Squawkes

We spent last week in Greer, to escape the Phoenix heat and enjoy the cool mountain air. Some highlights of our trip include:

Abby’s first time behind the steering wheel. She liked it. A lot.

Abby brought her bucket along on every walk we took, so she could gather “treasures,” which were mainly pine needles.

We decorated ourselves with stickers one blustery afternoon.

Abby ate her first smore. She hates marshmallows (due to an unfortunate bout of stomach flu following a marshmallow roast last spring), but she liked the idea of eating a graham cracker sandwich.

We enjoyed a beautiful morning at Lee Valley Reservoir. We saw herons and ducks. Abby’s favorite part was throwing rocks in the lake. Lodi’s favorite part was trying to catch the rocks she (and Jake) threw in the lake. I have never seen happier dogs! Just as we started our picnic, it started hailing – out of nowhere – and we had to run to the nearest tree for cover.

Abby LOVED playing in the dirt, throwing rocks, gathering “logs” (small sticks and twigs), and smelling flowers. I love this picture of her smirking with a dirt smear on her face.

Our last day in Greer, we went to River Lake. We saw a beaver dam, walked across a field so covered in honey bees you could feel the ground buzzing, and had a lovely picnic by the river.

Anya (and her parents, of course!) came to visit from Texas. She and Abby enjoyed an afternoon together. As you can tell, they love each other. =)

Pics 1 – 3: Abby and Anya together.

Pic 4: One of Abby’s latest tricks – balancing on the crib rail. 

Pic 5: Abby is very good at sharing. The dogs enjoy this characteristic, especially when food is involved.

Abby now realizes when something is upside down, and hurries to right it (but not before I snapped this shot).

As mentioned in the previous post, she loves doggy kisses. Lodi is always happy to oblige.

She enjoys “talking” on the phone. She now looks puzzled if no one is talking to her when she’s holding the phone.

She walked around the house yesterday wearing Daddy’s hat, with an “I’m too cool!” expression on her face (which she perfected in the hall mirror before strutting around the house).

After missing her afternoon nap (at her own insistence), Abby decided to go to bed at 5 pm on Tuesday evening. The consequence was that she woke up, bright eyed and ready to play, at 2:30 in the morning. Even the dogs, who usually love any excuse to get excited, were not eager to be awake. You can imagine how Mommy felt…

I always get homesick for Utah this time of year. I miss the crisp air and the colored leaves of Fall. To help me get my fix of autumn, we headed up to the family cabin in Greer, AZ. The air was definitely crisp (a little too crisp at times), and the Aspen trees were golden and looked beautiful shimmering in the wind. My autumn craving was almost satiated. What I really need is a leisurely drive through the Alpine Loop near Provo, UT.

Here are the highlights of our trip to Greer:

PIc 1: Abby enjoyed riding in the new piggyback backpack she got for her birthday.

Pics 2 & 3: All weekend, if Abby got hungry, she would approach the person with food (or preparing food), opening her mouth as wide as it could possibly open. If food was not given quickly enough, she would rise up on her toes, try to stretch her mouth open wider, and grunt. It was hilarious!

Pic 4: She was so proud of herself for using the railing, like a big girl, to walk up the stairs.

Pic 5: Abby helping OngNoi start a fire. She really enjoyed spending time with OngNoi and BaNoi. 

Pic 6: It was REALLY cold on Saturday night/Sunday morning, so we dressed Abby in the warmest thing we had. Doesn’t she look like a purple marshmallow? Watching her walk in this made us almost fall off our chairs laughing.

Pics 7 & 8: The dogs had the BEST time. I’m guessing doggy heaven is a lot like Greer.

PIc 9: Abby enjoyed discovering rocks, pine needles, pine cones, leaves, sticks, etc. After examining each newfound discovery, she handed it to me for inspection and safekeeping. 

[REQUEST FOR INPUT: Is it annoying that I talk about each picture? Should I just write a summary of what we did and let you enjoy the pictures on your own?] 

We had to take Lodi to the Vet this week because he chewed up his tail. I don’t know what went on in his mind that caused him to inflict such harm on himself (to be honest, I don’t think I’d care to know). We came home with oral antibiotics, an antibacterial spray, and a cone to prevent Lodi from causing any more damage to his mutilated tail. Fortunately, he is doing much better after only a few days of treatment. Unfortunately, he looks really goofy in his cone.