do not remember the one wedding they've been too previously, so today was really their first experience. They're expectations are set pretty high now after witnessing this gorgeous wedding where every detail was set in order. A wonderful Christian ceremony set in a church, followed by a top floor reception at a downtown sky rise. The sun set and the mountain lay majestic in the distance providing a beautiful backdrop to their special day.

The reception started with a cocktail hour in a smaller room where guests mingled and ate appetizers waiting for the Bride and Groom. Another room hosted a huge sit down reception dinner complete with a dance floor and music. Huge boutiques of flowers adorned the tables, candles, and fine china. A nice buffet, drinks, cake .... it was plenty and delicious.

The Bride thought of every detail down to decorating the women's bathroom with rose petals and candles. And, the highlight for all the parents of young ones was that she dedicated an entire conference room as the Children's Reception. Complete with her church's nursery teachers, signin sheets, numbered name tags; the children enjoyed multiple stations of crafts, a movie section, a karaoke section, and a Wii section. On top of that, the children's reception also provided a complete course kids menu for all of them to enjoy with stuffed goodie bags to take home. It was fantastic and appreciated by all the parents!

The highlight in the adult reception was seeing the Bride and Groom's first dance. For all of those into Dancing With the Star, imagine this couple dancing like that! Hands-down, no doubt, it was the best dance I've ever seen at a wedding. Bravo!

The guests could feel the love between the Bride and Groom; their relaxed manner, their smiles, their joy could be easily felt. And we wish them so much joy.

95 minutes

Cashing in his plethora of Chick Flick Reimbursements, my hubby wanted to see Step Brothers with Will Ferrell during our afternoon movie date. I like Will Ferrell. I can tolerate his movies like Talladega Nights and Old School. I liked him on Saturday Night Live too. So saying yes to see this movie, I thought, was going to fall pretty much in the same genre.

Ahhh, Nnoooo! It did not. Not in my opinion. Unless you love crude (and I mean more so than his usual stunts) humor and over the top language, I would say find a compromising movie between Chick Flick and All Out Guy. Maybe the new Agent 99 movie?

Totally enjoyed the rest of our date together. Just wanting those 95 minutes back. :)

Introducing ....

SPLASH!!!

My parents brought home their new four legged friend yesterday. He is a Portuguese Water Dog named Splash and he will be eight weeks tomorrow. Their goal is to have him in Water Trials and also trained to be a Therapy Dog. My mom, being a retired reading teacher, has had this goal prior to retirement. Taking her love of reading with children and combining it with her love of dogs makes a great combo for Therapy work. She sees the two going to local Hospitals, Rehabilitation Centers, and possibly schools. And with Splash's soft touch, the two can also aid in therapy work for adults.

We visited our new buddy today. He greeted us quickly, and then found a quiet spot on their hard wood floors to literally flop down for a cozy nap. As the minutes continued to tick by, my son could not keep his hands off that adorable fur ball. Every time my son would pet him, Splash would moan this sweet puppy noise and wiggle, but never wake up.

Finally Splash felt rested and then he was full of energy. Trying to keep his traction on the wooden floor was a sight, and even the carpet got his feet in tangles sometimes too. A rolly-polly pup who tripped and somersaulted over his own feet. A definite cutie!!

Very calm, sweet natured, his temperament test came back positive as a great working Therapy Dog. I have no doubt that he will be a great addition to my parent's house and will reach all their goals. Seeing this 8 pound dog and visualizing his full grown size at around 50 is hard to imagine, and all the work between here and there to get him to graduate Therapy School ... but he'll get there and it will be so fun!

SPLASH!!!