Mystery Fun Day

I wanted to take everyone from work on a fun summer adventure but I was a little afraid they would either poo-poo my idea (Amanda) or chicken out (Jolene), and Jenna I still didn't know well enough to know what she would think, so I kept it a secret until the last minute. If I hadn't needed to tell them to bring things like an extra set of clothes and a towel, they wouldn't have known what we were doing until we arrived but instead I let them know the night before.

So yesterday morning we set off, Starbucks in hand (of course!) to Cardston and Kimball River Sports.

I had assured Jo, who was a little nervous that it would be fine, people rarely fall out of the boat and that it was safe. So guess who falls out of the boat? It was pretty funny to watch her fall backwards out of the boat in slow motion while the rest of us all sat there dumbstruck. Amanda our guide, quickly leaned over and grabbed her life jacket while the rest of us paddled to shore. Jo was a little shooken up, a little banged up by the rocks and more than a little wet, but she still had a smile on her face.

When we got to the place where we could go body surfing, we were all a little surprised Jo was up for it after her adventure but she did it along with the rest of us. It was fun. You hop out into the water and just let the current take you through the rapids. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures as we left the camera in the boat.

After hanging out there for a little while, we hopped back in the boats and went a little farther to a spot where you could jump off a 40 ft cliff. I've never even been off a high diving board, but have always kind of wanted to try. So I figured it was now or never. There were about 10 of us (out of maybe 80 people) who went. You had to be older than 18 and be able to jump the length of a paddle (you couldn't just jump off the cliff, you had to jump away from it too). Thankfully those of us waiting to jump couldn't really see over the edge until the last minute. I wasn't nervous until I looked over the edge when it was my turn. Holy cow that is high! The guide gave me some last minute instructions and just started to count. I had to get him to stop so I could work up the nerve but he pretty much started up right away again. He probably knew the longer I thought about it, the harder it would be.

Can you see me in the air? You might need to click to make it bigger.

It was fun! I don't remember seeing anything on the way down so I probably had my eyes closed. Once I landed in the water, I came up and started towards shore but the shallow part that I hit and tried to stand up in, still had a pretty strong current so I kept floating down stream... further... and further.. and further. A guide tried to throw me a line but he missed. So then as I floated down stream feet first on my back (like they had taught us). I struggled with trying to figure out how to swim to shore in that position, and realized I couldn't so I gave up and just waited for them to save me. A guide ran to my rescue and threw me a line that I could reach and hauled me to shore.

The rest of the trip was pretty mellow as everyone just tried to get warm again. We just enjoyed the scenery, each other's company and the wildlife. Jo bought a souvenir for the day and we all agreed the saying on the back was appropriate.

On our way home, we stopped to admire the windmills and then after came back to our house for a BBQ! Thank goodness for a wonderful husband who slaved away all day in preparation of guests. Thanks Mar!

Jenna had other plans but Jo, Brad, Nellie (Jo's mom) and Amanda all came over for some tasty burgers. Vito came too, to keep the girls entertained.

I had a great day and can't wait to plan the next Mystery Fun Day... skydiving here we come!

Art

By Coulee

Alive and Well

It is our last night in paradise and I thought I'd assure Liz and Andy that everything left in our care is alive and well.

This is Maggie, their 19 year old cat. Despite her age, she was the least of my worries.

This is what I was worried about...

A gardener I am not. But thanks to a good rain storm, the garden is looking fabulous. (At least I think so). We did manage to kill one thing though...

We can no longer get the sprinkler to go any higher than this. We have no idea what happened.

Posing

Wannabe

Coulee wants to know if this is good enough to be a flatcoat groupie?

There must be something in the air here because Coulee NEVER picks up more than one toy.

Friends in High Places

About a month ago, Amanda, of Mimi Green fame, sent Lacey a collar. Just out of the blue, she e-mailed and told me one was on the way. How sweet is that? When it arrived in the mail, I was thrilled. It was gorgeous and looked great on Lacey.

Since we got it, I've been trying to get a good picture to share with all of you but have been failing miserably. I've always struggled with trying to get a specific picture, and getting a picture of this collar has been no acception.

I finally decided to just give up and knew that eventually some pictures would come along that showed off this beautiful collar. And it finally happened.

PS - Not only do nice collars look good, they also give you the ability to fly!

Tug

Coulee thinks borrowed toys are the best!

Me and Coulee

The challenge this week for the "52 Weeks for Dogs" group on flickr was to get a picture of you and your dog. I decided to go for a more traditional portrait. It was harder than I thought! I was smart and worked with a tired dog (we just got back from the river) so she stayed wonderfully. The problem was us both looking good at the same time. I ended up going with one of our bloopers as I quite liked the non-traditional portrait feel about it, and the way you couldn't really see either of us well. :) Exactly the opposite of what I was going for. Funny eh?

Here are some of the more portrait-like ones.

I think I look good, but notice the death grip on her fur and the look of "get me out of here" on her face?

Again, Coulee is trying her best to pretend I'm not there touching her

Coulee looks a little wired and at the last minute she brought up her ears to block half my face (and again with the death grip). The deadline for the week is today and it is getting dark, so no more attempts for us! It will be something I try again though.

Who's Awake

Marlin and I are staying out on a beautiful property and house-sitting for some friends for a few days. It is absolutely gorgeous out here. The girls think they are in heaven. So do I.

Last night was our first night. We spent the evening on the back deck enjoying the view and the wildlife. Then we went to bed and continued to "enjoy" the wildlife. At around 2 a.m. we could swear there was a Great Horned Owl sitting on our window ledge. It was that loud. And to make things even better, Coulee decided that she needed to protect us from the scary bird. So she growled. For about an hour. We'd ask her to stop, we'd get her settled on her bed and the bird would hoot again and she would growl again.

Now for the irony. A few years ago when I was learning to recognize birds and their different calls, I learned different phrases that would help you recognize the rhythm of their songs. Does that make sense? So for example, the phrase to recognize the great horned owl is, "Who's awake, me too".

Whirlwind

This weekend was a complete whirlwind. I learned tonnes and have a very long To-Do list for when I get back home. We didn't take as many pictures as I had hoped but we didn't really have time with all the business information we were getting. We did have a photo session today with Buster Brown, a bloodhound/basset mix and Ruby a retired/rescued greyhound.

Buster Brown could have been a movie star with all the attention he was getting. Everwhere he went, people exclaimed with delight and wanted to touch him. I even saw someone taking pictures of him with their cell phone. One woman asked if he was famous as he had 8 photographers taking pictures of him. Ruby was as sweet as can be. She was sooo soft, it was amazing. We kept asking what her secret was but her mom thinks it is just genetics. Ruby was lean, sleak and elegant while Buster was... well... not lean, sleak or elegent! They are quite the pair.

Tomorrow I have about an hour to try and get some shopping done and then off to the airport to head for home. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, and not trying to talk in American terms (i.e. farenheit, miles and soda).

Long Day

It has been an incredibly long day. I woke up at 4 a.m. and it is now midnight and we just got back to our hotel room. I am ready to crash! It was great though. But I'm too tired to even think about what I learned, never mind actually write about it.

If you have tried to e-mail me, it won't work - my site and therefore e-mail is down and won't be up until at least Monday and possibly even later. Sigh! What bad timing.

Surf's Up

I've had a great trip so far. My flight was perfect - I had a window seat and didn't even have anyone next to me. My luggage arrived quickly and I only had to wait about 10-15 minutes for my shuttle bus. The hotel is on a main street so easy to find, easy to access food and easy to access the bus. I took a walk this afternoon to explore some shops and the beach. After walking about 30 blocks in sandals I decided that I would bus the remaining 15 or so blocks to the beach.

The beach was wonderful. I could have sat there all night. I loved watching the waves crest and the smell was amazing. It totally reminded me of vacations at Pacific Rim National Park on the Island. I'm not sure why it doesn't smell the same in Vancouver, but it doesn't. All I could smell was salt. The sand goes for miles and is super soft and squishy under your feet. I felt kind of creepy taking pictures of people surfing (or I should say trying to surf ) but not so creepy that I'm not going to go tomorrow morning to see if I can get some cool morning light pictures of the surfers. I'm also hoping that if they get out of bed early to surf, that they can actually surf.

I was surprised by all the lifeguards (or shark patrol as Marlin thinks of them) - both on land and in the water.

Sandy warned me to not hang out at night by myself, so like a good girl, I'm already tucked back inside my hotel room. I'm going to have an early night so I'm refreshed and ready to go tomorrow for the first day of the workshop.

On the Floor

That is where I am sitting. Don't ask. Airports suck.

But do I care? No.

I've got my Starbucks beside me and my laptop to keep me happy. Besides, I'm flying to the beach! We won't mention that the weather is cooler in LA than in Lethbridge.

Does Lethbridge have sandy beaches? No.

Does Lethbridge have palm trees? No.

Does Lethbridge have a kick ass pet photography workshop? No.

So as you all swelter in the heat back home this weekend, you can think of me with sand between my toes and a sweater on my back.

Pretty Picture

We have a bit of a "tradition" at work. When someone is going to do something fun or special, Amanda draws a picture of them on our white board in the back of the daycare, before they go. So when Kort went to his first show, or when I went to Waterton, we got pictures. So I patiently waited for a picture of me going to LA... And I got nothing. :( I mentioned it as Amanda was walking out the door so she made me one on her computer!
Thanks Amanda! (I love my dark tan!)

An Incredible Summer

I can't believe how much fun I am going to have this summer.

In two days I leave for LA to take a pet photography workshop. I can't even begin to tell you how excited by this I am. I can't wait.

Then when we get back, Marlin and I are house-sitting at a totally gorgeous property down by the river with lots of space for the girls to run and play and swim. It will be like their own private dog park without any other pesky dogs. I just hope we manage not to kill their veggies - I do not have a green thumb!

Then in July, Marlin and I have decided to head off for a last minute trip to Costa Rica! We looked into going out east to the Maritimes but for the cost of the flight to PEI, we get a 7-day, all inclusive vacation in Costa Rica. We are going to book at the last minute to save money so we don't know where we are staying yet (or even exactly when we are going!), but at this point, we don't really care. As long as there is a beach and a place to rent a car so we can get out into the national parks, we'll be happy. I'm really looking forward to seeing turtles and monkeys and sloths. I'm not looking forward to giant insects and spiders but maybe they won't be as bad as the guide book says.

And then there is still all of August to fill. I may need a vacation to recover from all my vacations!

Look Into My Eyes

Wet and Wild

There is nothing like wet grass to bring out the excitement and zoomies in the pups.

Lately Lacey seems to be the life of the party. She zooms around with Vito and Coulee hot on her heels with Pixel not far behind. She is one tired pup now!

She's also a little damp!

As is Vito.

Like the Wind

I love to watch Coulee run.

Buddies

It's a good thing they are friends...

That is Lacey's cheek Vito has in his mouth. Click to see full size.

Can't Decide

I need help. I am going to try out a company that does canvas prints and I want to get some done up for the daycare to showcase my new photography services. I love so many of the pictures of Sadie bouncing through the air chasing after her ball that I can't narrow it down to one. So which one is your favourite?

#1

#2

#3

My second canvas is going to be the picture of Lu that I took a little while ago and I still need to pick a third. I'm off to scour my photos! I also need to test out a lab and get some 8x10's printed. All these decisions to make!

A Sit Stay

Amanda will be proud.

Now if only they were actually sitting.

Dazzled

We met a gorgeous dog at the dog park today. I didn't catch his name, but I had to ask what he mix was - he is a lab, german wire-haired pointer cross. I love his little scruffy beard which you can barely see (and can't see at all in these photos!).

He is a sly one. We were a little ways off the regular path but he came over to greet us. Coulee had been playing fetch and completely ignored him and proceeded to drop the ball at my feet. He dazzled all the dogs with his good looks, and great smell and then when no one was looking, he slowly leaned over and scooped up Coulee's ball. The moment he had it, he turned tail and went flying back to his Dad. It was one of the funniest things I had seen at the park. I watched from a distance as he caught up to his Dad (who had kept walking so at this point was quite far away). His Dad saw the bright pink ball and immediately turned around to head towards us. Apparently, he has a habit of stealing toys.

After the ball was returned to the rightful owner, he hung out for a while and all was forgiven.