Adler and Austen Have a Sleepover

On Friday, I got a call from my younger brother. He wanted me to go over to his house that evening to let his dog out since he would be gone for a wedding. I told him I would but I'd think Clarence (the dog) would have more fun if he just stayed over with Adler. So he did. Having two dogs instead of one wasn't much different except when one got up, the other had to get up too.

They were both well-behaved aside from an occasional roughhousing from Adler. Austen loved having two dogs to play with instead of two and play they did (note the picture above).




Adler did show her jealous side a little when we were giving Clarence some attention. Funny she never minded us giving attention to Clarence before, but then again we weren't in her own home. Anyway, the two ended their slumber party on Saturday afternoon. And, just like two little kids, they needed all the next day to recover from keeping each other up all night.

Adler and Austen Take a Vacation

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. Adler and Austen went on vacation and I took a vacation from the blog. We all headed up to our favorite Michigan beach town - Union Pier - for nine days. And, despite the iffy weather, we had a good time with our family and our friends.

Adler didn't fall in the pool this year. In fact, she barely got all four paws wet but she enjoyed running around the pool and morning walks on the beach.

Austen loved the water - especially the pool. He liked to sit on the steps of the pool and splash himself - not even minding if a little water got in his face or up his nose or in his mouth. He took it all in stride. He enjoyed playing with his sand toys on the beach and got startled when the water from the crashing waves (yes, there are waves in Michigan albeit not as big as those east coast ones that I used to ride on my boogie board when I was a kid) rushed up to the sand where he was sitting. He's turned into a regular little beach bum and his farmer's tan despite his SPF 50 sunblock sure shows it. He's definitely our kid.

Stay tuned for some stories from our vacation in future posts.

Austen's Graduating...

to the next room/age group in his daycare class. He gets to rejoin all of his friends that were there when he first started - all the boys that is.

A few weeks ago, Tom was sick so I had to pick up and drop off Austen at daycare. (I usually get out of that since the daycare is by Tom's office.) Anyway, I hadn't been in his daycare room in awhile and when I walked in, it was all girls! I think there was only one girl in there before and now it was all girls with trendy names - Ava, Ella, Kate, etc. So cute but a little too young for Austen. He missed his friends, especially some little buddy named Robert that he likes to talk to a lot.

Anyway, they told us today that he will be moving to the next classroom. We will miss his teachers in his little infant classroom as they took great care of him but I'm sure he's excited to rejoin his friends.

I can't believe he's graduating to the next classroom already or that he is seven months old! Pretty soon we'll be celebrating his first birthday!! Where does the time go? I guess it's true...life happens when you are busy making other plans:)

Austen and Adler's Pool Party

It's been hot in Chicago the last week or so. High temperatures but also high humidity levels. It's been rough. Good thing we got Austen a pool so that we he comes home from his tough day at school (daycare), he can relax by taking a dip in his pool.

Of course, Adler thinks the pool is for her too. And our usually fearful of water dog has gotten very used to cooling her paws in Austen's pool. Check out the shot above of Adler stealing Austen's pool toys. Apparently Austen wasn't the only one who thought that his floating whales were a hit.

Anyway, for those of you who have asked - Austen does like the water. It has taken some getting used to of course - especially when those big Michigan waves come crashing in on the beach but he seems to enjoy it and is getting really good at splashing around in his own pool. He doesn't even seem to mind when he splashes himself in the face by accident!

I've spent a lot of time lately though getting him used to the water. This summer we've made numerous trips to the beach in Michigan, our beach in Chicago and Rice Pool in Water Park -where I used to work in Wheaton. That's all in addition to his little pool on our back deck. Good thing he's got four swimsuits. He's certainly getting his use out of them this summer and I'm on my way to a good tan!