Sunshine and sunbonnets

We have been sooooo cooped up...

But no more!  Nice weather is here and I think it's here to stay!

What a gorgeous weekend we had!  Finally, finally, we have been able to spend some real, solid time outside.  Sure, there have been walks, runs, a handful of nice days here and there, but this weekend was the start to some serious outdoor time.

I made sure Rosie spent basically as much time outside as I did.  Since her arrival in November, I can pretty confidently say she knows exactly what each of the rooms in our house is like.  She's seen it all!  It's time she started learning about the great outdoors.

I found her a couple cute new sun hats over the weekend and Saturday afternoon she donned one of them and helped me plant some flowers...

Are you familiar with Sunbonnet Sue?  The old quilt pattern?  I have a Sunbonnet Sue quilt from when I was a little girl.  I think Rosie looks like a Sunbonnet Sue in the photo above.  Compare Rosie to the pattern here...

I also think it's quite appropriate that Rosie is playing with her giant ladybug while helping her mama garden!

Here she is modeling her new, cute hat...

We didn't spend as much time outside today.  She did, however, get some experience with lying in the grass.  She seemed to really love it.  She stayed very still and relaxed for quite some time.  I love how loung-y she looks...

Her legs, which are ALWAYS moving, were still - for several minutes...

Todd said I needed to move her around so she could mow the yard...

The poor dogs have been particularly cooped up.  They've done a number on our yard - brown spots, dead spots, bald spots - and Todd has worked hard to try to fix it.  This means the dogs have been quarantined to the house or the back "yard" which they hate.  Yard is in quotes because in its current state it can hardly be considered a yard.  It's just concrete.  No wonder they hate going back there and love to lounge like this instead.  Oh, Lulu...

Not to be outdone, here's Rigby posing for his lounge lizard shot...

Everyone is enjoying our nice weather!  

Continuing problem

We have a problem:

Lulu, who has turned into a very good dog that is actually lovie and usually well behaved, can NOT be broken of a very bad action...attacking Rigby when we get ready to leave the house.

Like most dogs, they get excited to "go."  They're hyped up at the door and can't wait to go with us somewhere.  Once we open the door, however, Lulu's excitement turns ugly and she starts lunging at Rigby, biting his ears, pulling him down the front stairs by his collar, jumping all over him, barking, growling, chasing him down and making it, basically, look like we're running Michael Vick dog fights in our front yard. 

We yell.  We chase her down.  We push her to the ground and growl back at her to show our dog-like dominance.  We've spanked her.  We take her by the collar and lead her to the car so she's not free to make her way there herself.  We've used the shock collar, something we rarely pull out, but have resorted to because none of the other actions are working.  The shock collar wakes her up and gets her out of the attack trance she seems to go in to. 

Once she's in the car **SNAP** she's out of attack mode and perfectly respectable again. 

WHAT is the deal?? 

On Sunday, her attacking got bloody.  I had taken the dogs to the lake to swim and go for a walk.  On our way back to the car she for some reason got into attack mode.  Once we've left the house it never happens again on the trip, but this time she turned on the antics.

I heard Rigby yip, was able to break it up and everyone trotted to the car.  After I put them in I patted Rigby's head and noticed my hand had some blood on it.

Great.  Where is it coming from? 

After inspecting them both I found a gash on the tip of Rigby's ear - from Lulu's teeth - that was bleeding pretty good.  I wiped it down with a towl and thought it was drying up so we got on the road.

When we got home and I went to let them out of the car, I noticed blood whipped down the side of the car where he had been hanging his head.  It was dripped on the seatbelt, and sprayed on the back of the front passenger head rest.  It looked like I had committed a crime. 

AND when he got inside it of course dripped on our dining room rug and the floors.  I grabbed the closest thing - a box of Band-Aids from under the sink - and sealed his ear up then tackled cleaning the car and floors. 

And the problem with Lulu still goes on.  She's toned it down some since Sunday, but still WON'T leave him alone out the door. 

Thoughts on how to break this anyone?

(Don't mind the painter's tape on the floor.  We still have to paint the dining room baseboards.)

Estes is the best-es

It's a rare weekend when Todd and I get to go anywhere together.  His work schedule in the summer and fall requires him to be in the field pretty much every weekend.

We had an opportunity to get out of town a couple weekends ago to Estes Park, Colo., for my friend Molly's wedding reception and Todd was able to actually make it happen!

I think the last time I was in Estes I was maybe in junior high and Todd had never been there.  I made reservations at a cute little cabin and we loaded up the dogs and took off!

Truthfully, we didn't walk around downtown as much as I was hoping, but it's only because we were having too much fun at the reception.

And after the reception...

The next morning we had a little photo shoot with the dogs at the cabin before getting on with our day...

Me with the dogs...

Todd with the dogs...

Next...breakfast downtown Estes then the famed Stanley Hotel...!

It is absolutely stunning inside the Stanley.  Here's Todd in the hotel lobby...

Todd and I outside the Stanley with the Rockies behind us...

Game warden Todd with elk just roamin' the hotel grounds...

I asked Todd if it sort of made him crazy that he has to put so much effort into hunting an elk in fall and here they are, lounging at a glitzy old hotel right out in the open.  He said yes...

Come on, now...you know you shouldn't chase wildlife! haha...Doesn't Todd's pose look kind of like he's playing air guitar...?

On to Rocky Mountain National Park!  We had to wait only a little bit at the entrance...

Another elk! This guy and a partner actually stopped traffic as they lollygagged across the road...

About 35 miles out there is Wyoming...

More wildlife!  A young moose...

Another young moose closer to the road.  Unlike his elk buddies above, this one didn't care so much for the cars pulled over to watch him...

On the other side of the park we stopped in the town of Grand Lake for lunch...

And stopped again in Walden, Colo., for a snack.  The funniest thing...that store behind Todd is called Island something or other and was pumping Hawaiian sounding music out on to the street...

After this it was a straight shot home.

Mountains, scenery, fun with friends...  what a great weekend, huh?

A so-sew job

I do not sew.

My sewing days ended in 5th grade as I was preparing a quilt block for the 4-H fair.  The stress of trying to shorten my stitches late into the night before the fair was all I could take.  I don't even like to sew on buttons if I can help it.

But every now and then, as in the case of buttons, I have to pick up a needle and thread (don't get me started on how antsy threading a needle makes me!).  Twice since having Lulu I've had to do this, which is two times more than I've done in the last several years.

The dogs have two stuffed pheasants they like to play with.  They're very good about not just sitting down and tearing them to shreds, but a stuffed animal can only take so much tug-o-war before something gives; and recently both have needed some repair...

This poor bird's guts needed sewed back together.  I never said it would look nice, I just want it functional...

Attempting a nose job...

Aren't you glad I'm not a plastic surgeon?  It's FrankenPheasant...!!  lol

Finished!  This photo is like one of those "can you tell what's different in the identical pictures" games...

One bird doesn't have feet...and never will again.  The feet got pulled out which is why his gut was open in the first place.  I had enough patience to sew the seam together, but reattaching feet...?

That's someone else's job.