Birthday Walkies and Things

Okay, so my birthday was sort of low-key. Sort of. Mostly because I didn't want Mom to try to stick a party hat on my head... But.... My granny and grandpa sent me a gift certificate to Drs. Foster and Smith (which I was supposed to share with my mutant puppy sister... Umm. Yeah. I did. Sure. *nudge*nudge*wink*wink*) and Mom and I spent a fair amount of time doing some online birthday present shopping. So when my birthday presents show up, I will post pictures.

But, for my birthday, we did go on a walk...

C'mon Mom. Let's GO!

It's HOT. Let's keep moving.

When we got to the park, Mom and Dad thought that it might be day that I'd actually start swimming.

I have a 30-foot lead on because the park requires you to be on a leash, and because Mom and Dad weren't really certain how I'd take to the swimming thing...

I got brave for a while...

But that was as brave as I got. The lure of the tennis ball was not enough to convince me to take my feet off the bottom of the pond...

So, I kindly left the tennis ball for some other lucky (swimming) doggie.

Hey, I tried!

Who is that evil twin mutant puppy next to me?!?

In Fi's defense, we might have thrown the ball a little far out for her. We've got a ball on a string (so we can retrieve it, in case Ms. Half-Retriever opts not to), and we'll start her out with shorter throws and see if we can entice her into the water. Also in Fi's defense, Abby showed the same amount of interest in the water - she waded, but never quite swam.

Anyhoo, after our walk, there was much snoozling and my goofy sister took it upon herself to look goofy.


On Sunday, Mom and Dad had Another Car Race. It was about eleventy-billion degrees down in Salt Lake, so Abby and I stayed home with Jessi (The Woman Who is Teaching Mom to Feed Us Turkey Hotdogs) while Mom and Dad drove a Miata around a parking lot and failed to take any pictures.

Abby and I had WAY more fun. (Well, Mom and Dad seemed to have fun, but seriously. A parking lot? When it's a million degrees out? What-ever.)

Jessi brought along one of her doggies, a Bug (yes, a Bug - yes, that would be a Pug/Boston Terrier mix) named Lulu with her. We've met Lulu before, and despite being a very diminutive 10 lbs (seriously - she's all eyeballs) she has no problem getting into the fray with us. Mom didn't leave the camera, and so Jessi was only able to get one picture with her phone. Here Lulu has stolen one of our toys and is playing keep-away on the stairs before she sticks it under the kitchen table (where we can't get to it because both of us have surpassed the 50lb mark and are n0 longer squeeze-into-small-spots-to-get-things doggies...).

From Drop Box

It is always fun when Lulu is here, and so when Mom and Dad got home we were mostly worn out. Which was good, because Mom and Dad were really worn out from the sun, and from, uh, whatever it is that they do at these autocross events that wears them out so much...

Speaking of dogs squeezing under things, you might remember when my mutant puppy sister could squeeze under the bed:

She was doing this at 40+ lbs, and Mom and Dad were certain she was going to get stuck under there one day, so Mom bought some of those under-the-bed storage thingys so Abby couldn't get under the bed any more (and Mom miraculously found more closet space!). After a day or two of pouting, Abby got over it, and sleeps on top of the Big Dog Bed like a normal dog now (and hogs the pillows and blankets).

Anyhoo... In all of the excitement of swimming, and Lulu, and Mom and Dad car racing (with no pictures), Abby and I have still found much time for bitey-face.


Although, wow, the mutant puppy monster is getting BIG.

Can you believe that we came from the same parents? *sheesh*

But as the older, wiser, more beautiful sister, I will always have the psychological advantage!!!

I hope.

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the Mutant Puppy

The Almost-Birthday Girl

So, guess what?!?

Tomorrow (Saturday) is my birthday!!! I'll be two whole years old! Two? When did that happen? Last time I checked, I was still a young pup.

Oh. Wait. You say I am a young pup, still? Okay. I can live with that.

At least Mom isn't going to try to stick a party hat on my head, like she did last year.

It didn't work out very well, I might add..

And thank heavens she's not going to get me a birthday cake. (This one looked pretty, but, uh, it sort of tasted like dirt. And while my mutant puppy sister might like eating rocks, I'm not so keen on the dirt-flavored thing...)

It was a nice idea, but, well, the execution part didn't work out so well. Here I am, passing judgment on the cake...


I actually preferred this cake much more....

It pretty much tasted like my 'real' birthday cake, but this one had a squeaker in it...

And I did get some pretty good loot last year.

Mom is saying something about me going 'swimming' tomorrow. I don't know about this swimming thing... I think Mom is feeling optimistic after my foray into the water a month ago

I did make an additional foray into the water today, so Mom thinks I'm ready to "make the leap" so to speak. Uh. Yeah. I'll let you know.

In the meantime, I'm going to get some pre-celebration beauty rest so I'm at my best for whatever Mom has (or doesn't have) planned!

*kissey face*
-Fiona, the Almost Birthday Girl (and Abby the Mutant Puppy)

MY Day (sort of)

So, my little (hey, she's younger than me, she'll always be my little sister) mutant sister had her 6 month birthday just a couple of days ago. And apparently 6 months is a pretty key point in a mutant puppy's life. (Well, okay, in most puppies lives, mutant or not.) Mom took her off to get sprayed today. Oh. Wait. That's "spayed". I guess that's why she didn't come back with airbrushed pink racing stripes like I was rooting for.

Anyhoo. Abby was off at the vet all day, so I had Mom and Dad all to myself. Which mean that when we went on our walk, I got all the attention, and Mom was able to take some pictures because she wasn't trying to wrangle the Mutant Puppy.

Park City has a giant network of "multi-use" trails (some are paved, some aren't, and they are used by cyclists, joggers, dog walkers, etc., etc.), and since our local hiking trails haven't dried out yet (it's been nice during the day, but it's been raining at night), we've been walking on these trails.

We start the trail where it borders the Swaner Preserve. It's a wetland area with lots of birds and beasties. And a nice place to walk.

There are houses that border the preserve, and the trail system.

We've had really warm weather as of late, so the stream that runs through the area has been running high with snow melt. The trail was actually washed out in spots, and we could see the stream running big throughout the walk.

At the turn-around point of our walk, there is a park. And in this park is a pond, that is apparently quite popular with doggies who enjoy that sort of thing.

Me? Despite being a child of "water dogs" I'm not super keen on the whole swimming thing. So far.

But Mom and Dad decided to see if they could entice me into the water with a little tennis ball action. It was hot out, so I thought I'd give it a try...


Okay, so I didn't exactly dive right in. But hey, it was a start, right? And maybe I'll get braver - especially as the weather gets warmer!

And then it was time to head for home.

But we stopped to play a little ball before we got back to the car...


A little water, a little ball chasing, a long walk. And Abby came home this afternoon all safe and sound, but Very Sleepy. (And sadly, with no pink racing stripes...) So it was a great day!

And on a totally unrelated note, here are some flowers from around the house:


And now, I'm going to go take care of my little mutant sister.

*kissey face*
-Fiona (and Abby the Mutant Puppy)