The Last Few Days
the dog
Thursday Afternoon
What else to do on a sunny Thursday afternoon than to spend some time in the backyard?
The kids decided to jump rope with K holding one end and a tree, the other.
The Girl decided she wanted a photoshoot while on the swing. And soon enough, she was making silly faces.
The dog was, well, just the dog.
Monday Afternoon
Monday afternoon. We've all survived work and school. The first day back is behind us.
We run down to the new trampoline and start bouncing like mad.
Clover, too, is ready for some fun.
And then, when it's time to put the Boy to bed, I fall asleep with him, and Monday afternoon doesn't get recorded until Tuesday evening.
Friday Play
Dog Park
We took Clover to a dog park for the first time today. It was quite a change for her: she wasn't quite terrified, but close to it. She's used to be the dominant dog among the small circle of friends she has, but today, she got a taste of what the cats go through here.
Snow Days 2018: Day 1
There's a price for everything: a snow day when you've already used your allotted make-up days means there's a chance you'll lose a day of spring break or have to go to school one Saturday. If it's just one, the state -- because then it becomes a state issue -- might just forgive that one day. If it's more, that's a litter trickier. We're out tomorrow for sure (hence "Day 1"), so we'll be two days behind. That's not too bad, but there's a good chance school will be canceled Friday as well, which makes it all the more likely we'll have to make it up.
But even if we do pay for it, who cares? The kids had a great time; the dog had a great time; K had a great time; I had a great time.
Cue: old MasterCard ad tag line.
First Day Out
It's been cold here lately -- ridiculously cold for South Carolina. The majority of the nights over the last ten days have been below freezing, which is something here; a substantial number (a majority of that majority?) have been below 20 degrees. In Poland, nothing out of the ordinary; K and I are used to such things. Here? It's ridiculously cold.
Add to it the tragic fact that we've all taken turns getting sick over that same period of time and it's obvious why no one has done much of anything outside these last few days. The dog is the only exception: she doesn't really care. The rest of us have done our best to stay warm.
So when we all were home and it was 59 degrees this afternoon, there was only one thing to do.
The Boy and the Girl were happy to jump on the trampoline again. The new trampoline, which should actually have some bounce to it, is still in parts on the basement floor.
"Let's wait until it warms up," K encouraged. That was Christmas. It's still on the floor.
"Daddy! Today it's warmed up! Can you work on the trampoline?" was the refrain from both the kids, but I was too busy laughing with K as she jumped out of the swing like a teenager.
The dog was thrilled to have someone to play with her again. She's really such a gregarious dog. She'll play outside by herself for a while, but she's always happy to have a companion. And don't even think about doing something outside the newly fenced area: she'll stand at the fence and whimper like she's being abused.
Counting Costs
How much does it cost to have a puppy? There are the upfront costs -- the puppy itself, shots, sterilization, etc. There are the hidden costs -- a new fence, multiple harnesses to find the right one, etc. Then there are the destructive costs -- shoes chewed, furniture chewed, etc. We've been lucky in the latter, perhaps because we've been unlucky in the former two. We've managed to keep Clover from destroying much of anything of value. She's learned more or less to ignore shoes. More or less. She went through a gnawing on furniture legs phase, but that seems to have passed as well. However, there's a chair in the living room that she enjoys chewing the bottom of, which probably won't make it through her puppyhood.
So I guess we should be thankful...
(A random thought to keep my post-every-day-for-a-month goal going even though I'm not 100% and slept most of the day...)
The Dog, Kids, Tramp, and a Ball
Pre-Thanksgiving
Pumpkin pie baklava and a post-operative dog.