Family Vacation 2012

I'm a dog. If I had opposable thumbs, this post would have gone up over a month ago, but alas, Alicia had other things to do and said she'd get around to it when she got around to it.  Fast forward a month and a half, and you still have no idea what I did on family vacation this year! So, here are the highlights:

Morning, afternoon and evening walks on the beach.

Sniffed things on the beach!

Laid out on the stoop.

Slept on the stoop.

Snuggled up to horseshoe crabs.

Sniffed horseshoe crabs.

Didn't get to see amazing sunsets because
Matt and Alicia left me at home while they
went out to dinner.

Played with dogs on the beach!

Went out into the bay water...

And got surprised by waves!

Fell asleep on the couch when no one was looking.

Climbed up on the couch when Matthew went to get a drink.

Rode in the car!

What a great trip!

A Year in the Life

I'm a dog.  Can you believe that one year ago today (okay yesterday, since it took Alicia so long to get this up!), Matthew and Alicia adopted me from the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria and brought me to my forever home?  It's been a wild ride.

I went from a little 28 pound 5-month-old puppy to a 55 pound year-and-a-half old dog.

Taken on my second day at home.

Taken just last week.

I went from the "cone of shame" to my patriotic leg brace.

I went from hating my crate, to loving my crate, to preferring "my" chair.

I went from hating car rides to LOVING car rides.

I don't like!

You need a ride?

 I vacationed in Cape May, visited Grandma and Grandpa's house in Parsippany, visited the Giobbi side of the family in Lancaster, PA and even joined Alicia and Matt on an overnight to Maryland's Eastern Shore (where I ate the bedspread...oops).

My first taste of the beach.

Snuggles with Aunt Meghan and Nanna!

There's a cow in that barn, and I didn't like it.

I learned that I love children - especially the little ones that ride in strollers and always keep a stash of food debris on their faces and hands.  I learned that I hate delivery (mail, UPS, FedEx, furniture, etc.) people and also the garbage man.  I attack the mail every day just to prove it.

Hangin' with Mr. Connor.

Sniffin' around with Patrick's kids.

I love every dog I've ever met.  Even the ones that growl and/or bark at me.  Even the ones that are afraid of me or ignore me.  When they give me the chance, they love me too! Except Tonka.  He just thinks I'm too high energy and won't stand for my nonsense.  But I'll keep working on him!

Attacking my very best dog friend, Chili

I've had so much fun in my first year with Matthew and Alicia.  I can't wait to tell you all about the fun and adventures we have as time goes by.

A Little Bunny Told Me...

I'm a dog.

No, that's not what the little bunny told me.

The little bunny told me that you missed reading my blog.  So, I'm back, and here to bring you a recap of this puppy's first Easter!

I wasn't sure exactly what was happening, but last Friday morning, Alicia and Matt started packing up a bunch of stuff, including my crate and food.  I got very excited because I just knew that meant a car ride.  And I love car rides!

What I don't really love though, are long car rides.  And this was my longest yet; 5 hours!  When we finally got to Grandma's house I was ready to curl up and go to sleep - but not before chasing some cats, eating some cat food and eating and drinking everything that was left out in my Aunt Annabelle's food bowls.  Once I'd finished all of that, it was time for a nap.

Do not disturb.

I spent most of Saturday doing what I did on Friday night.  I also got into the cat poop.  I love cat poop just much as any other dog...maybe even more.  But it made me barf.  And made my butt not feel so good either. You'd think I would have learned my lesson, but I found some more cat poop on Sunday morning and after a tasty snack, proceeded to try to give Matt and Alicia kisses, and then threw up again.  Lesson learned: No more eating cat poop! (Yeah, right!)

Sunday was the best day, though, because the kids came over to play with me!  Nico, Alex and Makayla even brought me and Aunt Annabelle Easter presents.  First I played with mine...

It has a squeaker in the butt and one in the head!

Then, because Aunt Annabelle seemed to be too busy playing with the kids to play with her toy, I played with her toy too.  And since she didn't seem to mind (or maybe because she doesn't like confrontation), I kept alternating between the toys for the rest of my stay.

Playing with Annabelle's toy is even more fun than playing with mine!

The kids went outside to do an Easter egg hunt, but I wasn't invited.  I even helped Alicia hide the eggs earlier that morning, pointing out which eggs were too easy to find by picking them up with my mouth, occasionally rooting them out with my paws (when necessary) and trying to break them open.  She didn't seem to appreciate my help, though, and I think this is why I had to stay inside and watch the kids from the porch.

Watching egg hunts is boring.  Nap time!

Thankfully, the kids brought all the eggs inside, and once they ate the candy out of them, they didn't seem too interested in the plastic eggs.  Don't they know that the egg is the best part?

Nom-ing on an orange Easter egg!

But back to my nieces and nephews! I love my nieces and nephews.  They like to pet me and drop food on the floor and have faces at the perfect height for licking.  And they can be so silly! Kevin's kids - Ava, Connor and Sean - thought my crate looked like fun, so they took turns locking each other in it, and then they all jumped in together!  

Those silly kids think going in the crate is fun!
They can keep the crate, but I'm not giving up my bed.

Probably my favorite part of the weekend, though, was Sunday night, when an exhausted Annabelle shared her bed with me.  Normally, Annabelle gets up and goes to find another place when I come in the room looking to snuggle.  But either she was too tired to bother, or I'm wearing her down and she actually doesn't mind (enjoys?) snuggling with me.

She likes me! She really likes me! Or she was just too tired.

What a weekend!  I had so much fun spending time with my family and eating cat poop.  I can't wait until we visit Grandma's house again.

The Salty Dog

I'm a dog.  It seems I started to write this post a while ago and never got around to hitting "Publish."  Oops.  The good news is that the delay has enabled my head to heal and thus enabled Alicia to take some salty photos of yours truly, which are included at the end...

At the end of August, Matt and Alicia went on vacation to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.  They didn't invite me to join them.  That wasn't very nice.  I love car rides, and they were in the car for 9 hours! Unfair.  In the end though, it was a good thing they didn't bring me.  It seems they don't welcome my kind in South Beach (the neighborhood of the Sea Pines Plantation where they stayed).

That second to last rule just would not work for me.

Oh, but look, a dog cafe!

What's this? No dogs? At the dog cafe?

Hmm...maybe I could bill myself as providing the service of cuteness?

While they were away, I went on my own playcation to Gerri's house.  While I can only imagine they spent the entire time missing me and wishing they'd brought me with them, I just played and played and played all day.  And I play rough.

When I got home after 10 straight days of playing I was a happy dog, but it looked like I'd been through a war.  You see, I like to chew and jump on other dogs, and I like it when they do that to me.  And I let them bite as hard as they want, because I want them to like me.  Gerri didn't know this and after the first day, the damage was done.  Thus, my head and neck were a bit chewed up.

Before you look at these pictures and feel bad for me, just know I wasn't hurt and that I had so much fun and was so happy with my chewed head.  I've gone back to Gerri's for play group and now that Gerri knows how hard I play, she makes me take breaks so that this doesn't happen anymore.

On a related note, Matt and Alicia were kind enough to bring me back a souvenir from their trip.  They didn't take any photos of me wearing it when I first got back though, because my head looked a bit, well, chewed.  But now I'm all fixed up (and have been for a while), so it's time to get salty...

Look at me! I'm a Salty Dog!

Still cute.

Getting bored of this photo shoot.

I'm done.  I'm going to sleep.

My Buddy and Me

I'm a dog.  I wasn't alive in the 1980s, but if I was, I would've asked Matt and Alicia to give me My Buddy for my birthday.  I love to play all the time and what could be better than having a friend to play with all the time?  Alas, I was not around in the 80s and even if they still made My Buddy, Matt and Alicia probably wouldn't buy it for me because they'd be worried I'd chew on and tear apart his head, much like I did to that tennis ball toy I got a few weeks ago (which I'm happy to note was completely demolished shortly after the last photo Alicia posted).

Even better than a My Buddy doll would be an actual dog that I could play with and snuggle and chew on all the time!  No, Matt and Alicia have not given into my pleas for a new puppy (they say one puppy is enough, thankyouverymuch!).  But we did go up to New Jersey to visit her family, and it was there I had the opportunity to get a taste of what it would be like to have a sibling.

We would snuggle up for naps...

...and she wouldn't mind how I move around in my sleep.

We would go on long walks together...

...And she would be patient with me when I
abruptly decided to lay down on the ground...

...only to walk a bit further before deciding I
wanted to stop and sniff and rest again...

...and then literally take a handful of steps before deciding
I needed to stop and eat some grass.

It would be fantastic! We could drink out of the same water bowl, and steal cat food together.  We could bark at strange noises and animals that trespass in the yard (wild turkeys, I'm looking at you!). What a life.

And I wouldn't have to give a grumpy face
when it was time to leave, because we'd
ALWAYS be together!

I would also take a human puppy, but Matt and Alicia have also said no to that.  I tried to show them what a good sibling I'd be by sharing my favorite orange ball with my cousin Shaun (who STOLE my ball and then kept flaunting it in my face and NOT throwing it to me, while I waited patiently for him to share. They were unconvinced.

Look at what a good sister I would be! Happily sharing!

So at least for the meantime, it looks like I'm just going to have to entertain myself and encourage Matt and Alicia to make as many playdates with bestdogfriend Chili as they can.  And, since Alicia's family is up in NJ/PA and we're down in DC, I guess we'll just have to keep taking car rides (my most favorite thing) to ensure that I get to spend as much time with my dog and human family as possible.

I snuck into the front seat while Alicia was
driving down the Turnpike.  It scared her.

At the rest stop, she put me back in the back.
Party pooper!  I stick my tongue out at you!