Pets from the Past

I had a friend on Facebook ask me if I had my old yearbooks from Marina del Rey Junior High School.  She wanted copies badly and even contacted the school but they said they were gone for good.  I told her I thought I had them but I would have to conduct a search in the dreaded entryway cubby where we store all our old photos and albums.  To make a long story short, I found them, sent her copies that I printed and then spent about the next 3 days totally organizing everything that was in the cubby.  I was so excited to find photos of pets from the past that I didn't think I had any photos of at all.

This first photo goes all the way back to the 1970's.  I was a student at UCLA and living at home and this stray mother cat had 3 little kittens in our backyard.  A few days after their birth, she took them all away and I was sad about that.  A week later she came back with all 3 and left them for good.  I kept this boy kitty that I called Gypsy (because of his past) and found homes for the other 2.

     ~ Gypsy ~

I loved this cat soooo much.... he was so affectionate and wanted to be with me constantly.  I even took him out with me on weekends.  He used to climb the backyard fences and one day he came home really sick.  Much later we found out that a man who had bunnies left out poison for cats. He died a miserable death and I was so traumatized that my mom had to take him to the vets early in the morning.  I was so upset I gave her the wrong address to the vet... and that's how I ended up eventually meeting Jeff because he worked at the wrong vets.  Those of you who've known me for a long time know the story of how we met and began dating.

After Gypsy, Jeff and I got another cat- Hobie- and when he was a year or so old he went missing.  It was then I learned about the man with the bunnies... he trapped Hobie and took him to a wildlife place (for ducks, etc... ) in the Marina.  (I guess he stopped poisoning and went to trapping.)  Hobie found his way to a backyard where a man had put out some salmon for his cat and he called us- Hobie still had his nametag on- this was 6 weeks later!  We never thought we'd see him again.  We were so happy to have him home...it was like a miracle.  After that, we printed up a letter to all the neighbors exposing this man - we gave his name and address- and passed it out to all the houses in the neighborhood.  When we moved to Agoura Hills, Hobie and Jeff's two cats- Mark and Mickey- came with us.  Here's a photo of Hobie Cat!

 ~ Hobie Cat ~

Finally, I found a photo of Clancy!  I'll bet you thought we've only ever had big dogs like goldens and labs.  Well, here is the pound puppy I brought home one day.  This photo was taken at the park- neutral teritory- when we first got Dylan as a puppy and wanted to introduce him to Clancy.  Clancy was so taken aback by the boisterous little Dylan that he climbed up Jeff's back for protection.

~ Clancy ~

  

Dog Day Afternoon

Happy Birthday Sadie!!!

We went to the 2nd annual Bark in the Park in Thousand Oaks on Saturday.  We went to the first one last year and enjoyed it so we made sure to catch it again this October.  Everyone brings their dogs and there are lots of activities and booths to explore.  The dogs got so many treats from the people running the booths and I walked away with a big bag full of samples of treats and dog foods.  Camp Bow Wow had a booth with a "Wheel of Fortune" type prize wheel.  I spun and won a free bath for Kanan and Jeff spun and one a free one hour training session fro Cooper.  Cooper could use some training to get him to stop pulling on his leash.  Not to be outdone, "The Barkley" had a spinning wheel and this time Jeff got a free day of doggie day care and I won a toothbrush.  That was our only booby prize.  The other 3 prizes are all quite valuable!  They had all kinds of contests like best howler, dog/owner look-alike and Halloween costume contest.  They had an obstacle course that we took Kanan and Cooper through.  There were even celebrity dogs you could take your photo with:  Beatrice from Modern Family and Aspen from Disney's Dog with a Blog.  All in all, a fun day!

From there, we went to Chris & Liz's for dinner and to meet their new English Springer Spaniel, Maverick or Ricky.  He's a rescue and a real sweetheart and got along fine with Cooper and Kanan.  It was unusually warm for their area which is closer to the ocean so we were able to sit outside and have a delicious dinner of BBQ leg of lamb!  

Catching Up

Sorry to go missing again but I am struggling with mixed feelings about blogging.  I guess I'm just plain tired of writing posts after 11 years of pretty consistent posting.  I'm not tired of my blog friends or reading their posts at all though and I miss you all and think about you often!  So I'll do a quick catch up of what's been going on.  As you know it's a busy month filled with birthdays and an anniversary.

I started Physical Therapy last week and will go twice weekly for 6 weeks.  I thought it would be mostly core-strengthening exercises but I'm also getting the little electrode zappers and the best part... a nice massage!  I'm feeling pretty close back to normal although they tell me that sciatica nerve may take a while to completely calm down.  

Ryan is back in school and doesn't get home until almost 3 PM so I only have a little over an hour with him each day.  Jacob, on the other hand, is here all the time.  He's still really good about his "Quiet Time" so he's in the downstairs bedroom with cartoons turned on at low volume and has my iPad and Jeff's Kindle.  9 times out of 10, he falls asleep so he's usually in there from 1 to 3 PM.  He was resistant to taking naps but since he falls asleep so often, it's pretty obvious he still needs naps... as long as we don't call it nap time!

Justin and Jessica both had their birthdays and Justin had some interesting developments at work.  The computer projects he's been doing for the last 10 years were winding down so he was beginning to wonder if he was going to need to dust off his resume and start looking for something else.  He was given the opportunity to do some work as a "Business Analyst" and really loved it.  He's a very good writer and in addition to his Computer Science degree, he has a Communications degree from UCLA so he was able to apply those skills to the Business Analyst work.  He had a big interview for a Business Analyst position within his company, Computer Sciences Corporation, and he got it.  The project is out of the Boston office but he will be able to work from home!  He and Sarah are going to San Francisco and Santa Rosa (Wine Country area) this weekend (the trip a birthday present from Sarah) and we will be dog sitting Sierra while he's gone.

Speaking of wine... remember my wine glass chandelier from Pottery Barn?  I found this at HomeGoods to hang on the wall.

What I love about shopping at HomeGoods is I usually go there with nothing special in mind and it's fun to find something unexpected.  I also got some really nice fillable seeded glass lamps there for our bedroom. Don't think I'll fill them with anything but I like the way the glass sparkles.  The shades are burlap  and I have them on a dimmer switch.  Lamps like this cost 3 times as much at Pottery Barn!  I often shop at PB or PB online for ideas and find similar items for much less at HG's! 

   

My comment above about finding something unexpected reminded me of the word Serendipity.  It's a word that I love and always reminds me of our dear friend Elizabeth whose first blog was named Serendipity. "Serendipity means a "happy accident" or "pleasant surprise"; a fortunate mistake. Specifically, the accident of finding something good or useful while not specifically searching for it. The word has been voted one of the ten English words hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company."  Serendipity is also the name of that fabulous restaurant in Manhattan where you can get Frozen Hot Chocolates.  And don't forget the movie Serendipity!

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Our dogs have it good!  One of the main reasons we decided to buy a Prius over other hybrid cars is that we realized that with the back seat down combined with the hatchback space, there would be plenty of room to take the dogs with us on short trips or even long vacations.  The only problem was that once we bought the car and came to love it, we worried about the dogs messing up the interior.  We bought a nice WeatherTech Cargo Mat but that only covered the hatchback area and it also didn't protect the sides of the interior which seemed like it could easily get dirty and scratched up.  So Jeff went to Home Depot and bought a large roll of a nice gray outdoor carpeting.  He cut it to fit the whole area with the seats down and it also goes up the sides and is held in place with existing anchors that the car has and some cut pieces of PVC.  It goes in and out easily so we will only put it down when the dogs are passengers.  We took them on a test drive and they settled in right away.  They like that they can be real close to us in the front seat.  Here's a blurry photo I took on their first ride along.

You can see what I mean about the carpeting going up the sides in this photo.  Maybe Jeff should take his invention on Shark Tank!

Jacob's first day of camp went well.  Ryan and I walked down the hill to pick him up at noon and we saw him before he saw us.  He looked a little forlorn but brightened up when he saw us.  The teachers and young camp counselors said he was a little shy but he didn't cry or anything.  As we walked up the the hill, the girls shouted good-bye to Jacob and said, "He is SO adorable!"  That he is!

We Changed Our Minds!

This was such a funny sight, I had to take a photo.  In the midst of our heatwave on Monday, the pets all wanted to go outside first thing in the morning which is their routine.  I asked them if they were sure because it was on it's way to 102 degrees.  After a few minutes, I came back into the kitchen and this is what I saw!

Let us back in!  We changed our minds!

The only one missing is our calico, Hayley.  She rarely goes outside but the two boy cats, Kalani and Hunter, love to spend the day in our backyard.  The dogs never spend much time outside... they are house dogs!  Our heatwave only lasted a couple of days and we are back to more normal warm weather. 

Last night, Jeff and I went back to Sharky's restaurant for their $2 taco and $2 beer night.  It's going on every Tuesday and Thursday in May.  We went last week and loved the little souvenirs we got from Jeff's two beers.  Cute little ponchos and sombreros which are bottle openers. 

I checked on and off all day Tuesday for a post from Annie's daughter about how the surgery went.  Holly reports it want extremely well and the doctor expects a full recovery!  Great news!

Busy Bees!

We had a very busy weekend!  Besides some car shopping, we went to a Home Show in Westlake Village on Saturday.  We saw some patio covers that we liked the looks of for the other house...where Jessica and family live and got some other ideas of things we'd like to do in the future.  They had food trucks there but we opted to go to a nice restaurant for lunch.  Are gourmet food trucks a California thing or are they everywhere now?  In the old days, food trucks were looked down upon and even called "Roach Coaches" but now they are very trendy and serve good food and it's not cheap either.  HERE's a website where you can find Gourmet Food Trucks.  Many food trucks have followers on Twitter so they know when and where they can find them.  A lot of them have clever names.  Check out the link to see what I mean.

On Sunday, we went to the Canine Classic Dog Walk and Festival in neighboring town Calabasas.  It wasn't as good as the Bark in the Park that we went to last October but the dogs still enjoyed the outing.  They had dogs doing tricks and there was this one dog dyed pink and it made me think of Kim's friend who caught a lot of flack for doing the same thing for the Superbowl.  No one seemed to be outraged over this pink dog.

So about the car... we have definitely decided on the Prius 4 with deluxe solar roof package in Sea Glass Pearl.  We have one dealer holding one for us until Wednesday and, in the meantime, we have an auto broker who works with our Fireman's Credit Union looking to see if she can find us an even better deal on one.  We've been told by other dealers that the price we have been quoted (in writing) is a very aggressive price so we feel pretty good about it.  The best part is they have one on their lot and we've been finding that the Sea Glass Pearl with the sunroof that we want is rather scarce.  We should hear from the broker today and if she can't find one or do better on price, then we will get the one on hold for us.

   

Frolicking

We had a nice visit with Justin and Sarah and the dogs loved their visit to the Huntington Beach Dog Beach.  It was such a warm, summery day and I forgot it is Spring Break for many as the whole Huntington Beach area was packed with dogs, surfers and sun-worshippers.  Here's a photo of Cooper and Kanan frolicking in the surf.

On Facebook, Joan was reminiscing about Elliot the Mouse and his Excellent Adventures and many of his hostesses and fans chimed in and Julie suggested he should have his own Facebook page.  So now Elliot has a Facebook page where many are posting their photos of his visit.  He went all around the world visitng our blog friends and visited six continents only missing Antarctica!  Jackie feels that you may be able to view his page even if you don't have a Facebook account.  Just click on his url and then ignore the message asking you to log in and you should be able to view it.  Let me know if that works for you.  Here's the URL.  

Or you can copy and paste the link below:

https://www.facebook.com/ElliotsExcellentAdventure

Elliot with all his souvenirs and outfits after he returned

Rattled!

Cooper and Kanan attended the Rattlesnake Aversion Clinic on Friday afternoon and I took a short video to show you what it was like. There were 4 stations. The first was encountering a baby rattlesnake on a dirt path. You probably know that baby rattlesnakes are just as venomous as adults so it's important for dogs to know that something this small can be deadly.  When our dogs finally noticed the baby rattlesnake, they were given a pretty good electrical shock from a collar they were wearing.  Cooper's reaction was much more dramatic than Kanan's which you will see in the video.  The second station was the scent of a rattlesnake and the third was the sound of the rattle.  These are good for them to know so they don't accidentally encounter one in tall grass or areas where they might be hidden.  Finally, they encounter a good-sized rattlesnake about 3 feet long.  By the time, they got to the last station, they had already learned to steer clear and wouldn't go anywhere near that big snake.  When they walked Kanan back to where we were standing, he was so cautious it looked like he was walking through a mine field!  Here's Cooper's encounter with the baby rattlesnake on the path.

Cooper Rattled from Darylynn Mills on Vimeo.

I know it might be upsetting to see Cooper yelp like that (it was for us) but it's far better than having him die from a rattlesnake bite.  They suggest coming back yearly for a couple of years to reinforce the training but I think we may see if their fear seems to still be in effect on our own since we do encounter snakes on trails every now and then.

Last night was The Game of Thrones Season 3 premier.  As you may remember, Justin and Sarah visited Dubrovnik where the King's Landing scenes are filmed.  We had to buy a special limited edition beer that was made for Game of Thrones.  Here's a photo.

There will be three more limited editions of Game of Thrones beers released throughout the year.  I want to collect all four and save the bottles for our bar.  We found ours at Whole Foods (it's 750 ml and has a nice cork and wire top like champagne bottles) but Justin could only find one bottle in all of Orange County.  He said we should buy it up and sell on ebay as they will be collector items.

Happy April Fool'sDay!  Be on your toes today and don't get fooled!

Rattlesnake Aversion Clinic

Cooper and Kanan are going to a Rattlesnake Aversion Clinic at The Barkley this afternoon.  We have lots of rattlesnakes in the local hills and the trails where we take them hiking.  The training involves wearing "bark collars" and introducing them to live muzzled rattlesnakes.  You can read about it HERE.  We asked if it would be okay to bring Ryan and Jacob along to watch as they are always so worried about rattlesnakes at the parks since they have "Beware of Rattlesnake" signs.  I wasn't sure if The Barkley would think this appropriate but they said it would be fine for them to come and watch.  I think it will be good for them to see what a real rattlesnake looks like and be aware they are to be avoided.

Justin and Sarah are back from their whirlwind European Adventure.  I thought I'd end my version of their travelogue with a wonderful photo of them in Paris!  Have a great weekend, Happy Easter and see you in April!

  

The Three Amigos

Sierra is back visiting with us for the next two weeks while Justin and Sarah are on their latest European Adventure.  Here's a photo of The Three Amigos also known as "The Rainbow Coalition."

Justin and Sarah's trip includes the following cities:  Amsterdam, Venice, Prague, Pilsen, Munich, Mittenwald, Slovania, Dubrovnik, Dublin and Paris in that order.  In Venice, they are staying on a yacht and in Dublin they are staying in a castle.  Dubrovnik is their big splurge where they are staying at a luxury hotel.  I'll be posting photos over the next two weeks of their travels.  

I used an old photo of the dogs because my camera is broken.  What's really ridiculous is the only part that's broken is a tiny plastic pin that holds the battery in place.  I'm so irritated that they made a nice, expensive camera and put a piece of plastic in it that, if broken, makes the camera inoperable.  The battery light keeps blinking because it thinks the battery is low when it isn't because the battery isn't pushed all the way down due to the broken little pin.  I've tried adding things to keep the battery down- paper, a paper clip and other things- and nothing works.  I called Sony and they offered me two "solutions"  I could get 15% off a new camera or pay $130.00 to have the camera repaired!  Sorry, $130.00 is too much for a tiny piece of plastic that in my opinion is a design flaw.  Since I have a lot of accessories for the camera:  extra batteries, extra cards, nice case, etc... I decided I'd try to find the same camera on ebay and if I can get one for @ $50.00, I'll take a chance on a second one.  I have a couple I have my eye on and I know I can get one for $99.00 through a "Buy it Now" but I'm hoping to get one for a lot less.

Back update:  quite a bit improvement so hoping it continues to improve.  Even planted marigolds out front!

Finally, here's the kitchen cabinet makeover after I put the dishes and things back.  The box that says, "Dream" is to gather mail so it's not on the kitchen counter.

Before and After

We finished our makeover of the pine kitchen cabinet and hutch (see "Naughty Pine" post below) and we are very happy with the way it turned out.  Here's the before...notice the old-fashioned brass hardware and wooden knobs.

And here's the after... love the new hardware.  It's hard to see in the photo but they're a very rustic iron which goes well with the new Wine Glass Chandelier which is made of iron.  I'm also happy with the chalkboard grey background which gives it a really clean and neat look.  I'm going to be a bit more sparing in what goes back on it so it's not so cluttered.

Happy to have the time change since I like it to stay light later in the evening.  Update on my cortisone shot from last Wednesday...so far, absolutely no improvement which is really disappointing.

Disappearing Act

Sorry...didn't mean to do a disappearing act but I haven't had much to write about lately as the boys have been sick and haven't been here.  I will be seeing them maybe today and then for sure on Tuesday.  I also finally made an appointment to see what's going on with my sore right leg.  I've given it about 6 weeks or more and it's still with me.  I think it's either sciatica or piriformis syndrome according to my symptoms doing a web search.  It's not that painful but just an annoying dull pain that starts in my right buttock and radiates down my leg to my toes.  The orthopedic doctor is on vacation so I'm seeing his physician assistant on Tuesday at 8:30 AM and he will get the ball rolling on an MRI or whatever other test I might need so when the doctor returns, he'll have some results to look at.

Kanan has a teeth cleaning appointment on Wednesday.  His breath has been smelling like dead fish lately despite my best efforts at brushing his teeth with an enzyme toothpaste, an enzyme mouthwash-like spray, denta-bones, you name it.  I guess we just have to bite the over $400.00 bullet and pay for the cleaning.  It's insane the cost- they have to have bloodwork first, then the anesthesia and then follow-up antibiotics.  I think the vets in our area are just way out of line with their charges!  Have a great week ahead!

 

Mudhole Mutts

Cooper and Kanan went along with Jeff and Chris mountain biking in Ojai.  They really get great exercise running alongside the bikes.  Chris' Visla, Bill, went along too but he didn't partake in the mudbath.  I always say that Kanan and especially Cooper never met a mudhole they didn't like.  Here's photographic evidence.

They were shedding gritty mud and sand all over the house so we took them both to the groomers for a bath and what they call a "tidy."  That's where they clip their nails, brush their teeth and things like that.  I brush their teeth a lot so they are used to that and I use an enzyme spray that is also good for their teeth.  I also clean their ears with wipes you can buy at the pet store.  They came home with neckerchiefs which Jeff immediately removes thinking they look silly.

On Friday, I took Jacob to the park.  Before we left he said, "Nani, are you ready to go to the park?  I said, "Yep!" to which he replied, "Gimme a minute."  He says the funniest things and always makes me laugh.  We walked to the park with Jacob in the stroller and then we went to TJ Maxx looking for some Valentine's, St. Patrick's Day and Easter decor.  I found these Easter eggs for my hurricane that I like to change seasonally and for holidays.  The photo doesn't do the eggs justice because they are so sparkly when you see them but here's the photo anyway.  They are made of pastel sequins.

    

Dingo Delivery

Sierra, Justin's dog, is here with us.  Sarah, Justin's girlfriend, gave Justin a trip to Colorado for Christmas and they are leaving this morning at 7:30 AM and will return home Monday evening.  Sarah's best friend lives there and they are all going to go snowboarding and tubing.  They are lucky that Colorado is pretty warm right now compared to the big chill going on in the Midwest and back East.  The temperatures in Denver during the day have been in the 50's.  You may remember that Sarah is a travel fanatic and they have already planned their next trip.  They are leaving in mid-March for two weeks in Europe.  They are flying to Venice, Italy via Amsterdam.  They still haven't worked out the details of where they will be going from there.  Maybe Germany or Prague.  Their return flight is from Dublin to Paris and then to Los Angeles so they will probably spend some time in Ireland and France.  They want us to join them but we are reluctant to go in March when the weather will still be too cold for our liking.  We did however get going on getting our passports.  We found we had to get certified copies of our birth certificates so we did that last Tuesday and they should be here in a couple of weeks.  Here's a photo of our little visitor, Sierra.  She's a Carolina Dog which is also known as an American Dingo.  Justin rescued her as a pup from a group in Orange County that saved her from the pound on the day she was due to be euthanized.  She's a great little dog...really smart and well-behaved.

Hi Sierra!

In case you missed my last post, take a look below at our snow day with the boys!  We all had the best time!

Snow Bound

We changed our plans... due to our big warm up, we decided to take the boys and the dogs to the snow today rather than wait until Thursday.  We were a little worried about crowds since today is a holiday- Martin Luther King Jr. Day- so the kids are out of school but we decided to chance it rather than have all the snow melt before we get up there.  Here's a sample of our 80 degree weather.  We had lunch at The Landing at Westlake with Chris and Liz and it was a gorgeous day!  This idyllic setting is less than 10 minutes from our house.  There are three restaurants there and lots of outdoor tables all with umbrellas so you are comfortable and this is the view.

There are lots of ducks and swans gliding through the water and only sail boats or quiet electric boats are permitted on the lake so it's very peaceful and quiet.

Kanan has been to the snow before but Cooper has only seen patches of snow when we were hiking in the high country of Yosemite so it will be fun to see how he reacts.  He made a spectacle of himself rolling in the little patches so I have a feeling he'll like it.  The boys have never seen snow before so this will be a big first for them.  They are so excited!  

Warm Winter Wishes

Happy winter!  Are we all still here?  Guess the Mayan calendar was wrong!

It's very wintry here in Southern California.  Our temps are dropping down into the 30's overnight and only in the upper 50's, lower 60's during the day.  That's cold for us!  

I posted this photo on Facebook so you may have seen it there.  It's our 2012 Christmas cards received so far.  I kept that card holder up all year and used it for photos so just covered up the photos with cards.

You can see that Cooper and Kanan photobombed the shot.  I got the card holder at Pottery Barn last year when they sent me a "Spend $50.00, get $25.00 off" gift card.  I received another one of those coupons this year so I finally found something to use it on.  I ordered this.  It went on sale first so I got an especially good deal, I think!

It's a "Sleigh Bell Crewel Embroidered Table Runner."  It's just the right size for my dining room table when both leaves are in.  I like the little bells on the ends.  I ordered it on Wednesday and by Thursday they were all gone.

Have a great weekend!  I'm going to try and slow down and sit by the fireplace and enjoy the tree.  It'll be over before we know it... Christmas, that is!

Sun Diego

San Diego is famous for being one of the sunniest cities in the United States and it actually has more sunny days in the winter than the summer.  Their Chamber of Commerce likes to call the city Sun Diego.  It's a popular place for people to come to escape the cold winters.  They call them "Snowbirds."  It's a little over 2 hours away from us.  Jessica went to college there at UC San Diego which is located in La Jolla.  We used to love to go visit her during her four years there because it's such a beautiful area.  We took a long walk with the dogs along the cliffs of La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya) and through the charming town.  Here's a photo of La Jolla Cove.

If you click to enlarge the photo, you might be able to see all the wildlife:  pelicans and sea lions amongst them.  This is also a popular dive area and Jeff and Justin want to go diving there.  We also took the dogs to one of the largest dog beaches in all of California.  It's called Ocean Beach Dog Beach.  Cooper especially enjoyed it because it has two areas: one a normal shore break area with waves but also a long channel where there are no waves.  While Kanan will body surf waves, Cooper is afraid of them so this area in the photo below was his cup of tea!  You can see they had lots of dogs to play with!

Will check Jeff's camera to see if he has more photos to share but wanted to post these while Jacob is napping.  I'm watching him today and had so much TV to catch up with when we got home Tuesday afternoon so didn't have a chance to update here.

Robin sent me photos that she took at the dog beach and here's a great one of Kanan and Cooper sharing/competing retrieving their water toy.

Fall Back Blues

As I sit here and write this, I have two dogs staring at me with expectant yet worried faces.  This happens ever autumn when we set the clocks back.  Cooper and Kanan are used to eating at 7 AM and 5 PM on the dot.  You can set a clock to me as I'm very consistent about timing.  So when they don't see me springing into action, they think I've lost my mind.  We are having mild Santa Ana's with temperatures in the 90's so I took advantage of the heat to give them both baths.  Wynne recommended Furminator products to help with shedding.  I already had the Furminator deshedding tool but I hadn't tried the shampoo and conditioner.  Theproducts both smelled really nice and the dogs look shiny and handsome.  I also use the Top Paw Self-Cleaning Slicker Brush .  I have one for Kanan designed for short hair breeds and a long-hair breed brush for Cooper.  I like them because they have a button that pushes up the hair so you can easily remove it.  The groomers at PetSmart recommended it and said it's what they use.

Besides the dogs being blue about the time change, I'm not a fan of the early darkness either.  I feel bad for Jessica because when she gets home in the evenings (she works until 6 PM) it's already dark.  She usually likes to take a little walk with the boys but now it will be dark.  I'd like to try and get the boys to Disneyland this week but once again, it's too hot.  Maybe by Wednesday or Thursday when a cool down is predicted.  Happy November and don't forget to vote on Tuesday.  I already voted by absentee ballot but Jeff hasn't.  Maybe I'll hide the car keys.      

Howl-o-Ween

We found another dog event to attend on Sunday.  This one was called the Howl-o-Ween Pooch Parade and Pet Expo.  It was at a park in Simi Valley.  We picked up Ryan and Jacob and took them along.  I knew they would enjoy seeing the dogs in Halloween costumes.  The link above has lots of photos and tells about it.  I only took a couple of photos.  It was very hot so we were in the shade and the photos were all a little dark but here's one so you get the idea.  I took this shot to show you how the owners were dressing up to match their pooches.

The boys were hungry and wanted to go to a new McDonald's that opened by their house so we went through the drive thru for a couple of Happy Meals and then took them to a local park to eat and play on the play equipment.  Since Cooper and Kanan were with us, we had to get them out of the SUV.  We're trying to find a day soon to take the boys to Disneyland.  We were hoping to do it while Disneyland was decorated for Halloween but we're running out of time.  We don't want to go while it's still this hot.  Bad enough standing in long lines without the sun beating down on you, too.  We haven't told Ryan and Jacob yet because they would be going crazy asking every day, "When???"  They will be so excited!

Ryan is Five! Happy Birthday!

How did Ryan get to be five already?  Doesn't it seem like just yesterday he was born?  Poor little guy is sick, too.  No fun to be sick on your birthday.  When Jeff picked him up from school yesterday he wasn't feeling well.  They went to the 99 cent store to buy things for birthday goodie bags for his classmates at school.  Since it's so close to Halloween, they bought a lot of Halloween themed items- pencils, erasers, stickers, etc...  When they got here, Ryan didn't want lunch which was a bad sign because he always eats a lot after school.  We took his temperature and it was a little over 100 F.  I took him with me to the market to get some children's Advil and we picked up some cute goodie bags at Michael's.  I doubt that he will go to school today so will have to have his little birthday celebration at school when he's feeling better.  Just as well as there's another little boy with the same birthday so they were going to have to double up anyway.  Now they both can have their own celebration day.  Here's a photo of his Avenger's birthday cake.

Ryan really wanted a pet for his birthday.  His dad is allergic to cats and dogs so I'm afraid he will grow up furry petless like I did.  My mom was allergic to cats, dogs and birds- think I'm over-compensating now?  So Jessica bought him a Beta fish.  Ryan named him Dexter and had to have Avengers as decor for the fish bowl.  Ryan loves Dexter so much... he visits him all the time, feeds him (with monitoring,) says goodbye to him in the morning, tells him he loves him, etc...  Jessica is terrified that Dexter will die and wishes she hadn't bought such a uniquely colored fish as he will be hard to replace without Ryan noticing.  Let's hope Dexter hangs in there!