Cookie

Growing up I had this wonderful dog named Cookie.  She was a black and white shih-tzu so naturally the full name of Oreo Cookie Martin was deemed appropriate.  Cookie was awesome...but crazy.  She chewed the windows, ate her own poop, and frequently set off the house alarm by throwing her body up against the kitchen windows when a bird flew by.  However, she snuggled in bed with me every night, loved to swim, and was my best friend for many years!

I will never forget anytime we opened the front door we'd hear little doggy nails scraping on tile floors as Cookie ran to get outside.  Meanwhile it was a race for us to beat her and close the door before she had a chance to get away!  Because on those instances that she actually beat us out the door, well it was all over.  Cookie would take off!  All you would see was a little dog butt and paws pumping up and down as she'd run farther and farther away.  She was never really after anything in particular...she just loved to run - and FAST!  We never could catch her on foot....we always had to jump in the car and drive around the neighborhood yelling her name.  Such a nightmare.

You know how when someone passes on it is said that their spirit energies can be transferred to another?  I'm not sure if I entirely believe this but I'm beginning to think that if it is true...well then I know who has Cookie's spirit.

I'm telling you, we open the front door and the next thing we see is a baby butt and the bottom of his feet as he runs towards our neighbors house.  He'll run around the entire neighborhood if we'll let him (and sometimes we have).  So neighbors...now you know why we are sometimes walking around the 'hood in our socks.  And when you see this, feel free to rob our house...because in a rush to catch the kid, we've most likely left the door wide open.

I don't know what it is but this kid is obsessed with the outdoors.  And I'm beginning to think he's a marathon runner in the making.

More furry friends

A couple weeks ago, Mike and I took Cavin to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum. The museum is great b/c it is about a mile walk from our house, is fun for little ones, and is right next to a playground. It made for a fun (and sometimes scary...see the snakes) Sunday afternoon!

Jerry was upset he couldn't tag along to say 'hello' to his other bear friends.





The first animal Cavin got to witness was a possum in a trash can!


He enjoyed the birdies...


And thought the squirrel running around was hilarious! (He learned this from Sandy I imagine.)


And, LOOK! THREE POLAR BEARS (in the middle of California no less)!!!


Probably the scariest part was the snake...



Cavin quickly walked away from the slimy creature...



Afterwards we hung out in the park...


And, naturally, made it on over to the swing set...

It's a tough job....

...to be a furry friend to the 20 pound bundle running around these parts.

It takes continual supervision...

Constant protection...

And a watchful eye...

We always look forward to his (and our) nap time!

As we are constantly bending over backwards to make sure his needs are met!

Sleeping Arrangments

If Cavin continues to sleep like this....

...then we are going to need to buy a king size bed for him very soon at the rate he's growing! He's got some monkey arms!

Then there's our dogs, who sometimes like to sleep like this....

And, yes, that's even Jerry's crate...which is quite a bit smaller than Sandy's.

Nightly Rituals

Mike has been traveling the last two weeks for work so it has just been the furry creatures and myself! So last night as I was lying in bed watching the movie Rock Star on VH1, I looked down and around at all the "kids" and realized how adorable they are just before bed time. So I grabbed a few pics of them to share with y'all....

Here's Jerry. He likes to lie on the couture doggie bed that his fabulous Auntie Jen made for him when he was adopted. Jen is my very good friend who is in fashion school in NYC and works for DKNY right now. Anyways, she made Jerry a Denver Broncos themed doggie bed complete with his name on it so that Sandy and Toby know that it is HIS! You cannot tell in the picture but the bottom of the bed is Bronco orange and Jerry is lying on top of his name. He likes to cuddle up to it before we send him to his crate at bedtime.

And here's Sandy....in Jerry's crate. The dogs like to lie in each other's crates for God knows what reason. I personally think that Sandy lies in Jerry's crate to make sure it is warm for him before bedtime. It only makes sense since she is the nicest dog ever to be born and even though Jerry gave her a bloody ear she still wants to take care of her younger brother.

And here's Toby. Mike finally trained Toby to lie on my side of the bed (since I'm shorter there is more room for Toby to lie under my feet). However, since we switched sides of the bed recently, Toby is now on Mike's side of the bed again (which used to be my side). Keeping up? He usually gives himself a little bath before bed time so here he is mid-lick.

It's just another manic Monday

I took these pictures on the Monday after Christmas when I was home for the break.

These animals really have a "ruff" life don't they?

Meet Miles!

This is Miles.

Don't worry, contrary to what you may believe, I did not adopt another dog for us.

Miles is a dog we rescued and reunited with its very relieved owner just a few doors down. Until we could locate who his owner was, we let him hang out with us for a bit. He was so big he made Sandy look tiny!

Made me realize that maybe we COULD handle three dogs....

Take me out to the ballgame

One of the great things we have found living out here in the bay area is how dog friendly this area really is. Case in point: Dog Days of Summer! How do you sell more tickets to a Sunday afternoon Giants game? By inviting the furry creatures of course. Sandy and Jer-bear took in their very first baseball game this summer!



In the beer line...

And in the stands...

The dogs even walked away with their own souvenir Giants bowls too!

(Oh, and don't worry...we are still Astros and Rockies fans at heart...but I really don't feel like I need to remind you of that.)

Playing Cowboys and Indians

We went hiking with the dogs a few weekends ago and look what the dogs came across...

Yep, right in the middle of the park! Very random but Jerry sure did enjoy the shade!