So Much To Say...

Yikes, its been a while! Not too much out of the ordinary has been happening. Three weekends ago Ayla and I went hiking with my neighbor and her dog Christie. We tried out a new trail at Las Trampas I've been eager to use, and it was great. There were fewer people and more trees.

Looking back on the trail we came up:

Taking a breather:
Mac pondered the Hefeweizen:

Two weekends ago Ayla and I went to visit my parents and left the boys (and Gretel) home to fend for themselves. Turns out they played at the park and had In-n-Out Burger, so I think they got along fine. I got to spend time with my mom, dad, little bro, grandparents, and my uncle! It was really nice to see everyone, and we even got my grandparents to go out to Indian food with us - a first for them.

The 22nd was my birthday (ack! 28!) and I came down with a cold that I think my brother gave me. I am just now getting over it and feeling human again. But we did have fun at the park with the dogs, get Chinese take-out, and watch Sweeny Todd on my birthday before I started feeling too bad. I also got a new cabinet to house my knitting stuff, and Mac was very helpful to Chris in putting it together:


This past weekend I started puppy kindergarten classes with Mac. He's the biggest dog there, weighing in at 25 pounds now. At the end of the class we have play time for the puppies and he played a bit with a precious little Weim girl. The other dogs include a shy golden retriever, two yorkies, and a French bulldog. When he got to orough playing I'd flip him on his back and we'd pile all the other puppies on him, and he loved it! I wish I had pictures of it, maybe this Saturday.

We also cleaned our carpets (again! a necessity when you have lots of pets and little space). Chris piled tons of stuff up on the bed, and of course Gretel, being a cat, decided it was the perfect place to lay down (that's my new cabinet in the corner, it has drawers below for my stash and needles, and other things):

Sunday we planted new flowers - African daisies and petunias - on the patio and had a relaxing time enjoying the hot weather, and BBQ-ing of course.

Next time I must post my latest favorite recipe for pizza dough. We've been eating a lot of pizza lately, but at least I can pronounce everything in it, so it can't be that bad! Rationalize much?

Getting Close

There's been a lot of inter-species snuggling going on in our household lately. Gretel shoved herself into the space between Ayla's head and the couch arm, and they slept like that for an hour or more:


Gretel's also taken to snuggling with the fish, as best she can:


We've been working on training too. Mac can already sit on command, and we're working on down. Ayla follows the commands with gusto when we're working since she wants the treats too. And even Gretel deigns to sit for a treat, but only when it pleases her:


We've also tried to get a family portrait of the five of us, with our remote function on our camera:


Its been a good weekend. Yesterday we took the dogs to visit our trainer and sign Mac up for puppy kindergarten in late April. Then we went to the dog park - Chris took Mac in the little dog side, and I took Ayla in the big dog side. There was only a little white dog for Mac to play with, which wasn't much interested. It is a shame since Mac really would like someone to wrestle with.

After the dog park we went to check out Club K-9 in Castro Valley, a ranch facility that provides dog boarding, doggy daycare, and other dog services. We are thinking of taking Ayla there one day a week, to work on her shyness around strangers (both human and canine). She needs to get her shots renewed before she can go to what we're referring to as her spa days, so I'll take her in to our vet this week and hopefully we can start taking her soon, and hopefully she learns to love it. She's a girly dog already:


Yes, I painted Ayla's nails. Blue. I think they're pretty. :)

Today we've been doing small things around the house and watching Lord of the Rings on TV (even though we own the trilogy?!). I've also done some work on Chris' blanket (more than two-thirds done now, the end is in sight!) and some reading (I'm on a Tudor and England kick since I started with Phillipa Gregory, recently finished Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet, and am now on Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir). It should be a quiet week for us. I hope its restful for you too!