Sunday, June 26, 2011

Another day in the life...

As we anxiously await the RH's decision as to who the lucky gal will be who gets to go on a dream date with him, Abby and I have been amusing ourselves in the usual ways... hiking, walking, barking at things... the usual. As Jed and Abby (the other Abby, not my sister Abby...) sagely pointed out, we actually have had our dream date with Mango, so if he doesn't pick us, that's okay - we'll always have the bobsled! And we got the chance to meditate with the RH - how cool is that?!?

So, what have we been up to? Well, a couple of days ago, this deer decided to wander into our backyard. We were barking at crazy like her through the kitchen window, and I think she kept looking at us like, "What are you making so much noise about? Miserable beasts!" Or maybe that was Mom. It's hard to say. Anyway, I think she must have been a youngster, and not accustomed to being barked at from behind glass windows, because she hung around for a while... (The pictures look a little funny because Mom took them from inside the house - something about how Mom didn't want us to go play chase with the deer...)


Mom took us on a hike yesterday; our neighborhood has miles and miles and miles of single-track hiking paths, and there are access points all over the place - we've got 3 trail heads within a half mile of our house. Dad's still not allowed to go hiking where he could stumble over rocks, roots, dogs, etc, and fall, so this was our Quality Time With Mom. Abby thinks she's the alpha dog (she's not, I just let her think she is...), so she leads, even though she's not as intrepid a hiker as I am, and so she kept tugging at Mom while Mom was trying to snap some pictures (hence the quality - or lack thereof - of the next few pictures...)...

See.... What a doofus... I tried to guide her in spots, but she's a bit of a trail hog...

We love going on hikes in the mountains, and Mom assures us that we'll be doing more of this.

However, we also like going on walks with Dad, too. And we've been keeping Dad healthy by making him go on LOTS of walkies with us.

Abby and I both gave heartfelt sighs as we passed the Olympic Park. We'll never be able to walk by that again without thinking of Mango standing at the top of the 120K ski jump. Heehee!


All of our walk is on a MUT (multi-use trail), which crosses wetlands and borders neighborhoods. It makes for all kinds of interesting sights. We love this sign - these people speak our language!


(Okay, okay... we'll poop elsewhere... besides, Mom and Dad always carry baggies with them anyway...)

Anyhoo... we were walking along, minding our own business...


When we saw this family of herons!


Awww. Aren't the little ones so cute?!? I wanted to get a closer look...


But apparently Dad Heron was feeling rather protective of his family.


He squawked at us to leave him and his family alone, and once we got the hint, he joined up with his birdie family (although I think he was still keeping an eye on us...).


Pretty cool stuff, huh?

In addition to the birdies, this trail also has a little park, and I ALWAYS make sure Mom and Dad stop at the park for some tennis ball time!


And after the park, we cross more wetlands toward the smaller White Barn (there's another Big White Barn on another part of the trail, but it's miles and miles from where we are here...)


Once we get past the barn, there are a whole bunch of 'pot guts' (or prairie dogs, if you prefer). I always want to check them out, but Mom says I should leave them alone so they can sun themselves...


I just wanna say hi....


But no.... Dad and I keep walking...


Abby, on the other hand, is bit of a hot dog, and she gets thirsty quickly, so Mom has to stop and give the beastie some water...


It's a great walk, and you can see why this trail is one of our favorite places to walk!

Oh, and when we haven't been hiking and walking and chatting with wildlife, we've been hanging out.

Did I mention Abby thinks she the alpha dog? Yeah.... Apparently the Puppy Hat is the summer's hottest fashion accessory! Heehee.

Happy Sunday!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus

PeeEss: Mom thought we should change our header photo, so people didn't think we still had tons of snow. The higher elevations have snow and the runoff is pretty strong right now, but we are totally snow-free! (For a month or so...)

PeePeeEss: Sorry if we've been slacking on visiting bloggies - it's all Mom's fault - something about being 'fried out' after the hiking, and taking care of Dad, and stuff. We're making the rounds, but slowly.

19 comments:

Sierra Rose said...

Hi ya pals! Great area you have for walkies and hikes! Were those some bluebell blooms?
Great to have dad join you on the flats, then get mom out for the tougher terrain! That's a lot of walkin' you all are doing! And, beautiful parkie time!
Have a nice Sunday! Great had on dad :)

Sweet hugs,
Sierra Rose

Dexter said...

You sure are a couple of adventure dogs. So much wild life. Watch out for the birds, though, they can get quite mean when there are chicks nearby.

Slobbers,
Mango

P.S. How could I ever forget our pre date date. My muscles are still sore.

Kari in Alaska said...

Deer tastes yummy. You should try really hard to catch one ;)

Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com

Frankie Furter and Ernie said...

Oh the Puppy Hat is very CHIC fur sure. I'm thinkin my dad could use one like that!!!

Lovely walkies you had. That Deer didn't know how lucky it was, RIGHT???

rottrover said...

What beautiful hikes and walks you girls have been taking. You're finally having summer! Tell abby that Bart sleeps on Mom's head like she sleeps on your dad's!

Have a fun week!

-Gizmo, Bart and Ruby

PeeeeS: mom suggested to mrs. wilddingo that you two do a lecture slide show when she returns to the states. I'm loving the commentary!!

Two French Bulldogs said...

you sure have cool animals...we have tree rats
Benny & Lily

Anonymous said...

You two have awesome places to go hiking there! must be pretty awesome!

Anonymous said...

OMD! that header photo...the first thing i saw was that HIPPOBOTTOMUS! woo aren't joking about that! woo-wee!

herons are cool. we had tons of them in santa cruz mts. love the poop sign!

and your mom has a phd not in basket weaving? what does she do with that phd exactly? ski? LOL!

bichonpawz said...

We love tagging along on your walks...I think we would have liked those little prairie dog things!!! We have chipmunks and skunks and squirrels and snakes and bears and foxes...but we don't have any of those cute little prairie dogs! Hope your Dad is feelin' better!! xo
Chloe and LadyBug

Molly the Airedale said...

We see herons all the time fishing in our pond but ours are the blue ones! Your herons are pretty too, girls!
We love your green header picture!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

Unknown said...

A deer? A real deer? WOW!! Wish I could have seen that!!

And that looked like the most awesome hike, although probably a bit too sunny & hot for me - I would have been guzzling water more than Abby!! :-)

Hee! Hee Oh, and I LOVE that Puppy Hat accessory!!

Slobbers,
Honey the Great Dane

The Army of Four said...

WOW! You two sure lead an exciting life! The deer is so pretty (not prettier than you, I might add...), we totally LOVE prairie dogs!, and HOW COOL! I've never seen herons that color before! (Ours are more like a solid blue/grey!) We'd sure love to come hiking with you!
Play bows,
Zim

Stewey said...

What great walks you have!

Stewey

Anonymous said...

what a fun day!! our dogs love hiking too, and chick is quite a trail hog. no matter how fast or slow we're going, he insists on being ahead, too!
hope your dad is feeling better...

Clive said...

Your header photo is brillant! We absolutely love it!

That was a wonderful hike you went on - the photos are fab! Deer, herons - an action packed adventure!

take care of your Dad - don't go wearing him out!!

best wishes
Clive and Murray

Baby Rocket Dog and Hootie said...

Oh bowWowzer, this was a fun post to get to wander on the trails with you. Those heron were pretty neat! About the pooh bags: Our mom is always washing them in the wash machine since she and Daddy always carry them in their pockets and Dad forgets to empty his pockets at times. Of course they are empty ones. BOL!!
Smooches from pooches,
BabyRD & HOotie

Jed and Abby in MerryLand said...

That was a most interesting outing! Our Abby would have been on those ground hogs like white on rice; she loves to dig for rodents of any kind. Her intentions are not benign. Interesting to see brown herons; ours are also blue. They're even on some of our license plates. The doggie 'poopen verboten' sign was really cute; nice to see some public officials have a sense of humor.

Jed & [the other] Abby

D.K. Wall said...

What? No snow for a month or so? Whatever will you do?

Anonymous said...

It was a fery goof fing that you changed your pickture. Mumma & I was finking you might livein snows aaaall year. But really you hafe fery beautiful places to go walkies. We liked seeing all the creatures & the nice green places that you go walkies.
Mumma got to wondering what your momma doctors too - is it peoples or doggies or some other fing??
We hope that your Dadda keeps getting better.

Tail waggs from Ruger.