Another day...

So today was yet another 5 mile hike, a swim in the pond (for those of the hippobottomus persuasion, a wade for the rest of us), a little misbehaving (it was Abby's fault, I swear!) and some tennis ball chasing. Oh, and some doggies (who weren't us).

We started off on our usual trail...

Curiously, the parking lot for the trail access has this sign:

What are we supposed to do? Levitate from the car to the trail? Have Mom and Dad carry us? Needless to say, Abby piddles as close to the sign as she can....

Moving on...

While it has been nippy at night lately (in the high 30s!), it has been just perfect during the day. So, off we go into the wild blue yonder...

Being the good, well-trained dog that I am, I obey all traffic signs...

We made it to The Park With The Pond, and were happy to discover that there were no evil trolls nice Animal Control officers there, and the pond was all ours!

We usually have two tennis balls in play; one for the Hippobottomus, so she can go do her long-range swims, while I play in the shallows.

But for some reason probably because she suffers from acute Puppy Brainitis that is unknown to me, she didn't go after one of the balls that Dad "threw deep" for her.

If you biggify that picture, you can see how she's totally ignoring the ball that Dad threw her. And so Dad threw a second ball for her. A second ball?!?

So, feeling totally neglected, I thought that if I took the initiative and went down to the grassy field, I'd have my own tennis ball time. Abby decided to come with me. Because I'm her hero. Apparently, Dad was Not So Keen on me deciding that it was time to change venues...

So, we got marched back up to the pond, and I was made to lie down while Abby got in a little more swimming time. Why is it that the older sibling always gets blamed? This was SO Abby's fault. If she hadn't left her tennis ball in the pond, leaving us with just one tennis ball, I wouldn't have been bored and taken off...

So I had to sit while Abby went chasing after the one remaining tennis ball.

Oh, wait. Wrong picture. Here we go. Hey, it's a mistake ANYONE could make... Heehee!

After the "appropriate" amount of time with the hippobottomus doing her thing, we finally went down to the field so I could do my thing.

Although Dad still thought that I needed to "behave". What about Pod Puppy?

I'm telling ya' - the youth of today can get away with anything...

But unlike Abby, I actually share and let her get the ball sometimes...

But at the end of the day, I am Queen of The Land!

Especially since I'm nowhere near as goofy-looking!

Then it was time to head back. On the way back, we met a bunch of other doggies, some of whom Mom actually got pictures of...

This girl actually waited for us...

So, of course, we had to say hi...

Her sister came up and said hi, too.

Abby is a bit, erm, shameless when she meets new doggies, but I'll give you the PG photo...

I'll leave the rest to your imagination... Sheesh. I don't know where the girl learns these things!

So. Yeah. Um. We saw some other doggies, too, but Mom wasn't as quick on the draw with the camera, so no photos. Until we passed this hound, who has a front-row seat for all the traffic on the trail. He barked. We barked. All was good.

And then we went home, where there may or may not have been some bitey-face action...

So, just another day at the office! ;-)

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus