Adler's Angels

I keep meaning to bring my camera with me everytime I walk Adler in this weather. It definitely is her kind of weather. It's December in Chicago, there's lots of snow and it's cold. But, Adler doesn't seem to mind at all. It seems she could stay outside for hours in it just taking it all in.

Tom/I have been taking her to a school with a big empty field about a block away so she can tire herself out and enjoy this great weather she thinks we're having. She usually begins her snow adventures by lying down on the cold snow. She then buries her nose in the snow looking for groundhogs or something and then playfully rolls her 80 lb. body onto her back and frantically rolls back and forth like she's itching her back but she's making dog angels! Afterward, she'll run a few good laps after the ball I brought with me or she'll lay contentedly in the snow enjoying the quiet and the million lights of the city. She looks like all is right with the world and this is exactly where she's supposed to be. I'll have to admit, she does look good in the snow.

Austen's Other Side

Austen has become quite the little boy. Getting into things and torturing poor Adler. Although she happily plays along. Just Friday, I was finishing up the dishes and Austen was playing at the computer desk. I didn't hear him for a few minutes so I went to see what he was doing. I walked into his room where he had roamed to find his face covered in the blue magic marker he had stolen from the desk drawer. Luckily, I caught him in time so he had only written on his face and hands and not our carpet,furniture or walls. This was all the day after I found him standing on the closed toilet on his tiptoes so he could turn on and off the bathroom faucet. He's such a boy.

Check out this video of him chasing poor Adler with one of his toys. She enjoyed playing with him though. You can tell by the wagging tail. Good thing she likes him or she wouldn't put up with his no warning belly flops right on top of her.

O’Christmas Tree

Last Sunday, Austen, Adler, Tom and I piled into our SUV to make the trek to Dudeck’s Pine Country to chop down our family Christmas tree. Tom and I have been doing this with friends since 2001, well before Adler joined the family in early 2005 and Austen in early 2007.

There are some good memories from those early days. One year, I remember laughing so hard because I had inadvertently tied the car doors shut when I was helping Tom put the tree on the roof of his much despised Audi (I didn’t like that car so much). And, I remember during one of Adler’s first visits to the tree farm, my friend Shannon came all decked out in a nice off-white parka, fancy boots and her Citizens of Humanity jeans. We hadn’t gotten snow yet that year so the ground was muddy. Adler decided she was going to be Picasso and jumped up on Shannon and left some nice muddy paw prints on the canvas that was Shannon’s parka. I don’t think Shannon ever dressed up again for tree cutting! Another year, we were driving back on the narrow two-lane road that leads out of the pine country and our tree broke loose and was hanging from the side of the car. Tom has since rectified that problem by using bungee cords.

As for Adler and Austen at the farm - Adler loves to run amidst the trees, especially when there’s snow (we had some this year). She’s great because we can take her off leash and we can’t see her but all we have to do is call her and she comes running. It’s a game to her. She has to find us.

Austen’s second trip to the tree farm was a memorable one. This year he could walk – well if you call waddling in his snowpants and new boots walking! He wasn’t so sure about moving quickly in that gear and his mittens kept falling off, but he enjoyed taking it all in and eating many Christmas cookies at the post-tree tailgate.

There are always good memories and good friends that are part of our annual trip to the Christmas Tree Farm. We enjoy each other’s company, our warm libations and drink in the spirit of the season.