Sum, Sum, Summertime!

It has been a great summer weather wise, despite a handful of storms that brought a lot of lightning, thunder and torrential rains. Thankfully those storms have tended to happen more at night than during the day so we're still able to get out and enjoy the day. 

Sometimes it may be a bit overcast and Peyton frets and frantically checks the weather on my phone to make sure it's not going to rain - not because she has something to do outside but because she's petrified of rain. We were sitting outside at a restaurant the other evening watching the magnificent lightning show in the distance and Peyton was hysterical wanting us to move inside. I mean when did she get so afraid of rain?! And forget it if our power goes out which it has too given that our electrical wires are all above ground and in a pretty wooded area.

Despite Peyton's reticence to go outside when there's a hint of rain, we've had a pretty full summer so far. We've taken a lot of morning walks with Sadie. Done some outings to my old town where the kids got to visit a penny candy store I used to love when I was a kid. They've had playdates with their friends and Austen had his first sleepover (at someone else's house). We've seen movies, played rounds of mini golf and spent afternoons at the local pool. The kids have decorated cookies (Finding Dory), delivered block party fliers and kept up with their school work through workbooks and homework packets sent home by the teachers.

Austen and Peyton have also done a lot of camps including soccer, cheerleading, flag football, lacrosse, theater, vacation bible school, safety village school and a craft camp. Not sure what has been their favorite but I will ask them this week when they are all done with camps for the summer.  

After this we head into the home stretch of those last few weeks of summer before school! Then we'll have a 4th grader and a 1st grader!

Making and eating Finding Dory cookies.

We've got spirit!

Yes, we do!

Mini golf! Don't tell Peyton we went without her while she was at camp!

Sadie in the City

Adler was our city dog. She lived there for 9 of her almost 11 years. She was used to the garbage on the ground, the loud noises, sirens and no backyard. Sadie on the other hand is and will be our suburban dog.

It's so different raising a puppy in the city than in the suburbs. Number one - you have a backyard so when the puppy has to go out in the early morning there's no need to put on anything else but your pajamas and wander into your backyard. Number two - the puppies are so used to loud noises in the city that they are seldom startled by the squeals of tires or the sirens of an ambulance. Number three - you don't have to go farther than your own backyard to walk them and they don't need to be on a leash to do it which means they get to run!

I forgot Adler used to have these spastic episodes in her younger years where she would just be so hyper running up and down our hallway and jumping over obstacles in her way. She would mess up our carpets, jump off our two steps and fly through the air. I was reminded of this recently when Sadie did the same thing in our house and I quickly took her outside where she proceeded to sprint around the yard like a mad puppy.

Anyway, last Friday, Sadie went with us to the city. It wasn't really a planned trip but we needed to head downtown for dentist appointments and she hadn't been feeling well the night before so I was reticent to leave her at home for what surely would have been at least four hours. So we decided to bring her with us and while the kids and one of us was having our teeth cleaned the other would walk around some of our old stomping grounds with Sadie and Hailey.

Sadie was so excited by her first trip to the city - all the smells, all the people, all the garbage on the ground that I certainly got a workout from having to restrain her often on our walk through Lincoln Park. Add trying to maneuver a stroller with Hailey in it while trying to restrain her and it was more of a challenge than I thought it would be. By the walk back maybe she was tired or she finally go it because she walked a lot better on leash.

I don't think she'll be a city dog - that was Adler's domain but she wasn't afraid of a little adventure in the city either.

4th of July

We wasted no time in coming home from our wedding in Boston and getting right into the 4th of July festivities kicking of the red, white and blue holiday with a morning parade. Tom and Peyton walked in the parade as part of the Indian Princess group (think Girl Scouts but with Dads!). So Austen, Hailey and I scouted a good spot on the parade route and settled in to watch the parade.

I used to hate going to parades. Even when Austen was little, I wasn't thrilled about it, but we've been going to the one in our neighboring town for awhile now - even before we moved here and it's like a little piece of Americana. Nevermind that the houses look like they are straight out of New England, it's the people having parties on their front lawns - not a keg type of party mind you but elaborately set up displays with mimosas and yummy breakfast items. I wish I lived on the parade route so I could throw a fun party like this! Hence why I now think the parade is a great way to kick off 4th of July morning.

After the parade, we had a few friends over for some barbeque and then hit the fireworks in our neighborhood park. Of course the  night is not complete without sparklers, glow sticks and many red, white and blue desserts! This holiday is moving up on my list of favorites for sure.

Two out of three!

When is this parade going to start?

Our Indian Princess - "Dancing Pony"

Tom marching right along in the parade with Peyton in front of him.

Sparklers!

Hailey's first sparkler!

Sadie's on a Playdate

This is where Hailey says Sadie is if you asked her right now. Tom and I actually had an out of town family wedding this weekend and instead of saddling my poor mother with three kids plus a four month old puppy I decided it was best to have someone else take care of Sadie to alleviate some of the craziness. After all, even I might be a little overwhelmed having to care for a toddler and a puppy plus the other two by myself for 96 hours.

So off Sadie went...to her breeder. They run a kennel and this was their pup so who better to take care of her, right?! I still felt guilty. Would she cry at night not sleeping beside us in her crate. Would she think we were giving her back? Would she miss us? Would she be okay?

I packed the toys I thought she would like and I gave her a lot of treats and a long walk that morning before setting out on our one hour drive to the kennel. I felt bad but that quickly dissipated as Sadie bounded out of the car and practically dragged me to the front door (she is just shy of 40 pounds now). It was as if she knew this was where she was born.

We went in and she jumped all over the "handler" and didn't even look back at us when they took her to her "suite" in the back. I filled out the requisite paperwork and requested a bed, extra playtime and a bedtime snack for her each night. When I finished wouldn't you know another Bernese Mountain Dog puppy about Sadie's size walked right in. Now, this isn't that unusual as it is the breeder's kennel but seeing another Berner just Sadie's size had me wondering if they were related. The owner and I made small talk as I mentioned I just brought my four month old Berner to the kennel too and we figured out that Sadie and her boy Berner puppy was actually Sadie's brother and he was staying there for 10 days. How fun would it be for Sadie to play with her brother?! I instantly felt more at ease. Sadie was going to be having a lot of fun on this vacation from us! Hence, Hailey's response that Sadie's on a playdate with her brother!

Even so it's weird not having her in the house. We missed check out time today as our flight arrived later and the kennel is closed tomorrow, but you'd better believe we'll be the first ones there to pick up our puppy on Tuesday morning.

See you soon Sadie!