Family

Are we there yet?

January 31, 2010 By Jen 1 Comment

Bob and I planned a hike on Hessie Trail near Nederland Colorado yesterday. It is listed as a moderate 4-mile hike in trail books. I’d like to redefine the term “moderate” as the trail was pretty darn hard at parts because of the snow.

I bought some YakTraks to strap onto our shoes since they are supposed to help with traction on ice. I couldn’t even feel them on my feet and never worried about slipping at all, which is a big deal considering I am a klutz.

Bob let Coda off leash for most of the hike uphill and Coda enjoyed every moment of freedom frolicking in the wilderness. He even howled to the tune of “The Hills Are Alive”. Honest, he did.

While Coda enjoyed running around I was getting pretty tired when we came to quite the incline. I made a rule that Bob had stop every 20 yards so I could rest. I wasn’t kidding. At one point I found a rock to sit on and busted out my stash of Girl Scout cookies that I snuck into my pocket before we left the house. I know you’re all wondering what kind they were. I had Do Si Dos! Peanut butter sandwich cookies. Peanut butter has protein so it was the perfect healthy snack for a hike. Yeah… just go with it.

After about 2 1/2 hours of walking uphill we decided to head down. Ahhh this was much better. I didn’t have to stop at all on the way down. I love gravity. You didn’t expect Bob and I to go on a hike just for the fitness aspect did you? No no no, we went out for Mexican food for dinner to re-gain the calories we lost and then some.

Filed Under: Adventure, Family, Fun, Outdoors

Planes were invented for a reason

January 9, 2010 By Jen Leave a Comment

Dear Kansas highway department,

Please put a curve in the highway so Bob doesn’t have to hold the steering wheel straight for 8 whole hours.

Thanks, Jen

The trip was long, as we expected. We packed up all 3 pets and headed to Rochester for Christmas. The dogs were actually amazing and slept all cute and cuddled up the entire time.

Our only issues came with Paco.

Senor Paco does not enjoy car rides and tends to go to the bathroom in his cat carrier. We knew this already and I packed a “diaper bag” with towels, rubber gloves and wet wipes. Paco had 4 baths on the way to Rochester. The most eventful was when he pooped and we took an hour to find a family bathroom to give him a bath in. The sink was not made to bathe small animals and Bob was not happy about it.

Paco had a few more baths on the way back to Colorado. One time he pooped in the corner of his crate and didn’t smear it all over like he had before. I know it is gross, but Bob was very excited that it was a “clean” poop! He praised Paco for getting it all neatly in the corner of his crate to make clean-up easier. Then Paco got wiped down with cat wipes… for cats that bathe with dignity. I’m not kidding.

Paco begs to differ about the “dignity” part. He was still very embarassed.

Filed Under: Family, Home, Pets, Travel

Take 4,397

December 3, 2009 By Jen 1 Comment

Ah yes, the holidays are upon us! This past weekend I decorated for Christmas so we could take a family photo near the fireplace with all of our pets to mail out in our Christmas cards. Last year was hard enough with just Coda and Paco. If you recall, we sent out a picture of Paco beating up Coda since it was the best they could do.

This year we threw costumes & Wellesley into the mix and it was incredibly complicated. We knew there was no way to get all 3 kids in the picture to sit still, so Bob & I got in the photo to hold the pets still.

Coda was too bored and kept laying down to sleep. Paco kept swatting at Coda’s antlers and complaining to get out of his elf costume. Wellesley kept trying to eat his own antlers and managed to hold still for a maximum of 19 seconds since the timer on the camera was set for 20 seconds. He always moved right before the photo was snapped. One time he even hacked up a lung when the picture was taken and his mouth is wide open mid-hack.

After what felt like hours of torture for all of us, we finally got a decent picture of all of us. Merry Christmas ya’ll!

Filed Under: Family, Pets

Welcome Wellesley Guzzle!

December 2, 2009 By Jen Leave a Comment

Bob had been not-so-subtly hinting about wanting another dog for Coda to play with. He would take me into pet stores and show me pictures of cute dogs and tell me how badly the dogs wanted us to be their parents. Oh the sob stories!

Bob found a picture of a handsome golden retriever online. He was up for adoption at Freedom Service Dogs. He was supposed to be trained to help war veterans, but was too obsessed with tennis balls to focus on his job and was put up for adoption. I said the picture was cute when Bob showed it to me online, and the next thing I knew we had an appointment to meet the pup! I have no idea how that happened.

We took Coda with us and they met at the rescue center play yard and got along well. An hour later, we had our newest son in the car with us and we were going home. Wait a minute…24 hours ago I had no thoughts of getting a dog and suddenly I had a new one in my car?! I must have been drugged.

He is about 10 months old now and fairly mild-mannered for a dog his age. He does enjoy Bob’s shoes, but he doesn’t chew the outside. He likes to rip out the insoles and chomp on that part and leaves the rest of the shoe fully in tact. More incentive to put shoes away so we don’t have a pile at the front door. Looks like the dog is training my husband to put his own stuff away. Hey, I kinda like this new dog!

Wellesley and Coda enjoy chasing each other aroud the yard and trying to figure out what the heck happens to a snowball when I throw it and they catch it. Paco was timid at first, but has no problem swatting at Wellesley now. Wellesley’s tail is much longer than Coda’s and more fun for Paco to play with.

Meet Wellesley from Bob Spryn on Vimeo.

We frequently call Wellesley “Grunter” because he makes a Tim Allen grunting sound to let us know he enjoys being pet all the time. He is also the gassiest dog I have ever met! He burps in our faces daily (mostly because he eats his meals in 2 seconds flat) and has audible farts all the time. At least when we blame the dog we know it really was the dog that did it! Even Wellesley knows how bad the smell is and leaves the room.

We sure knowhow to pick pets with funny, distinct personalities. I can only imagine the shennanigans the three of them can plan…

Filed Under: Family, Pets

In search of the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

October 28, 2009 By Jen 1 Comment

It took us two attempts to find a pumpkin this year. Two weeks ago we went to Anderson Farms because we had a great time there last year. It was the day after the first snow and freeze of the season so we were warned that the pumpkins would likely turn to mush if we got any.

It was still freezing cold (around 26 degrees) so we grabbed some hot chocolate and hot cider and fed the goats before heading home. The goats loved Bob. Must be all of his facial hair that matched the goats.

Today we went to Rock Creek farms that had the same problem with pumpkins freezing and rotting. Acres upon acres of the pumpkin patch were a bust to walk through. All of the remaining pumpkins had already turned to mush. We headed to the pre-picked bins to get pumpkins that hadn’t turned into orange blobs yet.

Since it is getting chilly here, the kids have started to snuggle. Don’t look at the next picture if you can’t handle cuteness. Don’t let them fool you though! They are still trouble! Just ask Coda where my loaf of beer bread and pound of vanilla fudge went.