Wrapping Presents

Over the weekend we put up our tree, and in order to organize the presents, I went ahead and wrapped the bigger items and put them under the tree.

Although the puppies were mildly curious, they left the tree alone and didn't do much until with the wrapped packages.

But they were obviously lulling us into a false sense of security, because yesterday when Mike came home, they had ripped the wrapping off about half of the gifts and had also destroyed a couple of items. Sorry Bob about the slippers that we had you try on -- good thing that wasn't your main present. Luckily, nothing critical was destroyed and Christmas paper can be easily replaced. I guess for us this year Santa will be very busy on Christmas Eve.

Looking for Ducks

Before I head back to work after a week of relaxation, we decided to take the dogs and Bob to the Dog Park. We piled them all into the Explorer (the theory was that the dogs could ride in the "Back Back" and Bob would have room to sit in the back seat. Of course, instead, Bob became a convenient stepping stone for Holly and Emma on their path to getting in the Front seat with Mama and Papa to assist in the drive over.

The dogs are always eager to get to the park and today was no exception. Emma makes sure that you know her eagerness with her little concerned whimpers expressing that you aren't driving fast enough. And at every chance she gets, Holly decides that if she stands on the center console the car will magically end up at the dog park. On most rides when we are in the Taurus, Glory ends up perched on the back deck behind the rear seat. But in the Explorer she had the whole Cargo area to herself on the ride over and was thrilled. Of course the big dogs took the smallest space and tried to trample Bob.....

It rained Friday and Saturday, part of the leading storm that ended up causing so much ice damage in Colorado and Nebraska, so the ground was rather saturated and the puppies blessed each of us with some wet, sandy paw prints throughout the afternoon.

After 5-6 rounds around the park with Papa and Bob, it was decided to make the full trek around Silverbell Lake. Although I've been on vacation, I did something stupid to my right knee and so haven't been able to be too active. I chose to wait in the car.

After about 20 minutes, Emma comes running up to the car, soaking wet. Come to find out, she swam to the middle of the lake trying to catch a duck but to no avail. She obviously had the time of her life. Her forrays into the lake previously have been limited to submersible entries near the shore, so this was her first full-fledged feet don't touch swim.

And, great fun was had by all.