Before we get into the excitement, here's a picture of Mom's little grass seedlings. They are starting to pop up (along with about a zillion weeds, but Mom says anything that is green and not a dandelion stays...) and Mom is most excited. We're a little less excited, as Mom says this means No Zoomies In The Yard for a while. Huh? I thought she was planting this lawn for us....
Anyhoo, we haven't been around all week because Dad got the major sickies. He wasn't feeling good Monday night/early Tuesday morning, so in the morning, Mom dropped us off at daycare and took Dad to the Emergency Room.

After much sticking of needles and drawing of blood, Mom had to take Dad down to Salt Lake where he was hospitalized for 4 days. While Dad was in the hospital, Mom would take us to daycare, and then go down to the hospital, spend 5-7 hours there, and then come get us from daycare. Going to daycare every day this week was pretty cool. Well, except for the first day, when Mom dropped us off, and she Never Came Back. Well, okay. She did come back, but when 4pm came and went and Mom didn't show up, we were a little worried. Then, when the daycare people fed us at 5pm, they told us Mom was 'delayed'. Mom didn't get there until 6:59 (they close at 7pm, although they knew Mom was coming, and were waiting for her). The daycare people did play with us until Mom got there, but that was A Long Time to be at daycare. It was less fun to come home from daycare, and Dad not be there. But, finally, on Friday, the hospital decided they had stuck Dad with enough needles, and he could come home, so Mom could stick him with needles.
At night, when Dad was in the hospital, we were pretty worn out from daycare, and after a few minutes of post-daycare indoor bitey-face,

Anyhoo, Dad is doing much better now, and today we went on our first 'real' walk of the summer. With our tons of snow, there has been a lot of melting and runoff, and many of the streams and creeks are full to overflowing. Our walking trail goes through a wetland area, and it was living up to its name today.
We stopped at The Little Park on the way back, but since Dad couldn't throw tennis balls, Mom had to throw the tennis ball. Oy...
However, Mom did manage to throw them far enough that we could get some zoomies in...
It "warm" (I think today's high was 75 - which is warm, not the blistering heat most of you are getting), so we got some water when we were done chasing tennis balls. (Mom throws like a girl, but it was better than not getting any tennis ball action...)
It's great to get out on our walkies again, and we're really glad to have Dad back home with us (there was a chance he might have had to stay in the hospital until Monday - we're really glad he didn't have to!).
*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Hippobottomus
Note from Mom: Gary had a pulmonary embolism (which is as scary as it sounds), and standard procedure is to hospitalize someone for anywhere from a couple of days to seven (or more) days to ensure he didn't have any further issues. They think it was related to a minor surgery he had last week to remove a malignant melanoma, and he'll be as good as new in time. Conveniently, his 'physical therapy' includes walking the dogs! We were very lucky to a very diligent ER doctor in Park City, and great follow-up by the staff at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. And if you ever have to be hospitalized, the HCI hospital is the The Place to be... Private rooms, a fold-out couch I could have slept on if I wanted to stay overnight (with the dogs, I didn't), I could have brought the dogs in to visit - I wasn't feeling brave enough, besides, I didn't think the girls would do well being there for several hours - and a fantastic staff. Scary stuff, but he couldn't have been in better hands. Thanks for all the moral support from all of our friends and family. -Dr. Liz