Forth Week Of July

Little did Jake know this morning that he was going to his first day at Canine Clubhouse, a doggy day care and kennel.  The first day is for evaluation to see if he is a good fit for their facility.  But in the morning he was happy to sit with Baylor on the couch for his morning snooze.  He can fall asleep at 1:30 and then sleep the rest of the day.  Lucky him.  It is rare that he is calm enough to sit with on the couch and Baylor really enjoyed not being chewed on.  

And I think Jake enjoyed the cuddles!  

He was on good behavior at day care and is allowed back, which is good because he is going to be kenneled there very soon!!  And he was a worn out dog for the entire evening and night.  They have a two hour nap time at the day care and the rest of the day is play time.  It was amazing having a tired dog for the evening and not having to go to the dog park. 

I was able to pick some blackberries with my free time.  

Summertime in a bowl.  Some are sweet and some are so tart my mouth puckers.   

He was still tired Tuesday morning!!  

Jake and Mommy 

Wednesday evening was a bit different from our usual.  Baylor started to complain about pain in his stomach when I got home from the dog park.  It was sporaticly more painful at times and Gloria and him decided we needed to go to the ER to have him checked.  In the back of my mind I was thinking it was pain in his colon, either gas or from not going for a few days. As is usual in the ER, unless your guts are hanging out, there is a lot of waiting.  We waited in the waiting room and then waited a lot more in a ER room.  Long story short, he eventually feel asleep (good sign the pain was passing) Gloria had to go out to the car because she was falling asleep too.  I had to stay awake.  

Eventually the nice Dr came in and listened to his story, listened to his belly and could not say what it was or was not.  But he was feeling better and they gave him some ginger ale to make sure he was keeping fluids down.  

 I drove us all home, took care of Jake and at 3:34 according to Fitbit I finally fell asleep.  And got all of an hour and 44 minutes of sleep.  Gloria called off work and I went to work.  Baylor had a field trip to Raystown Lake with his summer camp.  I told them he may sleep on the bus or on the way home (which he did)  I am super glad he is doing fine and will increase his fiber or something so he goes to the bathroom! 

Thursday morning there was a tiny frog stuck between the panes on the screen door.  I had to keep Jake from noticing it or he may have broken the glass trying to get to the frog.  I decided to pour water between the panes to try to get him out of there.  It took several glasses of water to slide him down and out.  He must have hid out on the patio somewhere because Jake never hunted him down.  

I got a message from my old manager that he was coming into the office and taking me out to lunch today.  Sweet!!  Bob and Tammy joined us at Moe's and it was nice catching up with Rich. 

Again, Jake did well in class.  We had a sub teacher and I liked her better than our usual one.  This one had a sense of humor and more personality.  We went over some recall games, spin and turn, and leash walking.  

While he shows a good side at class, he came home and showed his dark side by chewing a hole in a couch cushion.  Jerk! 

Third Week of July

The garden has filled in nicely since I cleaned it out this spring.  The top photo is on clean up date and the bottom is today. Quite a difference a few months makes! 

Jake apparently does not want to welcome anyone anymore and chewed up the mat while spending some quality time outside in the morning.  If he is not chewing something in the house, he is chewing something outside of the house.  Nice. 

Second night of Obedience class went well.  He performed well for a dog I rarely have time to work with!  Seriously, carving out five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening is not achievable right now.  I am always late for work as it is and my evenings are short and packed even in the Summer.  The nightly dog park visit just sucks up my evening.  Anyway, we worked on Sit and Down and walking on a leash without pulling.  That alone would make life easier!  

Friday after work we picked up Cullen in Carlisle for a weekend visit.  It is something we have talked about for a few summers now and I finally made sure it happened.  Julie had a concert in Carlisle so we meet up there and came home.  Then it was off to the dog park of course.  The boys played in the creek, of course.  It was a nice evening for it.  

When we got home they dried off and watched TV together.  They don't see each other much but love being together when they do. 

Saturday morning we went to Pinchot Park again, this time prepared for the day there.  I had a chair, towels and blankets, and food and water.   Cullen is a better swimmer than Baylor and right away swam out to the deep end.  It was just over my head out there but they floats had a concert post and the boys ended up using that as their landing spot.  

Baylor was a bit nervous at first because of all the little fish in the water.  I am not sure if he was a afraid they would eat him like a pack of piranhas or what. 

Snack and water break. 

Worried about the fish and whatever else goes through a timid eight year old mind. 

I was able to get him to smile at least once for me.  

Lunch break.  I also brought a water ball, the kind that bounces on the water surface.  All three of us played together with the ball in all water depths.  

The boys had ice cream because what is a trip without ice cream? 

Back in the water, no waiting 30 minutes after eating for us.  

We made it home and the boys played inside a bit.  We had an early dinner outside.  

Because, you know, we have to take the dog to the park!  We brought Baylor's bike which Cullen apparently rode into the creek several times and at some point popped a tire.  Oops!  He is much more adventurous than Baylor is in many ways. Baylor was content to watch Cullen do his tricks and did not to try to attempt them at all.  

Meanwhile, back in the dog park, Jake and I had a selfie photo shoot. 

On the way home, Cullen stripped off his wet shorts and rode home in his wet underpants.  Kids so some crazy things!! 

The parsley from last year is going to seed this year and I am OK with that.  The caterpillars love it and next year we will have a lot of parsley!  

Forgive the emerald green pool, it has been a bear keeping it clear this year.  Baylor was helping by sweeping the bottom with the broom.  

Jake was helping by catching toys as they floated by. 

The evening was back on the couch for a movie.  

I entertained Jake with a new bone to chew.  He likes the knees a lot and they keep him really occupied!  

That face!  Julie, Amy and Lochlan came over Sunday to hang out and pick up Cullen.  Sadly I was so chill with them that I never took any photos and no selfie with Julie.  Next time I said.  We both agree that we live to far away from each other but neither of us can fix that.  I love all my get togethers with my friends and I wish they happened more often!! 

Week Two of July

He is really a goofball!  But I love him. 

I finally had my knees checked, after being diagnosed with arthritis in 2002.  While I knew I was not getting better, I did not realize how bad it was.  There is no cartilage on the inside of each knee.  It made me cry to see this because I don't think those knees are going to hold out until I am in my 60's.  But we had to start out with cortisone shots in each knee to see if it would just help with the pain.  The next day I could not easily bend my left knee but after that I was not feeling the bone on bone pain!  So far so good.  

Jake snuggling with Baylor.  Jake cannot be trusted alone much yet so I am always checking on him.  He could shred a blanket or pillowcase or sheet at any time back in the bedroom. 

One of Jake's good wrestling buddies is Bean. The play really well together even though Jake is a bit larger than Bean. 

Milton is Jake's lover.  This is a rare sight that Jake is not humping Milton and Milton does not have the ball in his mouth.  

My mud maker.  Everyone laughs at how he swishes his whole face in the water dish.  

Jake and Einstein were tugging and Einstein was not worried about winning this one.  

But shortly afterwards they got into it over the tug in a not so friendly way. But like almost all dog fights, they were besties again right afterwards. 

Just like at home, sometimes these two are friends and sometimes Grimm is a chew toy. 

I invited Mom and Dad over for some smoked pork ribs.  Before, during and after.  And they were delicious!  

Jake and CiCi face fencing after a light rain.  Thankfully Jake dries off fairly quickly and the dirt shakes off!  It will not be long until CiCi is much bigger than Jake and he won't be able to push her around as much.