Saturday the weather was finally mild enough to go to the beach again. For the past two months or so, it has just been too hot in the evenings to take the puppies to the beach, and the mornings have been so muggy, that we just didn't even bother. Yesterday, we noticed that the afternoon was kind of pleasant. It was warm but not blazing hot, and the humidity wasn't too bad. So as it got closer to evening, we got the puppies all ready and loaded them into the car. They were excited to be able to go somewhere. We suspect that they thought they were going to puppy school because when we passed the turn for school, they all started looking around. They seemed a little concerned and all crowded around the front near us. When we pulled into the office parking lot at the State Park, they knew exactly where they were. When Mom got out to go check us in, the whole car was shaking from all the tail wagging inside.
The weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot, and the humidity was low there too. When we walked from the parking lot over to the beach itself, the puppies were all on their best behavior. There were people everywhere, but they didn't bark at them at all. They didn't even pay any attention to the kids we passed. They were just happy to be at the beach. The water was out a little further than it had been the last time we were there, and there was plenty of sand to walk on. The seaweed is long gone, so it was just nice, clean beach sand. We stepped into the water just to see what it was like, and it too was perfect. I started to wish I had worn a bathing suit. The puppies all walked in the edge of the water with us. They were so happy to be at the beach!
When we were checking in, one of the rangers told us that the mosquitoes were really bad and to make sure we had bug spray. We noticed that whenever we got close to any tall grass, there would be a small welcoming committee of mosquitoes just waiting for us to come a little closer. The only thing keeping them from swarming the beach itself was that the sun was still out, but that wasn't going to last much longer. We cut our walk a little shorter than normal so that we could get back to the car before the sun went down. When we turned around to go back, the sun was starting to get a little lower on the horizon and the odd mosquito or two was just starting to buzz around. When we got to the car, they were coming out in full force. Mr. C had two of them on his face that Mom quickly swatted away. We didn't have to ask him twice to jump up into the car.
The beach was still full of people blissfully unaware of their impending mosquito-laden doom when we left. They were lounging peacefully under awnings and playing in the water. I am pretty sure they are really itchy today.
All in all it was a really good trip to the beach- even if it was a little shorter than normal. The puppies had a great time and behaved really well. Today is a little warmer and the humidity is back up again, but it won't be long until we can start going to the beach more often again. Hooray!!
I didn't take any pictures- not even of the huge orange full moon rising over the water- because I didn't want to stop long enough to get the camera out of my bag. Any time we stopped, the welcoming committee would come towards us. So I felt like taking pictures was probably a bad idea. 

Happy National Dog Day!

Today the puppies graduated from the Advanced Level of puppy school. They had a good time showing off on relay work in the store, met people, got to finally visit with some kids and even got to eat puppy cake. The day started off dark and stormy. We took the puppies out early for a potty break and were glad we did because shortly after we came back in, the sky opened up. The lightening was so close, that not even a second passed between the lightning strikes and the thunder several times. The puppies don't really care about storms. They just stayed asleep. We had put them in their crates when they came back in because their feet were muddy, but Dad let them come back into our room after the storms started getting bad. They were super happy. Miss M came running in, jumped up on the bed and then realized the others weren't all there yet. So she jumped back down, ran and got her ball and then jumped back up on the bed with her ball. She happily chewed on it until Mr. M took it from her.
We weren't sure if we were even going to be able to go to puppy school with all of the storms in the area, and we kept a close watch on the radar all morning. We decided to take a test run before loading the puppies into the car to make sure the conditions weren't too bad- the car needed gas anyway. It was raining lightly, but the roads weren't flooded, so we decided to try. We got the harnesses on and the puppies into the car. On the way, we stopped by Buddy Bites to pick up a graduation cake. The puppies knew right away that it was for them. Notice the puppy nose checking out the cake in the picture below.

Of course, you can't have a graduation without pictures...

This time, Mr. C was very cooperative. He didn't want a repeat of last time. He wanted to make sure his graduation pictures were professional.

Our puppies really love puppy school. We love it because it gives us a productive outing every week in a climate controlled area- important when it is raining or over 100 outside. Grandpa made an excellent point though when we were at their house, that the puppies still hadn't learned how to use a vacuum and clean up after themselves in puppy school. We decided that we might need to send the puppies to grad school in hopes of learning how to use the vacuum cleaner instead of just chasing it around the living room.

It's hard to believe, but the puppies are almost finished with their advanced level of puppy school. Where did the time go?!! We really enjoy puppy school, and I am kind of sad that it is almost over. The puppies are very popular at Petsmart. They get attention from all of the employees when we go, and they love their trainer. I think we are all going to have puppy school withdrawal when they are finished. We may have to visit from time to time just for fun. The puppies don't really seem to know that they are about to graduate. It's just been business as usual at our house. Summer is rough, but luckily, there are cats to torment and slobber on, boxes to tear up, teddy bears to de-stuff. 

Today at puppy school, there were boxes in the store that had been flattened. Mr. M found the boxes immediately and was convinced that he needed to tear them up for Petsmart. At home, he is in charge of initial box destruction. Once he decides the box is sufficiently mangled, he lets the others have a turn chewing up the box. He got to practice the "This way" and "Leave it" commands as we hurried past the tempting boxes in the store.
Miss M discovered the toy aisle today. We have been walking down that aisle almost every week since like March, but usually she is looking around. Today, she happened to glance down and notice the bright yellow Kong squeaky balls like she plays with at home. She got super excited and figured those must be for her. She was a little disappointed that we had to leave those in the store.
It started raining outside just before time to leave, which was wonderful because it cooled things down to the low 90's instead. You know it's hot when the low 90's is an improvement. The picture below was a couple of days ago.

Most of the playtime in the yard has been a little tamer than normal. The puppies burst into zoomies from time to time, but mostly they just chill for a while until we take them back inside. They have developed a new zoomie skill. They run around the yard at top speed and then zoom into the house as soon as we open the door.

The puppies were hoping that we were leaving to go up north when we loaded them into the car on Saturday morning. They were slightly disappointed though, when they realized we were just taking Dad's car to have the A/C serviced. Saturday afternoon was just too warm to do anything. This is what it looked like:

Summer can get really boring when it is even too hot to go to the beach safely. We stayed home most of the day, but as it got a little later and started cooling off, we decided to head toward the beach but just hang out in town instead. We have a favorite coffee shop that has outdoor seating, so we parked a few blocks away and then walked to the coffee shop. It was already 9 by the time we got there. The restaurants and bars were jumping, and there were people everywhere. As we were driving, the puppies would bark at people and motorcycles, but as soon as we got out of the car, it was like their manners came back. They were superstars walking down the street. We had to walk past several crowds of people to get where we were going, and they didn't bark at a single person. We had several people stop and ask to pet our puppies. The puppies were glad for all of the attention.
One group who had apparently just come from a play at the Grand Opera House, actually chased us down and asked to pet the puppies. They couldn't get over how nice they looked and how well behaved they were. The puppies of course were on their best behavior. Mr. M said hi to them and then he just stood by Mom looking around- on guard, watching out while everyone else was getting petted. He really is turning into the big boy of the bunch. We had never taken the puppies out that late before. So walking around at night with people every where was a new experience for them. They handled it all really well. They sat politely outside with Dad while Mom went in to get the coffees and a cup of ice for them. They enjoyed all of it, and seemed really happy just to be able to go somewhere fun. On the way back to the car, we walked past a little dog who was barking at us from the safety of his mom's lap. Our puppies didn't even pay any attention to him. They just walked right by him and kept on going. Miss B noticed a roach running across the sidewalk but left it alone when we told her to.
We didn't get home until 11 pm, which is way past the puppies' bedtime, but they were so happy about having gone somewhere that they still wanted to play laser pointer in the yard when we took them out.
We were really proud of how well they behaved and how calm they were. They are turning into quite the social butterflies. Puppy school really has made a difference.
I don't have any pictures because it was just too dark. Next time we go, we'll have to try to take some pictures to post.

Mom checked the weather today and this is what they predict:

We collectively decided that we need to go on a weather strike. Alaska is looking pretty good right about now. Miss M pointed out that she already gets along really well with rabbits. She could learn to get along with bears too.

Mr. C decided that he had everyone beat. He's been getting along with (teddy) bears since he was just a little puppy. Unlike Mr. M who likes to chew them up. Mr. M was quick to explain that in his defense, that pink teddy bear was looking at him funny. It was downright rude and just had to go. Plus, who could blame him with all that fluffy stuffing just begging to be set free.

Miss S has decided that she is okay with going anywhere cold as long as there are plenty of treats. This kind of rules out Alaska. I am sure there are dog treats, but being so far away from the contiguous US, all of the treats would have to be shipped in, and who knows how long that would take. Miss S and Mr. C have been seriously considering Washington state. It looks like it might have everything the puppies want (treats, cold weather) and also everything Mom could want- good coffee, sailing opportunities. Even Bruce Lee lived there for a while, so it must be good for Martial Arts too, which would be good for Dad. 
Miss B is fine with anywhere as long as the laser pointer will still work. Plus, she looks good in sweaters. She made sure to tell us that they were going to need new sweaters if we go somewhere cold. There's no way Miss M will even fit her sweater anymore, and Miss B's is just so last season.

Miss M is a little worried about the cats not having sweaters. We tried to tell her that cats aren't too into clothes, but she wasn't very convinced. She offered to give Kitty S her old purple sweater since it is too small to even fit over her head anymore. Kitty S told her it was just too hot to even try on sweaters right now and to talk to her in a few months.

Yesterday, Miss S and Mr. M turned 1 year old! I can't believe that year went by so fast. I vividly remember getting the text one year ago today, that they had been born. At four weeks their mom rejected the whole litter, so we brought Miss S and Mr. M home with us. They were so tiny! They were so young that they still got cold easily. We had to keep a little fleece wrap on Miss S or she would start shaking. 

Back then, we could carry them around in one hand. These days we are doing good to pick one of them up with both hands.

We decided that we needed to do something special for their birthday. Grandma came over yesterday, and we had quite a bit to do. The puppies go to play with her, but we didn't have time to celebrate. Since the puppies don't really know anything about birthdays, we figured they wouldn't care if we celebrated a day late.
On Miss B and Mr. C's birthday, we made coconut bread and let the puppies all share about half a loaf. Since then, we have cut sugar and most of the flour out of their diets, so we wanted to go with something a little healthier instead. A doggie bakery opened up not too far from us recently, and we had been wanting to try it out anyway. It's called Buddy Bites, and if you are in the Seabrook, Texas area, it is totally worth trying. They have all kinds of toys, leashes, shampoos and other goodies, but most importantly, they have homemade, healthy dog treats. They make custom birthday cakes for dogs in the shape of a bone, but you have to order them two days in advance. We didn't realize this, so we got a birthday cookie for each of them instead. We didn't want the others to feel left out, so we brought them each a treat too. We really liked the Buddy Bites store and plan on going back there again soon. The next puppy birthday is Miss M's in three months, and now that we know that you have to order cakes in advance, we will be sure to call ahead so we can get a cake. 

The puppies smelled the treats in the bag before we even got them out and instantly knew that the treats were for them. Mr. M and Miss S had a hard time waiting. The suspense was unbearable.

Miss B, Miss M and Mr, C were very glad that they got treats too!

All in all, I think it was a good birthday. The puppies got to tear up a box and two plastic bottles. Plus they got fresh baked goodies that were made just for them. They don't know it yet, but Buddy Bites is dog friendly. Next time we go, we are planning on taking them with us. All I can say is that it's a good thing they have the treats in a case. I don't think they would be safe from Miss S. She loves treats.