I think that Winter decided that Texas wasn't worth visiting this year. For the past few weeks, it's been cool some evenings and then other evenings we need the air conditioner. The past couple of days, we have been able to wear shorts around the house.

After sitting outside in the afternoon and after a nice brisk walk, Miss M prefers to cuddle up on the couch in the nice air conditioned living room.

This past weekend, Mom left the puppies home with Dad for a few hours to go to a baby shower. The puppies are going to get a brand new two-legged cousin soon. Mom can't wait to see how the puppies react to an actual baby. They love kids, but they have never actually seen a real baby. The closest thing to a baby that they have seen was when we saw a toddler at Petsmart one day. Miss M and Mr. C were walking along with us and saw a group of kids sitting by the lizards. After a few seconds, a little girl who was probably only 18 months old or so, stood up and started walking toward Miss M. Miss M wagged her tail and was excited but didn't know what to do. She was a little scared of the little girl and hid behind my legs. 
Mr. M met the neighbor girl in the driveway one day. She is about 4 and was a little bit nervous about him. Mr. M was a perfect gentleman and walked up to her and smelled her and let her pet him. He was super happy- tail wagging all over the place- but he never tried to jump on her. He just sat down and let her pet him on the nose.
So we are really happy that Mom's brother and his wife are expecting a baby and can't wait to introduce the puppies to her.

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.

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.

One thing about summers in the south is that it's so hot you end up being lazy. I see blogs written by people up north with pretty parks full of people and summer evening strolls outside with their dogs, and I feel slightly guilty about not enjoying our area parks more. Then I step outside and remember instantly why we don't go outside more- especially not in the middle of the day. In the middle of the day when the thermometer reads 96, it actually feels like 105. The concrete is too hot to walk on barefoot, so there is no way I would want to take the puppies with their tender inside-dog feet for a walk on that. Plus, after about 5 minutes, all you want to do is drink something cold and stand in the shade. Getting the dogs to come back inside after playing in the yard was difficult in the winter and spring. We would sometimes end up spending 5 or 10 minutes just trying to convince them to go inside. In the summer, you just have to say, "Okay, everybody in," one time, and they are already waiting by the door. It is just plain hot outside right now. Besides that, even if you don't mind dealing with the heat, the minute you step outside most days, you are greeted by a flying welcoming committee of mosquitoes. The closer to the coast you go, the bigger and fuzzier they get. Sometimes you worry about them beating you up and taking your wallet. They are practically the size of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. 
Needless to say, once I've been outside in the yard for about half a minute, all of the guilt I once felt about not going to the park just melts away.
So what do we do instead, you ask? Inside stuff. Lots of inside stuff. Where there is air conditioning.
We went to Grandma and Grandpa's after a trip to the vet last week. It was already time for Mr. C and Miss B to get their 3 year rabies shot that they get a year after their first shot. Mr. C weighed in at a whopping 80 pounds! Miss B was right at 55. Miss S, Miss M and Mr. M weighed 74, 54.7 and 69 respectively. They are all so big already! I'm not quite sure where the time went and how it could possibly be time for the one year booster shot. When we got to Grandma and Grandpa's the puppies went to work on the plastic bottles that Grandma and Grandpa needed crushing. Grandma outsmarted them this time and moved the cat food before they got there. We took them outside several times, but with the heat, the potty breaks didn't take very long.

The puppies love visiting Grandma and Grandpa, but they always get so excited that they don't nap as much as they should. They were so worn out that after the early morning potty break the next morning, Miss B and Mr. C slept in until I made them get up at 10! The little ones won't sty still for very long after the first potty break of the day, so if we want to get any more sleep after that, they have to nap in their crates for a while. Miss B and Mr. C gladly sleep very still on the bed most mornings so that they don't get sent to their crates too. The day after the vet visit was a school day, so we let them sleep a while and then got them fed and took them out before getting them ready for class. We learned all kinds of fun things in school. This class we learned physical skills as well as mentally challenging ones that actually tire them out quite well- a very good thing when it is so hot outside.
For the past couple of days, we have been practicing their new skills and then playing some outside with the pool in the evenings. We are very proud of Miss M- she seems to have gotten the idea that she should pee before getting into the pool (unlike a certain 80 pound someone).

Of course, every time they cool off in the pool, they find a new spurt of energy and someone always starts a new game of chase. Miss M gets impatient with the bigger dogs if they aren't out of the water fast enough and will bark at Mr. M until he gets out and chases her. Then they stop and she chases him. Miss S doesn't like it when the play gets too rough and is constantly trying to make sure that Miss B doesn't get out of hand with the little one. Miss S is so funny. She takes Miss M's toys all day long and would take her food if we let her, but if anyone messes with Miss M, Miss S is quick to step in and handle the situation. She's big enough now that once she grabs Miss B by the collar to pull her away from Miss M, Miss B can't get loose. Miss B has a ton of energy and is very vocal about it. So even though she never actually bites down on Miss M (or any of the little puppies), she sounds like she is getting wild. Miss S doesn't appreciate her cussing like that at all. When any of the other puppies gets a little too rambunctious, Miss S gets right in between the two offending puppies and breaks it up. We used to think she was bullying them, but the more we watched, the more we realized she just doesn't like them to play too rough.