Backyard Dog Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday Sydney ‘adopted’ one of Maggie’s toys and we ended up outside playing fetch with it for quite a bit. Syd was in heaven and full of energy that by the time evening rolled around, she’d about had it with the day. You’d think we took the poor girl to the dog park or something, but instead her day included a boring walk and a game of wrestle/fetch in the backyard.

 

I love our yard and our garden, but lately it has started to overwhelm me because everything is so overgrown and daunting. I was in spired by my mom last time she was down and  did some whacking back….I’ve vowed to fill up the wheelbarrow with yard waste daily in hopes of getting rid some of the extra foliage until I can’t stand it anymore.  Today was day two and you can hardly tell where I worked, but I figure slowly but surely we’ll make a difference.

I say WE because Maggie was super helpful today, grunting right along next to me. Her newest phrase is uh-oh, but doesn’t quite have the correct usage down, so there were a ton of ‘uh-ohs’ between tugs on leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both Maggie and Barry have spent time recently working on the Birch tree that we’ve got in our yard. Barry sawed some extra branches off and Maggie’s newest hobby is to peel the bark off and deliver it to the nearest adult. I’m sure, like Sydney, the tree is happy to have someone pay attention to it rather than be left alone.

Funnily enough, we also got our fancy brush out and have been giving Syd pretty strong brushes because the girl sheds and who wants to live with dog hair up their nose? Not us.  Maggie is equally excited to try to brush Syd as she is to peel the bark of the tree. I have no doubt that Syd would rather Maggie spend time helping the tree shed some extra layers than get near her rolls with the brush, so we brush Syd next to the Birch tree so we can kill two birds with one stone and we’re all happy because of it.

Carry on!

Give Me Just A Little More of This Weekend Thing

Swimming lessons ended last week, with sprinkles of rain tickling our noses and Maggie high-fiving all the lifeguards and tweens that she’d become friends with. On one hand, I’m sad that this session is over, but the coldish pool wasn’t getting any warmer with each passing day. We’ll try another session in August if the weather ever heats up. Weekends zip by around here, never ever giving me enough time before Monday swallows us up again with a snap.

We were fooled on Friday into thinking that it was going to be a cold, rainy day and when we showed up at Thomas’ house to visit, we realized that we were WAY overdressed. I peeled off my wool socks and vest, but Maggie eventually shed all her clothes to wade in the pool we’d filled with freezing water. Most of all, I think she liked wandering around the yard and throwing things in to the pool. I kept thinking about last summer when we busted out the same exact pool for Thomas and Mags to try out, we used it for exactly 30 seconds before Thomas started crying and Maggie almost got sun burned. Oh, how far the two little tykes have come.

One year later we’re spending most of our time making sure that they’re not hurting themselves, others, or breaking any important objects.  Friday was a great day to be together and spend time at Marc and Lara’s. Their house is beautiful and we set up camp in their yard exactly in the right spot to guard the stairs, eat strawberries, dip our toes in the pool, have access to the hose and watch the nudie parade of Maggie and Thom.

I need to point out the above photo that I took a few days before we left on our NoDak trip. See what I mean about Maggie and Thomas possibly hurting others, themselves or other important objects? If you can’t see it I can help you:

1. Maggie is about to “pet” the sleeping kitty.

2. Thomas is ‘gently touching”  the pretty vase with a piece of kindling.

Not to sound pessimistic or anything, but I’m pretty sure both of those things could turn into a scratched face or a broken face/bopped head/cut hand….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barry has been working like crazy for the past few weeks and this weekend I think it finally hit him how busy he’s been because he asked me a number of times about when Maggie started to do certain things (new signs, ways of eating/drinking, words etc.). I so appreciate all his hard work, but I’ve really missed our relaxed routine that has been replaced by longish hours and stress.  I know we’ll fall back into that schedule when he’s done with his current project at work and training for his race.

This weekend was nice and calm because we literally had nothing on our calendar, unlike the coming five weeks. We were both able to get workouts in, take a few walks with Syd, make Strawberry bread, go to Chach’s party, enjoy the Farmer’s Market, read, watch the rain, and read a ton of books with Mags in her new fort.

Weekends are never long enough around here.