Run Like the Wind

Jeff takes the dogs out on daily outings. They either go to the dog park or on a hike but if he takes them to our neighborhood park they both run like crazy and get far more exercise than they do at the dog park. I told Jeff to take my camera and get a video of them running like maniacs at the park. Here's a typical outing.

 

Cooper Racing Around the Park from Darylynn Mills on Vimeo.

Later that morning I took Jacob to the same park to play and we were surprised to find a huge herd of Boer goats that were brought in to graze on the hillside as a fire prevention measure. Jacob had fun seeing all the goats and I was surprised to hear them say "Baaa!" I thought that was what sheep said! Guess goats say the same thing.  Here's a photo of our neighborhood goats

Caterwauling

We had a lot of caterwauling from Hunter!  The dictionary defines caterwaul as:
1  to make a harsh cry

2  to protest or complain noisily
When Jeff went into the kitchen Monday night to set up the coffeemaker for the morning, he was met by Hunter and Kalani and they were weaving through his legs begging for food.  When I got up in the morning, they met me at the door with plaintive cries.  I am feeding Hunter at the same time as the dogs:  7 AM and 5 PM.  He's getting a little less than a cup of the Science Diet RD per day.  I fed him half in the morning and he didn't eat it all so I put it back into the little container I'm measuring his daily amount into to save for his evening meal.  He will have to learn that he needs to eat when it's there or he will have to wait until the next feeding time.  The dogs do it so he can do it, too.  On the other hand, I'm sneaking Kalani up to the computer/cat room where Hayley's food bowl is left out all day so he can eat as much as he wants.  We don't want him to lose any weight because he's the smallest of them all.  I'll weigh Hunter in a week to see if there's any progress.  I'm sure there will be.

Jeff picks up Ryan every day from school at 1:15 PM and he takes him on little errands or adventures.  He does this to give me a break because Jacob is napping at this time so I have a few free hours to get on the computer or do other things I want to do.  Yesterday, they stopped off at a motorcycle shop and Jeff sent me this cellphone photo of Ryan.

Meow

Time for Hunter to go on a diet!  Did you read the story about Meow, the 39 lb cat?  His elderly owner could no longer care for him so they took him in at a vet's and were trying to get him to lose weight but he, sadly, died over the weekend from lung problems.  The story is HERE and here's a photo of Meow.

Now Hunter is nowhere near that bad!  Meow weighed 39 lbs and Hunter "only" weighs 19 lbs but that's still a good 7 to 9 pounds over what he should weigh.  Look how similar Hunter looks to Meow.

What we need to do is stop the "grazing" (where full food bowls are left out all day) that we are allowing now.  We need to get Hunter Science Diet R/D and feed him the specified amount in the morning and evening.  It says they can lose 20% of their body weight in 3 months so by summer, he should be down to around 15 pounds.  Will keep you posted as to whether he gets into swimsuit shape in time.

We Bought a Zoo

I think we solved the mystery of our visiting peahen.  Friday night, Jeff and I were watching the DVD of We Bought a Zoo with Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson and we noticed it was filmed in nearby Hidden Valley.  Then we saw peacocks and we looked at each other and said, "Peacocks!"  It's probably less than 10 miles away as the crow (or peacock) flies so that's our best guess as to where our peahen came from.  I googled the locale of the movie and found this:  "Thousand Oaks- Peacocks strut by, flashing their tails like fan dancers. Across the way, swans serenely glide across a pond as flamingos strike one-legged pinup poses. Perched nearby are several stately owls, some of which are Hogwarts alumni."  Maybe next we'll have a visit from Hedwig!  Or have a real life pink flamingo in our front yard.

We had a nice weekend.  Saturday, we met Chris and Liz and had lunch at Brophy Brothers at Ventura Harbor.   Liz and I had salads and the guys had fish and chips.  My salad was shrimp and avocado with basil vinaigrette.  We stopped at a new Lowe's and bought s few more flowers in their garden center and then came home and waited for our little ovenight guests, Ryan and Jacob.  We sat out on the patio and had popcorn and then pizza for dinner.  They both went to sleep before 8 PM and slept around the clock.  Jessica and Pat had a nice time at the wedding in Malibu.  It began at 4 PM and the weather was gorgeous and the lucky couple had a supermoon to light up the night for them.  I would take that as a good omen!            

May the Fourth be with You

It's that day of the year again where I can use Sadie's Princess Leia and R2D2 and say, "May the Fourth be with you!"  I miss not having handy access to all my mood girls now that I'm using blogger.  I have to upload them individually like you would a photo so while I'm at it, I'll also wish you a  Happy Cinco de Mayo!  

Jessica and Pat have a wedding to attend on Saturday in Malibu so we will have the boys spend the night here.  We will have to have a special Cinco de Mayo dinner.  Ryan is a really good eater now but Jacob has a very limited diet.  He eats bananas, toast, rice cereal, yogurt, string cheese and pizza and that's about it.  Hopefully he will become more adventurous in food as he gets older.  We are looking into some Mommy (Nani) and Me programs for him so he can have some social interactions with someone other than Ryan who tends to boss him around and take things away from him... typical older brother stuff.  Have a great weekend!  

You Can Never be too Rich

or too thin the saying goes... How about too tan?  HERE's an unbelievable story about a mom who supposedly took her 5 year old daughter in a tanning booth where she was burned.  Whether or not that happened, I don't know but you HAVE to see this mom in the video!  Her color is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen!  She looks like she's right out of a comedy skit on Saturday Night Live or the crazy lady in Something About Mary!  You have to watch a short word from a sponsor but the wait is worth it.  If you stick around and watch the next video, it's about a mom who lets her 4 year old wear makeup.  What is wrong with these mothers?  When we were at the park the other day, I saw a baby, probably under 1 year old, with a mohawk.  I've even read about a mother who had her child tattooed.  On the other hand, the third video on this Good Morning America page has a great dad who sings Bohemian Rhapsody with his kids on the way to school every morning.  I sent that link to Justin and he said, "If I have kids, that's how I'm doing it!"

Pink Slime and now Meat Glue!

It's enough to make anyone become a vegetarian!  Last month we learned about "pink slime" in our hamburgers and now we are hearing about "meat glue" used most often in filet mignon.  While pink slime was mostly just gross, meat glue has more potential for danger not to mention ripping us off thinking we are getting an expensive cut of meat when really it's just cheap stew meat chemically glued together.  HERE's the story about meat glue and a San Francisco chef demonstrates how meat is glued.  In a nutshell, meat glue is produced through the fermentation of bacteria. Added to meat, it forms a nearly invisible and permanent bond to any other meat you stick it to so cheap stew meat can be coated with it and shaped into what looks like a filet mignon or other expensive cut of meat.  The reason it's dangerous is glued pieces of meat can contain bacteria on the inside where it is often not cooked thoroughly.  Bottom line:  if you're going to order a filet mignon or any other piece of meat that could be glued, make sure it's cooked well-done.