Training Gracie

This should be my final post for the day and I think it speaks for itself. Enjoy! Those interested in Geoff's dog training fees can feel free to contact us (hee hee!)

Stroller and Charlie

I got to watch me nephew Charlie, my sister Cynthia's son, this week. He is so cute, especially when he laughs. He loves to suck on his fingers. He has the biggest brown eyes and we're pretty sure he's going to have red hair so we'll have another red-head in the family.


Here's a picture of the infamous stroller mentioned earlier. For some reason Sierra and Jake didn't want me to take their picture. As you can see they share the same seat, which starts out all right, but it's a good thing the park is close because it's not too long before Sierra starts to complain about how heavy Jake is! I've told them they're going to have to work this problem out if they want to keep going to the park. We'll see what they come up with! Note the bottom of the stroller which I mentioned in a previous post, imagine that the seat is gone and that the kids are standing up in the bottom! Can you picture it? They thought it was pretty cool.

even more Gracie

Gracie and the slide

I trained Gracie to go down the slide one day at the park. It took me a while to do it because at first she was scared just to go up the steps to the play place. I just sat on the steps and waited for several minutes and she finally got the nerve to climb up with me. Then I picked the really small slide and went down it, waiting at the bottom for her. It took her quite a while to follow me but she eventually did and I was so proud of her! I gradually took her to the big slide and would slide half way down and let her come to me. Eventually, as you'll see on this video, she got to the point where she does it on her own, and she loves it! She tries to climb back up for more! Gracie's really cute and has really started to grow on me. She's almost house trained and is at the top of her puppy training class. The trainer even said she's ready for intermediate training, which is unusual for a 15 week old puppy. She's been really good with kids, too. She loves to play with them and let them pet her. Her new love is the dog park. The first time we took her she found a dachsund who wanted to play and they chased each other all over the park, our ungraceful Gracie biffing it when she tried to take a corner too tight! Geoff and I were laughing out loud watching those two dogs. Gracie would then go get a drink get all wet, then plop in the dirt to play again. She was filthy when we took her home and we had to put her directly in the bath. It was worth it to see her having so much fun.

Sierra and Jake

It's been a while since I've posted and now I have 3 or 4 to add, so be prepared! I watch my niece Sierra and nephew Jake every Monday while my sister Elisa attends community college. I really enjoy the time I spend with them. They love playing outside in the dirt, making "soup" out of leaves and sticks and whatever else they can find. They also love going to the park which is close to our house, feeding the ducks and playing in the park. My sister Elisa gave me an older one seated stroller she got for cheap on Craig's list and a few weeks ago I took it apart and washed the fabric. Well, it took me a while to get it put back in, so for one trip to the park the kids stood in the bottom of the stroller. They thought it was great fun! We had a little adventure when one of the straps holding the bottom onto the frame snapped. Of course this happened right as we were about to cross the street, Gracie was pulling on her leash because she's scared of the cars, and Sierra, who now had to walk, didn't have her shoes on. I had to lift her out and we just waited on the side of the road, me trying to calm Gracie and Jake, while Sierra put her shoes on. We all ended up laughing about it. Well, I don't know if Gracie was laughing, but the kids and I considered it an adventure. I have since replaced the seat in the stroller, complete with fuzz balls from the towels I washed it with. (Yeah, it looks a little trashy! Oh well.) The other day Sierra started showing me her kung fu moves. (They recently watched kung fu panda.) I couldn't resist recording her. Notice Jake in the background just turning in circles and then falling down...over and over!