Daisy Mae's boo boo

Daisy Mae spent the last 14 days licking a spot on her foot that started as a tiny skin tag.   We were so distracted with the pups that we were not as "on it" as normal.  So today, we started making her stop!  Underneath the sock the sore is covered with a band aid and sports tape.  She was pretty bitter about it this morning, but after awhile, she got used to it!

Hops is Home!

We picked up Hops and left her puppies behind!  And she has not even looked back.  The pups are still so cute and starting to really be busy!

Cash and Cosette's tiny pup who was born at 7 ounces (Cash was 16 ounces at birth)

She was actually an amazing mom and was still super happy to be around them and seemed to really enjoy playing with them.

She was with another mama dog, Cosette, who had 8 pups, and they had a great time together.  Cosette was already "over" her pups and tried to avoid them if possible.  The pic above shows Cash on top of Cosette's pups. Hops and Cosette became fast friends and would play together and take care of each others pups!

Cash

On the way to bring Hops and the pups back to the breeder, Hops was agitated.  She wouldn't settle down at all.  She did not have that problem when she came home with us and left the pups behind.  She fell asleep immediately and slept the whole way.  

Check out her lip!

Once we got home, she didn't seem to miss the pups at all.  She just slipped right back into the routine of the house and seemed SUPER happy to come up and sleep in our room at bedtime - instead of being downstairs with the puppies.

We are not sure where the pups will end up living but if they are close, I hope to be able to visit with them.

Sewing Camp

Grace went to a sewing camp last week and loved it!  She was a natural at it and made all the stuff below - a pillow case, pajama shorts, a t-shirt, two bags and a stuffed bear holding a ukulele.

She ordered a sewing machine from amazon and it comes tomorrow.  We went out today and bought a bunch of fabric to start some projects.  She is going to start with making a dress and a tank top.  I want her to make dog toys and a dog bed.  Stay tuned for updates.

Accident

Drew had his first accident. 

He was hit in his truck five days after he finished lifting it!  He was driving down a residential street and a woman parked along the curb pulled right out into him as he drove by.  It was totally her fault.

He was bummed out but I told him any accident where no one is hurt is ok.  Insurance will fix it!

Back to the breeders

The pups went back to the breeders to be started on real food, weaned from mama and potty trained.  We put them in the back of the truck for the trip.  They both got really upset at first, so I held them until they fell asleep and then put them down in the back.  They slept for an hour or so and then got up and wandered around a little.  Cash even chewed on their stuffed turtle. Hops was a little unsettled but I got her to get into the back and lay down for a little while.

I had told the breeder that Cash was a fatty and told her to prepare herself!  When we drove up and she came out to get him....she said he was the size of a 7 week old puppy NOT a 4 week old puppy!

Then she sent us these pics of our pups next to pups that are 4 days younger!  The big ones are Cash and Camo!

 
The next day she sent this pic of Camo asleep in the food bowl and Cash still eating!  I laughed so hard that I drooled.

Hops is with the pups for a week while she weans them.  She is such a committed mom that I bet it is hard for her.  Luckily she will be distracted by Uncle Dewey and the swimming pool.

3 weeks and 5 days old

Cash left - Camo right

Cash

Camo

Pups continue to have delightful personalities.  Cash is a big lazy butt and likes to be cuddled.  Camo is inquisitive and happy!

Puppies

No words needed - just cuteness!

Mama and Babes

This might be my favorite pic of the pups.  I love that Hops is in the background looking over her babies.  And I love that she has toys scattered all over the patio!  Pups about 3.5 weeks in this pic.

3 weeks old

Cash and Camo

At three weeks, their personalities are emerging.  Cash, on the left, is a prolific eater and quite lazy.  He is easy to comfort and seemed to have no trouble with his teeth coming in.  Camo, on the right, gets frenzied when it is time to eat and spends a lot of time licking nipples before finally latching on.  She seemed to suffer quite a bit with her teeth coming in (picture whining and crying for 11 hours!) and is harder to comfort.  She is super wiggly and doesn't like to be cuddled.

Regardless, these sweet pups are going to make some family very happy!

Baby Friends

Avery - 6 months old and Camo and Cash - 3 weeks old

Camo and Cash

Camo - 17 days old

Cash - 19 days old

Drew's truck

Drew saved all summer to buy a lift kit, tires and rims for his truck and spent this weekend lifting it! Drew, Paul and Jim spent Friday nite and Saturday doing the modification.  It looks pretty sharp.  I think I have competition for my bad ass rig!

Ev and Jess' wedding

We specifically took some pics with the bride and groom because the groom was 4 months old at our wedding and I thought that was so cool to now be at his wedding!

Playtime

This is one of the first time I saw the puppies playing together.  They are still at the point where they eat and sleep most of the time so when they interacted with each other it was really exciting.  They also just started wagging their tails when we talk to them!  The little dogs in the them are coming out!

2 weeks old

The pups and Hops came home with us when they were 12 days old to stay for a couple weeks.

These pics are from there two week birthday.  We names them Cash (male) and Camo (female).

Rescue Raft Shenanigans

Lover J-man's giddy expression!

Jim has an expired rescue raft from the fishing boat that has been sitting in the garage taking up space.  So he came up with the bright idea of bringing it to Cherry to test it out.  You wouldn't normally just" test it out" as its a one time use item and its expensive!  But since it was expired and you don't want to risk using an expired one, it left it available for shenanigans!

Jim took it out in the water, threw it in and pulled the cord.  Normally it would be thrown over board on the boat while hanging onto the cord.

I good strong pull causes the boat to automatically inflate.   It took less than 30 seconds to inflate.

Once it inflated, Jim got in it and looked at all the gear that came with it:  a knife, two small wooden paddles, a bailing bucket, sponges for bailing, a mirror for sending signals, huge flares, a rocket flare...  The gear was as much fun as the boat!

The boat has a cover to keep you out of the elements.  It is a six man raft -- but that would be SUPER tight!

Grace and Jeremy were in on it all.  Note the GoPro on G's head! Jeremy is looking at something used to repair holes.

After we went through all the gear, we added the boat to our "flotilla" and went out to catch blue gill.  Jeremy and G rode in it while I pulled them with the kayak.  They filled the boat with water and we put the blue gill we caught in it!  Such fun...except for me who was trying to drag them around while paddling (with only one paddle!).  After awhile, Drew came along with the jetski and tossed me a tow rope.

He towed us across the lagoon where we continued to fish while Jeremy jumped off of the cliffs above us.  Fun for all!

Tonsil Stones

    

On our way home from dinner tonite, Jeremy informs us that he has a tonsil stone. 

Of course, we all say, "what"??  And he proceeds to tell us that every 6 months or so he gets a tonsil stone and he has one tonite.  We thought he was telling a tall tale.  But when we stopped at the lake to tarp up the boat, he proceeds to stick his finger in his throat and dislodge the stone.  And then he chased us all around that parking lot trying the get us to smell it because apparently it smells awful!  Drew and Amanda fell for it and were still horrified ten minutes later.

Jeremy's exact words:  "I am so honored to have tonsil stones because only one in fifty people have them!"

Cherry Lake - July 2016

We had an AWESOME Cherry Lake trip this year!  The highlights were:

1. The lake was FULL!  Which meant that you only had to walk your tent, bags, food, etc. 100 feet above the high water mark.  Last year we had to hike it about a quarter of a mile because the water was so low.  We had a great spot with our own little bay.

2.  We saw river otters in the Magic Fishing Hole!  First time ever!  And when we asked the Ranger about it, it was the first he had heard of river otters at the lake.

3.  We launched Jim's expired rescue raft - check soon for a blog post on the adventure.

 4.  Lots of water fun including:  walking on the log jam (above): swinging from the rope swing (below); cliff jumping;  and putting together the kayak, the SUP and the rescue raft to make a "flotilla" for blue gill slaying.

Jeremy

Jeremy

 5.  There was a lot of game playing (mostly liars dice) and hanging out on the boat.

All our toys

We start begging for the sun to go down after a long day on the lake!

6.  There were a lot of fish caught!  We caught our first trout in over 3 years at the lake.  The Magic Fishing Hole did not disappoint.  Nor did the blue gill!

G at the Magic Fishing Hole

 

 7.  Ahi got in the lake and swam back to the boat my herself after going to shore for a potty break!  So brave!

Magic Fishing Hole

Amanda catching her first trout....ever!

When at the MFH, I have to sit down with Daisy because I am afraid she will slip and fall into the river

Testing the rope for the rope swing

We ran into some trouble with the jetski but Jim and the crew had the problem diagnosed and fixed within about 30 minutes.

We went back to the MFH the second morning so the kids could see the otters...but we were skunked!  Luckily they saw one later that day.

Surfing Ahi

 This is Ahi sound asleep on her back in the tent at about 9:30 pm.  Camping makes her very tired!